How to take care of baby turtle. Im pretty sure its a Yellow-Belly slider?

Question

its probably about an inch long & wide...i caught it in a little creek outside today. i put some rocks & water & the turtle in a round fish tank, like the size of a football helmet. i gave it some lettuce, carrot, & cantelope? how warm does it need to be & what kind of foods do i give it? any other information would also be helpful..

oh & how much whater does it need?
i have like rocks on one side so it can sit on those & water on the other side if it wants to go underwater, but it seems like it needs more room to swim, should i just fill it past the rocks or does it need to be dry sometimes too?

& does it eat underwater?

Answer 1

Let the poor thing go, as you are unaware of even basic care. Turtles are extreamly expensive to keep, and once you have it for awhile you cannot just let it go when it gets too big.

Wild turtles also carry parasites.

If you insist on keeping this poor thing instead of doing what is right:
Your tank is too small, you will need 10 gal per inch of shell, so you need atleast a 15 gal for this moment. you should probably buy at least a 20 gal, since turlte grow fast if properly cared for. These turles can reach upto 12 inches in length and will need a custom build cage.

When young these turtles are carnivours, eating fish, insects, ect. As they age they are more vegetarians. Also feed a high protien pellet food.

As for enclosure you need a basking area, and a swimming area. Turtles need a basking area to digest food, and they eat in the water. You need to buy special lighting, a basking lamp for heat and a UVA/UVB light for vitamin D creation. Without vitamin D you turtle will get shell rot, and without basking light he will not be able to digest food. Air temp should be around 80 degrees.

Turtles are very messy(waste producers) and you need a strong filter to clean the water. You will also have to do a 25% water change bi-weekly. Remember they live in the water so you need it clean.

You need an under water heater and thermomitor. The water needs to be kept at around 75 degrees.

The start up cost for a turle is a few hundred dollars. Do you have a few hundred dollars to spend? If you are not going to take care of the animal properly and skimp on cage size, lighting etc than put the little guy back in the pond where he will he happy and healthy.

Costs:
-Tank 20 gal: 50-100 dollars
-Filter: 50 dollars(best to get a strong one made for larger tanks so you don't have to replace tank and filter as the turtle grows)
-Rocks/platforms/ect: 30 dollars for one quality basking platform.
-Food- 10 dollars for a small container of pellets, 10 dollars for each container of crickets, bloodworms etc.
-tank water conditioner 3.00-5.00 dollars per pack multiplied by 4 water changes a month
-Lights- UVA/UVB light $24, basking light $10. Lamps $20-40 each(need two), depends on the brand
-Water Heaters - $25-$100
-Vet care in case of emergency, etc can cost hundreds of dollars over turltes life.

Be prepared to care for this animal for over 20 years. They are costly and not as rewarding a pet as other animals, and not for everyone. There are too many pet turltes out there that are bought, taken, etc, by unassumming people who do not realize the expense and care that goes into these amazing creatures. Please think this through full before you decide to keep this pet.

Answer 2

1. Wild turtles do not do well in captivity. Consider releasing it.

2. Space- it should have at least a 10 gallon tank, a 20 1/2 filled would be better. The more swimming room the better!

3. Diet- these guys do not eat fruit at all, and rarely any veggies. Try good pellets and 'fish foods' like live or frozen/thawed worms, bugs, shrimp, krill, etc.

4. Heat the water to 75-80F. They will not eat or thrive in cold water indoors.

5. Think about getting a big filter, or change the water every couple days.

6. It does eat underwater.

7. The basking site should be heated to about 90F.

You can learn everything you need to know at http://www.austinsturtlepage.com

Answer 3

http://www.austinsturtlepage.com/Care/cs-yellowbelly.htm should tell you all of it
Looks like you will need a bigger tank, and food thats meat, like insects and small fish.
if the first website doesnt tell enough use this
http://www.uga.edu/srel/slider.htm it has some info there