What do baby red ear sliders eat??

im getting two baby red ear sliders (2 1/2 by 3 inches) on sun what do they eat? any special equipment needed? thanks lots guys!

What do baby red ear sliders eat??
No you can not hold them. Turtles are more "look at me" pets and not "play with me" pets. Handling stresses them out, and yes they may snap, especially Red Ear Sliders.








You will need:








1.You need the biggest tank you can afford upfront. A good rule of thumb is 10g per inch of shell, so no a 10g would not be fine unless you have a 1in hatchling, but it won't last you long so it doesn't make sense to buy small. Sliders can easily grow 12 in or more with proper care! If you can't afford a large tank, there are other options, a kiddie pool, a preformed pond liner, a rubber maid tote etc. Turtle tanks / the side cut out is a waste of money. Also Sliders like deep water so fill the tank!





2. You need a UVA/UVB light the box must say UVB and it must emit at least 5% UVB but 10% is best.





3. You need a Heat/Basking lamp, this can be a clamp lamp from a hardware store for 5 bucks and a household bulb.





4. You need a Basking spot. This needs to be a place for the turtle to come completly out of the water to dry off and sun himself. You can use a log, a platform, a dock, a ramp, etc as long as the turtle can fit on it comfortably.





5. You need good filtration. Turtles are messy. Shoot for 2x the gallon size but more is good too. For example if you have a 40g get a filter made for an 80g or bigger.





6. Submersible heater. Depending on where you live, you may need a heater, the water temps should be mid to high 70's if you cannot achieve this w/out a heater, then get one.





7. A thermometer so you can accurately monitor the temps.





8. Substrate, you may use substrate but do not buy gravel!! Turtles can and will eat it. Usually with dire consequences. A good alternative is river rock bigger than the turtles head upgrading if needed.





9. Decorations/plants (llive or real as long as not toxic see safe plants under food below) a place to hide. This are not absolutly needed but plants and other hiding places reduces stress.





10. A good herp vet. If you want to be a responsible pet owner, you need a good vet BEFORE trouble happens. http://www.anapsid.org/vets/index.html





11. Food, turtles need a varied diet and need to be fed in the water;





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





12. A good forum where you can get advice, support and help. I'm partial to the one I belong to lol http://www.turtleexchange.com/forum/
Reply:Turtles aren't the best pets to have if your wanting to hold them a lot, they are very shy and unsociable. But cool to watch. Reptomin is good to use as a pellet. But I use some mashed fruit (bananas, melon) and mashed veggie (lettuce, tomato, cucumber) mixed together too. The only hard thing about this is, when they are really little they are painfully shy about eating with humans around. And you don't want to leave food in their tank for a long period of time. So my suggestion would be to put them in a shallow bowl with a little bit of water, just enough to meet the bottom of their shell, and put the mixture in there until they eat it. Then put them back in their tank. Do this repeatedly until they realize what they go to the bowl to do, and eventually they will not care if your around or not. Good luck.
Reply:babe red-eared sliders.. oh how cute. you'll have fun with them.. =]





well, you need to provide a good ten gallon tank, but bigger is better. a good filter, because they can get a bit messy. a water heater, so that they can stay active and don't have to worry about them not eating. temperature has to be about 75-80 degrees. a UV basking light with a basking area. you need food. provide pellets [my choice: nutrafin max], vegetables [romaine lettuce, carrots], live food [minnows, crickets, worms].





i think thats pretty much it.. have fun with your new turtles and good luck =]
Reply:google...


I think you should have looked in to his more
Reply:Red eared sliders need room. they need a space to swim, and a space out of the water that they can easily climb up on to rest. I fed mine reptile sticks from walmart. You will also need to clean the tank often.
Reply:Sounds like you need to do a LOT more research before you bring these animals into your home. Lack of information is the reason far too many pets are abandoned by their owners. Make sure it's a right fit for you before you get them!!!
Reply:First of all PLEASE check out this link (the best link I have found so far) BEFORE getting the baby RES.





They grow to be DINNER PLATE size!!!





DO NOT start out with anything LESS than at least a 40 gallon (wide) tank.





They carry "Salmonnel bacteria" which means thorough washing and sanatizing your hands/arms EVERY time you interact with them.





They are MESSY and require FREQUENT water changes and tank cleaning.





They are omnivores and opertunistic feeders so they will try to dupe you into feeding them more than what they need.





They need a variety of foods to eat besides the store bought pellet foods.





They require a heated tank, ALL spectrum of UV lighting and 2x the water depth than there top shell is long.





They also require a basking platform that hey can get out of the water on and additional heat sourse for the basking.





They have a life span "in the wild" of up to 20 years and longer in captivity.





Consider, when fully grown, they will need a tank size of about 6x6 feet wide, aat least 4 foot deep with an area to be able to get out of the water on.





