Can a red eared slider remain in the water all the time?

Question

I have a 7 month old slider and about 2 months ago i put him in a 5 gallon fish tank (guppy tank) to get some exercise. Well he refused to come out. He was swimming all around dodging my trys to get him out. He will not calm down until i close the tank. He has been in there continuously for 2 months now and I have only been able to get him out once. I put him back in his regular tank (not full of water) and he kept running into the walls and just acting all frantic. Thus, I put him back in the fish tank. Is this ok? I have a great filter, heater and he eats WAY better in the fish tank. He floats at the top of the tank with his head out of the water sometimes but I do not have a dock for him as the fish tank is small. Should I allow him to stay in the tank?

Answer 1

No. They need to be able to come completly out of the water to dry off or else they are prone to infections. The 5 gallon tank is WAY too small. A turtle needs 10 gallons per inch of shell, and sliders like deep water so it should be filled as high as you can without risk of escaping from their basking spot Since he is little still you can use the small tank for feeding and letting him relieve himself after eating as it will help keep the bigger tank clean. You really need some kind of basking spot, get creative, you can use a log, driftwood, you can make an above tank basking spot, etc. What kind of lighting do you have? You should have a UVA/UVB light that emits at least 5% UVB rays. You also need a heat lamp, for this you can use a clamp lamp ith a regular household bulb.

What does the other setup look like? What I am thinking is you do not have ENOUGH water in there, and that's why he flips out when you try to put him back in there. As I said above, sliders like deep water AND they are aquatic turtles so fill it up!! For exercise, why not throw some feeder fish in there? Do not use goldfish as they are too fatty. You can feed him Rosie Reds, feeder guppies, shiners. You can feed crickets too, but the fish and crickets should be fed sparingly. They need a varied diet so, I'll add a safe feeding list for you too.


Hatchlings
Hatchlings should be fed everyday for the first year of their lives. They should be given as much as they can eat in 10 to 15 mins time or as much as you could fit into their head if hollow. You can feed them all of it at once or you can slit it up into 2 feedings.

Hatchlings tend to be more Carnivorous than adults, so make sure to check out the suggestions of live and protein-rich foods below for how to supplement accordingly. (Make sure you still give fruits and veggies at this stage!)

Juveniles/Adults
Once your turtle reaches the 4" mark, we recommend that you change their feeding schedule to every other day. Giving them greens or live plants in between.

Adults tend to become more Omnivorous, so make sure to check out the suggestions of fruits and vegetables below.

Vitamins and Calcium
You should supplement your turtle's diet with both vitamins and calcium, every third feeding or once a week. To give them vitamins many people will give them a Vitamin Bath once a week. You can also either soak the pellets in a liquid vitamin or dampen them and roll them in a powder vitamin before feeding.

It is recommended you have a light that supplies UVA and at the very least a 5.0 UVB output. The UVB is necessary for the absorption of calcium and vitamin D3. Turtles need both calcium and Vitamin D3 for strong bones and shells.

**Feeding Tip Feedings should be done in a separate container so that you do not have to frequently change the water nor the filter media.


Common Diet Errors

Feeding Cat or Dog Food
Despite what some pet store employees may tell you, turtles should not be fed dog or cat food (Sounds insane, but we've heard it!)

Pellet Only Diets
Pellets provide many benefits, but variety is key!
Supplement their diet with veggies, live foods and some fruits. Check out our safe list below.

Giving in to Beggars
Turtles will always beg whether you give in or not- they know you are the supplier of food!
Supplement between feedings with greens or live foods they have to chase to eat. ( Iceberg lettuce is a common filler that doesn't contain much nutritional value, but will keep them content.)


Safe Feeding List

Commercial Foods (This is just a few of them on the market)
* Tetra Reptomin
* ZooMed's Aquatic Turtle Food
* Exo Terra
* Wardley's Reptile Premium Sticks
* HBH Turtle Bites

Frozen/Canned (For treats)
* Spirulina-enriched Brine Shrimp
* Bloodworms
* Plankton
* Krill
* ZooMed's Can O'Crickets, Grasshoppers, or Meal Worms

Live Foods (Carnivorous)
* Guppies or Rosies Reds (no goldfish they are too fatty and have very little nutritional value)
* Crickets (Gut-Loaded)
* Pinhead Crickets (for smaller turtles)
* Earthworms, Night Crawlers
* Ghost Shrimp
* Aquatic Snails/Apple Snails
* Slugs
* Wax Worms, Super Worms

**Be careful about Wild-Caught foods, they can carry parasites that can be transferred to your turtle. Freezing Wild-Caught foods for a month will help to kill off some parasites.

Fruits (small amounts for treats only)
* Apples
* Bananas
* Grapes
* Melon
* Tomato
* Strawberries

**Should be cut up in small, bite-size or match-like sticks that will be easy for the turtle to bite into and not choke on.

