My Red Eared Turtles

[YaYgoldFish]

I've had 2 of these turtles a.k.a Red Eared Sliders for about 1 month and 10 days and I was wondering if i could feed them some crickets or grasshopers or other small insects like this. I want t o buy them some insects i could give them as a treat. I have only seen them eat the pellets i give them, feeder guppys ( I use to keep my feeders with them, their my gar's feeders) In only one bite, and some small carrot chunks. So if anyone knows what i could give them as small treats, id be happy. :)

:22:

[Rue]

...crickets would be a great treat...

[Drumachine09]

I've had 2 of these turtles a.k.a Red Eared Sliders for about 1 month and 10 days and I was wondering if i could feed them some crickets or grasshopers or other small insects like this. I want t o buy them some insects i could give them as a treat. I have only seen them eat the pellets i give them, feeder guppys ( I use to keep my feeders with them, their my gar's feeders) In only one bite, and some small carrot chunks. So if anyone knows what i could give them as small treats, id be happy. :)

:22:

Just drop the crickets in the tank. They will kick around on the top, and eventually the RES will see, and shortly thereafter, eat them. I used to have one. I found him in the road when i was a kid. I used to have 3 55g sized cardboard boxes with rubbermaid tubs with a ramp leading into the water. I also kept ornate box turtles. you can feed them insects, vegetables, and i guess the pellets that you can buy in the store. Mine liked earthworms and broccoli.

Hope it helped!

[YaYgoldFish]

Mine liked earthworms and broccoli.

Hope it helped!

i read on a forum that broccoli and spinach are not good for RES since it gets clogged in their throats or something.

Thanks for the tip tho guys...can't wait till this summer to get a few bugs..

one more thing..

you say that you kept them in rubbermaid tubs that were about 55g big and only had a light for them?

Right now i have 2 in a 5g with a fluval underwater filter and a heater thats set to 80c. Should i switch all that for a 55g tub?

[Drumachine09]

I shreded the broccoli in the food processer.

I had them in a cardboard box the size of a 55gallon tank. Theni had a rubbermaid tub (10 gallons) in the box, with a ramp so they could get in. i lined the bottom with news paper, and changed it everyday after school. I got one of my teachers to give me their yesterdays papers so i didnt have to go and buy an extra.

my RES was 8" long on the shell, he was very happy. I named him speedy, cause he was so fast. We built a cage ( a corner of the yard 8'x8' surounded in chicken wire with a small pond like thing and some structure to hide under. we had 1 res (speedy) and 8 ornate box turtles that i raised for only about the size of a half dollar.

As for how big your turtles are, i dont know. If you are able to get them a bigger tank, i would reccomend it, but if they seem happy, it could do untill they get bigger. Do you have some pics of the little buggers?

[Drumachine09]

And you can go to a bait shop and get two dozen worms for about $4 american, or go to a LFS or petshop and get some crickets. They are really cheap.

[genitor]

They will enjoy a larger tank that they can swim around in. They get to about 11 inches and they should be provided with an area that is completely out of the water with some form of heat focused on that spot, a heat lamp can be used. They like to bask in the 'sun' then go back into the water to cool of then go back to basking again. They should be provided with this a couple hours each day.

[Drumachine09]

They will enjoy a larger tank that they can swim around in. They get to about 11 inches and they should be provided with an area that is completely out of the water with some form of heat focused on that spot, a heat lamp can be used. They like to bask in the 'sun' then go back into the water to cool of then go back to basking again. They should be provided with this a couple hours each day.

oops, thanks for picking up the slack, i forgot about the heat lamp.

I used some 1/2" subfloor plywood, to make an elevated shelf with a ramp that he could go on to sun him self. He could also go under the shelf to sit in the shade. All this talk about turtles is making me want to go get back into turtles, lol.


