Taking Care of a Red-Eared Slider Turtle

One of the Most Unique and Amazing Pets

One of the most fun and amazing pets to have would be a Red-eared slider turtle. These unique creatures are fun to watch and interesting to take care of. First of all, you may be wondering what a red-eared slider turtle is exactly. These tiny turtles are found throughout the United States east of the Rocky Mountains. Believe it or not but these turtles are one of the most often sold pets in the U.S. and even international. They are wonderful small green turtles with reddish stripes behind their eyes. Their native habitat is in fresh warm waters. Don't be fooled, these turtles are great swimmers but they spend much of their time basking in the sun on warm rocks or logs. Red-eared sliders are considered to be omnivores because they eat both animal proteins (i.e. crickets) and also vegetable matter. The baby turtles will need up to 40% of their food from strictly protein sources, however, when they grow up to be adult turtles than they will usually eat vegetation. These turtles mostly feed on small fish, water snails and plants growing underwater, when they are out in the wild. When they are kept as pets, small turtle food pellets will work just fine.

Currently in the U.S. it is illegal to sell any turtle that is less than four inches in length. Male turtles usually reach this length in 2-4 years and female turtles usually reach this length between 5-7 years. You can tell the sex difference in your turtle because male turtles are smaller than the females but they have longer tails.