Veggies
* Squash
* Zucchini
* Carrots
* Greens- Red Leaf, Romaine, Collards, Kale, Dandelion Greens

**Stay away from Spinach. Make sure to cut the veggies in bite-size or match-like sticks so your turtle can eat them easily. Iceberg lettuce is a good filler, but contains little/no nutritional value!

Aquatic Plants
* Anacharis
* Duckweed
* Water Hyacinth
* Water Lettuce
* Water Lily

For more help, please come visit me at http://www.turtleexchange.com/forum/index.php I am Julia there or http://turtlesale.com/forum/index.php I am Grumps1stBorn there.

Answer 2

Red eared sliders are omnivores, meaning they eat a mixture of animal and plant material. Younger turtles are more carnivorous (eat more animal protein) than adults, though. Juveniles should be fed daily, but adults can be fed every 2-3 days. Turtles can be fed a mixture of prepared commercial food and fresh food. Special food formulated for turtles can be used, but this should only make up about 25% of the total diet. The proportions of fresh supplements will depend on the age of the turtle, but can include live feeder fish, earthworms, crickets, waxworms, bloodworms, aquatic snails, fresh greens (collard, mustard and dandelion greens, and dark leafy lettuces but never head lettuce), aquatic plants, and shredded vegetables. Not sure if you are aware or not but the US has a ban on selling aquatic turtles under 4 inches since the 1970's. This is mainly because they can not be tested for Salmonella which you can get from them if they have it. While there are plenty of places that have no issue with selling them to people so small, legally, they can get into trouble. Aside from making sure that you are feeding them correctly, you need to also make sure that the tank that they are in has a filter as well as a basking area with a basking light that gives off UVB. The filter is to filter their waste so that they do not get upper respitory infections or pneumonia and the light is so that they can bask. Without a proper basking area and light, they can get soft shells or shell rot.

Answer 3

No.

The proper setup for a slider tank is a large aquatic tank, including gravel and filter, much like a setup for a fish tank, and a large dock area where the turtle can climb out of the water entirely. A reptile heat lamp should be aimed at this docking spot, so the turtle can bask in heat and dry out his shell. Leaving him in water all the time can cause bacterial infections and shell rot. He must have access to dry land even if he doesn't use it often, but it should be HIS choice, not when YOU decide to pull him out of his tank.

Answer 4

I own 4 red eared slider and there in a 125 gallon fish tank. I have a land erea built up for them to come out of the water when they want to bask under the heat lamps. The tank has 90 gallons of water in and there is one side of the tank that I have created a land erea using rocks and gravel that extends out of the water with plants and a nesting erea. The 125 gallon tank is 6 feet long and 4 feet of that is water and the other 2 feet is land. My turtles spend about 80 percent of the time in the water which is kept at 68 degrees and the the basking sites are kept at 84 degree's. Your turtles cannot spend there intire lives inthe water. The purpose of them coming out of the water is so they can dry there shell out so it does'nt begind to rot and harbor bad bacteria.

Answer 5

If you cannot afford a turtle dock or have no space for one, then put a rock or a decoration in the tank for the turtle to climb on. We sell pieces of driftwood that stay afloat so small turtles can climb up on to get out of the water temporarily. Getting out of the water occasionally is really important for the turtle's shell.

Answer 6

Your real turtle tank is a poor habitat, and the fish tank is better- but not great.

Turtles love space, heat, and light. To keep them healthy, they need:
- at least 10 gallons of swimming space pr inch of shell
- water 75-80 degrees with good basking sites at 90 degrees
- sunlight-like lighting that offers ultra-violet B rays (UV-B)

On the other hand, turtles eat and harass fish, so you probably want it in its own tank.

2 good websites to review are:
http://www.redearslider.com
http://www.austinsturtlepage.com

Answer 7

yes. leave him in the tank. I Keep my red ear in the tank at all times. In the wild they stay in water for most of the time, they usually only come out when they want direct sun light. My red ear has a 55 gal. tank

Answer 8

i've been keeping my wife's red slider in water for years and it's grown from 2 inches to about a foot long with no ill effects.
it enjoys it in the water and every once in awhile i feed it live fish and fresh water shrimps.
sooner or later you'll have to move your redslider to a bigger tank.
God bless
gabe

Answer 9

yes, but you may need a big rock or something for it. i dont think its a good idea for it to stay in the water that long. in the wild turtles usually spend most of their time in the water, excpet for tortoises.

Answer 10

turtles are amphibians...they need water AND land. He/she definitely needs a big rock or something similiar coming up out of the water that they can get up onto to get out of the water for a little while! Not real sure if a turtle can drown? But I know it's not good if they aren't able to get out of the water. Good luck!