Good luck and I hope this makes you REALLY consider your decision BEFORE you bring the cute "little" babies home.





http://www.austinsturtlepage.com/_BORDER...
Reply:go to the pet store and buy some turtle food. You will need to put them in tank with some water and a place for them to get out of the water, maybe a big smooth rock. And yes you can pick them up and hold them. Sometime they bite but not like a snapping turtle. Check with the Pet store for what all you need.
Reply:Feed them the aquatic turtle food pellets from the pet store. Always take them out of their aquarium to feed them in a smaller container of water. This will keep your tank cleaner longer. Also, when they get bigger, toss a couple of gold feeder fish in the tank with them. They will love the chase and gives them good exercise. But don't feed them fish all the time. Fish alone will not give them the nutrients they really need for good development. Those pellets contain all the nutrients they need, and some they'd never even get in the wild. Make sure you have a UVa or UVb sunlamp to let them bask in also. This will help with calcium production and keep their bones strong. Hope this helped
Reply:Feeder Items: live feeder fish (guppies, goldfish, minnows), earthworms, crickets, waxworms, earthworms, silkworms, aquatic snails, blood worms, daphnia, shrimp, krill, mealworms. For very small turtles, prey may have to be cut into smaller pieces. Larger turtles can be offered larger items like tadpoles.


Leafy greens: collard, mustard and dandelion greens, kale, bok choy. Head (iceberg) lettuce should never be feed as it contains very little nutrition, but dark green leaf lettuces (e.g romaine) can be feed sparingly


Aquatic plants: in an aquarium or pond you can add aquatic plants on which turtles usually love to snack. Submerged plants like anacharis are often eaten, as are water hyacinth, water lettuce, duckweed, azolla (fairy moss), and frog-bit.


Other vegetables: carrots (tops are fine too), squash and green beans.


Supplements


A good reptile multivitamin with calcium and vitamin D3 shoule be mixed with the food a couple of times a week. Also, an excellent way to provide additional calcium is by putting a cuttlebone in the turtle tank. These are often avaiable in the bird section, and they can be affixed to the tank or just floated in the water


Set them on a 20 gallon tank per dozen turtles . Provide them with a dry land area and a shallow water area. Newborns need to master the art of floating and staying underwater for long periods of time. Don't assume that they will survive only with water. Newborn Red-Ear sliders can actually drown if you neglect them a dry land area. The water should be not too deep. As with adult sliders, newborns need to have their full spectrum light. So don't forget to include that in the tank. The full spectrum light will help the newborn shells to harden. Keep the water neatly clean. If you don't have a filter change the water every two days. This is very important since baby sliders are more prone to getting eye infections (that can leave them blind for life or even kill them) than adult sliders.





Keep the water neatly clean, provide him with a full spectrum light, keep him warm (about 80 degrees), and add vitamin supplements to his diet. Make sure the supplements are high in vitamin A and calc











they are friendly but always wash your hands after, some carry salomales
Reply:First, they need commercial turtle food and you should give them that daily.


Then you need to feed them fresh vegetables (lettuce, celery, ect)


When they are still small, try feeding them some small pieces of fish and worms, but then they'll become more herbivourus


You need at least a 10 gallon tank because they grow much bigger.


You should have UVB flourescent lights and UVB heat lamp to supply them with efficient vitamin 3. Have gravel at the bottom of the tank, and a rock or platform under the heat lamp to let them bask.


And clean out the water often to prevent smell and to keep the turtles healthy





i hope this helps!
Reply:um read this before getting your turtle;)





go to this website: redearslider.com


and then there will be more information then I can even say on here. yes special equipments are needed, such as a tank, an UVB light, and a filter if needed.


all of the information you need to know before getting a red eared slider, is on the link above.





they eat lots of stuff, such as insects [ew], lettuce, or krill, shrimps and pellets.





hope this helps^^
Reply:Feeder Items: live feeder fish (guppies, goldfish, minnows), earthworms, crickets, waxworms, earthworms, silkworms, aquatic snails, blood worms, daphnia, shrimp, krill, mealworms.





They also eat meat but you have to cook it


cause my 4 turtles love meat like hamburger, hotdogs, Pork, chicken





Your turtle adores them... but they are not good for the turtle. Raw meat has too much fat and will cause obesity in the turtle. Besides, it doesn't provide the turtle with the nutrients it needs so much. Raw chicken.... beware of salmonella! you can give her occasionally a piece of COOKED chicken (with no spices at all). About fish, I would suggest feeding it with mosquito fish or guppies. You can occasionally give her other types of fish but try to avoid sea fish. You should totally avoid giving your turtle fish that has been previously frozen. This fish will inhibit the absorption of certain nutrients and might cause her long term problems.








they eat lettuce, tomatoes, papaya, cantaloupe or bananas. You need to give it veggies with high vitamin A content (like carrots).





They are just excellent! They are a good source of calcium to the turtle and at the same time it helps it sharpen its beak! Cuttle bones can be attached to the aquarium or just be left floating to let the turtle chase them! You can buy them at most pet shops since they are the same used by birds.





Some turtles will eat aquatic plants, then if you want to decorate your tank with them, make sure that those plants are not poisonous! Among the plants that the turtles will eat we find: water hyacinth, water lilies, elodia, duckweed. Feeding your turtles with aquatic plants is an excellent idea because they have a high content of vitamin A and also provide cover to your turtle.



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