why wont my red eared slider grow?

Question

had him for over three years and hes about the size of the bottom of a pepsi can and a very picky eater

Answer 1

Red eared sliders can get really big if they're in the right environment. He's probably not eating enough, which could be caused by a variety of factors. One would be you're feeding him the wrong food, or there could be other problems with his environment. Not enough poor temperature regularion and lack of UV light are common issues. Does he have other health problems? Either that or you could just have a small turtle.

Answer 2

Turtles need a few things to grow:

1. A large tank that is warm and clean
2. Lighting that simulates the sun (including having UV rays, whcih do not penetrate glass)
3. Good basking sites, which are also nice and warm
4. A good diet.

The problems I find most often are small, cold tanks and the wrong diet.

The easiest diet is simply a high-quality pelleted turtle food, supplemented by live or frozen/thawed 'fish food'- small fish, worms, insects, shrimps, etc. from any decent pet shop.

Turtles DO NOT eat hamburger, lettuce, too much in the way of vegetables of any kind, bologna, hot dogs, table scraps, etc.

The problem is that so many people are told such terrible stuff about these pets, that the poor things just do not thrive.

With proper care, however, they should be OK, even if they never quite get as big as they could.

Answer 3

how big is your tank? do u have a basking lamp w/ the right sun spectrum for vitamin absorption?
one thing that my little guy used to eat when he was a picky eater as a little one (he is 7 now and was the size of a quarter when i bought him yrs ago!) was raw hot dogs...slice 'em, dice 'em, whatever, they love them. its not a good diet alone and can lead to weight gain which is good if he's not eating alot. u can also get a appetite stimulate that reptomin (i think) makes. its a liquid, u turn the turts upside down and put a few drops under the lip of their mouth.
if the water is too cold, he will slow down and eat less too. so monitor ur water temp closely. have u tried warm water baths with a saline solution that u can buy at pet stores? it gets rid of bacteria and bugs and the warm fresh water will feel good to them, i make it shallow tho. have u tried putting him on the grass outside in the sunshine? be careful, they are fast as hell if u haven't already found that out. u could also try rosey minnows or feeder fish. they like the chase and the kill part i think, i have 3 reds in a huge tank and i regularly put 2 doz large feeders in, and the scales start flying!! within 5 min, they are all gone. Its good to do this in a separate tub, since it gets the tank really dirty.
when my turts were young, they didnt like much veggies and fruits. so the hot dogs worked really well. canned cat food too. just drop chunks into the water (again, a separate tank is good)-remember, they must eat under water. now i throw all types of fruits n veggies in the tank and they chow down. dark leafy things like spinach (they love!) and collard greens. they really like cantelope and strawberries too. sometimes red grapes. they love crickets too!
basically, ur turtle should be much bigger. i got my 3rd turtle from a friends irresponsible son, who didn't even know he was a water turtle, and had him in a dry tank for the first few wks when he got him!!! he was so small. they had no clue that he needed heat, water and a basking area sun lamp. i've had him for a few yrs now, and he is the size of my 7 yr old slider, so full grown. have u determined the sex of ur turt yet? the males are much smaller (my female is HUGE and heavy) and have longer nails and tails. the bottom of their shell is also slightly concave at the base of their tail & the females is not. so knowing the sex will determin what his/her size should be.
good luck. i gave u alot of foods to try, it's just a matter of finding a few ur turtle likes.
good luck with that.
p.s.
u should also be feeding him turtle pellets on a regular basis, they need this as a staple for vitamins and things. even if he just eats a few. they can't just eat some of the "junk" i mentioned above.

Answer 4

He needs a basking light over a land area and he needs a flourescent uvb bulb that emits 5 percent or higher uvb rays. If hes not eating much its because he is too cold. Hes not growing because im pretty sure you dont have the uvb bulb so he cant absorb calcium. Male red ear sliders get 10 inches and females get 13 inches.
http://www.austinsturtlepage.com

Answer 5

He was possibly the runt of the litter. I think they're supposed to get about 5 in long and if not, then they are normally the teeny ones :) Hope that helps!

Answer 6

you need to pet it more . they always grow if you play with them ;-)

Answer 7

don know