how cold can the water temp be for red ear slider turtles?

Question

I Have a 3,000 gallon pond with 14 red ear slider turtles and for the first time it got ice along the sides of my pond. right now the temp of the water is about 30degrees f what do i do i alredy took 4 out should i try to find the rest of them

i also have over 1,000 fish and they all live in the 30,000 gallon pond outside

Answer 1

Red ear sliders are native to regions of the US where temps get below freezing.

The most I would be concerned with would be to keep at least some area of the ice broken or melted. Given it's just icing around the edges, they should be alright.

If temps stay that low for long I would definitely try and find a high powered heater to raise the temp of the water up to 45 or so.

Answer 2

I would reccommend having its water above 70 degrees. The prefered is 75-80 degrees. You can get water heaters made for reptiles at most pet stores. I know we have them at PetSmart. We also cary pond heaters...but they just prevent the pond from freezing. Sliders tend to need a large amount of heat to thrive so I would highly reccommend taking them out of that cold water. I doubt that they will make it through the winter otherwise. If you have any questions I would call your local petsmart... we are always there to answer your calls!

Good luck

Answer 3

If they get good sunshine, a good diet, and there is mud at the pond bottom they can burrow in, I'd just let them hibernate.

If you only rarely get ice, you must live somewhere it is usually warm enough for this species.

Answer 4

i have a res turtle its really the first real turtle ive tanken care of i do not have a water heater so i would say dont use it there bodies adjust to the temperature