EDIT: This is also a very helful site

http://www.reptileallsorts.com/red-eared-slider.htm

[YaYgoldFish]

thanks ...your cardbox idea sounds amazing..probably will be a summer project :)

[Drumachine09]

thanks ...your cardbox idea sounds amazing..probably will be a summer project :)

You have to change the liners often, because if you dont, the waste will soak through.

Glad you like it.

[Rue]

I've seen some kiddie pools that would do a lot better than a cardboard box if you want a DIY type set-up...

[Drumachine09]

I've seen some kiddie pools that would do a lot better than a cardboard box if you want a DIY type set-up...

As long as you excercize your tutles every day or two, you dont need a pool for them. I want to get back into keeping them, because i had about 100 square feet for them to roam in. It was pretty neat.

[Rue]

I didn't mean that you use the kiddie pool as a pool...I meant that you use the kiddie pool as the overall enclosure...

[Drumachine09]

I didn't mean that you use the kiddie pool as a pool...I meant that you use the kiddie pool as the overall enclosure...


I know. Turtles can be kept in a fairly small enviornment, while still remaining content, as long as the get their excercise.

[YaYgoldFish]

im also thinking of using a stock tank. A stock tank that can fill 300g is only 100 bucks!

If you get back into keeping turtles, let me know about them and send me pictures! :)

[Drumachine09]

im also thinking of using a stock tank. A stock tank that can fill 300g is only 100 bucks!

If you get back into keeping turtles, let me know about them and send me pictures! :)


Will do!:thumb:

[Fishguy2727]

For water turtles the best thing I have found is pellets. No live food. It increases aggression, is nutritionally bad for them, and most likely will introduce parasites and diseases.

[YaYgoldFish]

For water turtles the best thing I have found is pellets. No live food. It increases aggression, is nutritionally bad for them, and most likely will introduce parasites and diseases.

actually live food ( feeder guppies and crickets or grasshopser only) are good for them, it gives them nutrition they cant get from pellets.

[Drumachine09]

actually live food ( feeder guppies and crickets or grasshopser only) are good for them, it gives them nutrition they cant get from pellets.


see, now i have to disagree. The pellets are formulated for them specifically with nutrition in mind. They have all of the nutrients they need, but its still good to give them vegetables and worms and crickets sometimes.

[YaYgoldFish]

Yeah they get MOST nutrients that are in live foods, but with live foos, it gives them exercise (chasing around food) and while eating the live foods the skin or shell or fins are also good for the turtle.

i got my information from turtletime.com

have a look.

[Drumachine09]

Yeah they get MOST nutrients that are in live foods, but with live foos, it gives them exercise (chasing around food) and while eating the live foods the skin or shell or fins are also good for the turtle.

i got my information from turtletime.com

have a look.


I dont trust most sites on the web. I trust hard working companys like hikari, and other brand names. Not to say that live food isnt healthy for them, but they benefit more from pellets. It is good to feed them live foods, as a varied diet is the best diet for a healthy turtle.

[YaYgoldFish]

its not just one site, its 100s of people who know lots about turtles tho..but I get your point.

[Fishguy2727]

Lots of companies put a lot of time and money into developing aqautic turtle foods. These are truly complete diets (some of them). For the first time in 11 years I do not currently have any water turtles. But in that 11 years I tried it all and the variety of high quality pellets, including high quality fish pellets, is the best thing for water turtles. And in all that time I saw that they do not need live food to get exercise, they are always doing something unless they are basking. There is nothing in live food that they need that they don't get from high quality pellets. I did not do years of research in a lab. I did not do scientific molecular analysis to study actual dietary needs of the turtle or values in the food. I simply watched my turtles. Over the years I tried nothing but live, live and pellets, and pellets only and the best by far was pellet only. From babies to adults they always did better on pellets. From proper growth rates (my common snapper went from 1.5" to 9" in two years on just pellets), to a drastic decrease in illness and infection, to better colors and proper growth (no pyramiding or other shell deformities), all are much better with just pellets.

[YaYgoldFish]

thanks for the tip.