my turtle dosent seem to like water he likes to run around the house?

Question

he is a red eared slider turtle ,he's a picky eater and dont like to be in his water he would rather be out and about in the house. is this okay? how often should he be in the water? and what kind of fresh food can I give my lil pucky?...thats his name pucky......can someone plz give me some advice. he is about 1 1/2 yrs old thanx

Answer 1

RES have to be in water to eat. I'd double check that the water is easily accessable and that the temp is correct. If the water is too cold, they won't go in it. The temp needs to be between 70 and 75 degreese F. It's ok having him do this as long as your house is above 70 degreese F at all times (well except at night, then it can get to 60). I find your turtles' behavior odd as all of my RES love to be in their homes and not wandering mine. Usually RES LOVE water as they are aquatic turtles. I'd look into making sure that these are RES. Both of mine only spend about 5 hours a day out of water and they sleep in the water too. Fresh food you can give him are feeder fish (goldfish, guppies, rosie reds, other minnows), leafy greens (collards, mustard leaves, kale, etc but never lettuce as it has 99% water and is just wasted calories), wax worms, snails, and crickets can all be fed to them. And just so you know, everything for turtles diet is determined by their size not their age as at 1 year a RES should be about 4" if not a little bigger but because so many of them aren't taken proper care of, most are under that. Just for a more acurate answer with the food, you may want to post what size they are. They aren't supposed to have greens if they are under 4" in diameter but if they are then it's fine.

Answer 2

Red eared sliders can live out of the water for a while! They love clean water. Make shure you have a filter in his water or he may be looking for a cleaner pond. They also need warmer water, so a water heater may be needed. For exact husbandry info and probably a how long they can stay out of the water check out www.anapsid.org. It is a nonprofit reptile info site that is funded partially by the Veterinary Information Network! What ever you do, DO NOT let it get away. Red Eared Sliders are taking over the habitats in California and other places in the wild and running off native species. The Western pond Turtle is endangered due to Red Eared Sliders being released into the wild here in CA

Answer 3

I babysat RES for a couple of days last week and found these links helpful....
http://www.wnyherp.org/care-sheets/turtles/red-ear-slider.php

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_eared_slider
http://www.tortoisetrust.org/articles/aquaticdiet.htm

The one's I sat loved the water. The owner said that a day out of the water was all they needed and that they did not eat every day ( to mimic the wild) I gave them a few slices of cantaloupe as a treat because I could tell she basically only gave then a multi vitamin preprepared food. They also can have bok choy as well. The cantaloupe made them poo within hours. You want to give them something more of a leafy green. Animals are like humans though they have their own personality. Let him be nosy if he ants to but don't forget he is a turtle not a tortoise. enjoy your pet.

Answer 4

Turtles drink through a bath, (immersion). A bath in tepid or slightly warm water can bring on an appetite, as it can trigger the bowel mechanism, then bring on an appetite. If a turtle does not want to eat, try a (simple clean tepid water) bath for 1/2 hr or so. Then offer a variety of foods--it will eat what it likes.

Answer 5

Turtles ALWAYS prefer water... if the water habitat is set up properly for them. If it is not, it is FAR better to fix the habitat than to let them run around in the open.

For example- a good turtle habitat...
- is big, about 10 gallons of water per inch of shell length
- is warm, 75-80F water temps
- is crystal clean and odor free, with a powerful filter
- is well-lit
- offers safe, comfortable basking sites warmed to about 90F
- offers a cooler, shady area to hide in

Unfortunately, a lot of turtle habitats are NOT a good place for turtles, so they would rather be somewhere else.

Try http://www.redearslider.com for other ideas.

Answer 6

He's not the beach type.
http://www.petturtle.com/care.htm

Answer 7

This is normal.