I need turtle advice...Please help?

Question

Hello everybody. I am hoping there is somebody here that knows a lot about turtles and can help me with my situation.

I have two red eared sliders (both about 5 years old). They continue to get bigger and bigger each time I buy a bigger tank. I now have a 50 gallon and they are out growing it and I am having a hard time cleaning the tank and taking good care of them like I know they deserve. Basically, I want to let them go. I don't have a problem finding them a home, but what I want to know is: would this be healthy for them? To leave their only home? Should they stay together wherever they go? And lastly, I live by a big swamp and I was thinking of leaving them there. There is is plently of water, dry spots, grass, the whole shabang. But there are also other animals like snakes and such. Would it be okay for me to leave them there? Even though winter is coming up. Will they die?

I need help! I could give them to somebody who will keep both of them but something tells me they will be happier out in nature.

Answer 1

if u have a back yard you can buy a pond at home depo for cheap and u can make the habitat their and u can have them their and during winter bring them in side in another pond with a light cleaning the pond is easy trust me i have 4 5years old red eared sliders thats wat i did

Answer 2

Your situation is all TOO common.... in fact, 1000s of people and more all over the world is experiencing this and that is why there are many ferrel populations of RES. RES are bred by the 10s of millions in the southern US, mostly Lousianna each year and most of them are exported. These disposible pets often die in the first year due to poor husbandry and when they do make it, the owners realise RES get too big and it takes a lot of work to provide them a good home. So, they are released in the local ecosystem and now they are all over the world from unwanted owners. They are in Europe, Asia, and all over North America, where they are not native. They are aggresive and threaten the native turtle population.

PLEASE do not release your RES. Take the responsibility and find them a good home or provide them a good home. Rescues around the country are inondated with RES. As I said, your situation is all too common.

A female RES will reach over 10" when full grown and it will need a 125-150G tank with two canister filters (i.e. Fluval 405, Filstar xP3, etc). So, you would be looking at a 200 plus gallon tank. Tanks actually are not the best ways to go. You should try plastic stock tanks or preformed ponds with a pond fiter, or better homemade filter.

Please do not be offended, but I have see and hear this story daily. I have travelled around Asia and Canada, and RES can be found in many water systems where they do not belong.

Check out www.turtleforum.com
It will provide you with more knowledge and issues about turtle keeping hobby.

Answer 3

xanadu625 knows very little about turtles. Turtles will grow regardless of the tank size you put them in. Anyone that keeps turtles should know this. It's not recommended to release captive turtles in the wild because they aren't used to surviving on their own. They are used to having the food brought to them. They've never had to deal with predators and other things that they may encounter in the wild. As far as keeping them together. You don't really have to keep them together. Turtles are not social animals. The only time you'll really see them interacting is mating pairs and territorial fighting. It's cool that you're turtles get along but I'm sure they wouldn't miss each other too much if they were apart.

Answer 4

Our compassionate instinct to release pets is laudable, but sadly wrong. Released pets are no longer habituated to the wild diet or lifestyle, out of sync with the natural rythyms, unfamiliar with good hibernation sites, and most importanly- immune to our diseases... which they will then spread to others that are not immune.

If you feel the need to release them, please aim for a city park lagoon or other place that is totally surrounded by people. In that sort of a setting they will not infect the wild population- although the odds are they will not live out the rest of their natural life-span there.

It is recommended that you try a wildlife or reptile recovery place, your local herpetological society or reptile club, offering them for free at the local pet shop, etc. first.

To answer other questions:
- Healthy? Wild is the healthiest, an outdoor pond is next best, an indoor tank is the last option. Even though the wild is healthier, however, they live the longest in captivity- as do many wild animals.
- Stay together? Probably not- they do not form mating pairs or strong social bonds.
- Snakes etc.? The predators we worry about are nto snakes, which rarely eat turtles, but dogs, coyotes, racoons, skunks, etc. Some fish will eat babies, but not 5"ers.

This is always a tough decision- good luck!

Answer 5

They grow because you give them bigger tanks. 2 could easily live in a 10 gallon.Once they reach a certain size, they wont grow any bigger, the size is ussually around 5 to 7 inches. But since they are that big already, you probably could bring them to a pet store or as long as their aren't too many raccoons around the swamp they should be okay
Red ear sliders shouldn't be able to out grow a 50 gallon tank, maybe you just think they are.
Also it depends on where you live because they don't get that much cold weather where they're native to.
Food sources are one of the main thing to worry about along with (as mentioned above) teperature a turtle thats been in captivity wouldn't be as resourceful as a wild one.
And depending on where you live, a large slider shouldn't fall prey to many snakes it may even eat them

Answer 6

I think u should sell them because u have had them for 5 yrs so i wouldnt let them go because they are useed to be given food and if u let them go in a swamp they still could die becausethey might not know what is goin on andthey might not die just go back to ur house or maybee u should build a pen out side and feed them every day just make sure no harmful animals can get in

Answer 7

Umm, yeah. Boober was right, these guys have no clue about turtles. Babies are about 2-3 inches long. If you put them in a deli cup, they'd still out-grow it. If turtles don't grow it's because you aren't feeding them correctly. Letting turtles go in the wild has one problem Boober missed, winter. Most captive born turtles have never had to hibernate, and don't necessarily know how. Pretty quick death right there. If you want them to live long and healthy? Find a zoo.

Answer 8

first of all you probably have 2 females since they are so large
now is the ideal time to turn them loose and you're so lucky to have a perfect location to do it, water turtles revert to wild instantly, they know how to hunt and they will find a place to hibernate, they still have 2 months before it starts getting cooler, if you're going to do it, do it now just think how happy they will be

Answer 9

my daughter has 2 of them and the mistake you made was getting bigger tanks . they wouldn't have gotten any bigger if the tank would have remained the same size . she has hers in a 100 gallon tank and they are about 1 foot in diameter at the shell . she is leaving hers go because of a divorce and they will survive . the swamp sounds great for them . don't worry about the wild animals , turtles are not worth their time to eat . to much work getting to them .

Answer 10

turtles, all the way. i freakin love turtles and if i've got been given a puppy fish it would in elementary terms irriitate me extra using fact i eventually have been given a puppy and that i couldnt walk it or do something with it.