How can I feed my Red Ear Slider turtles while I am on vacation?

Question

I am going to be on vacation for about 10 days. I need to figure out how to feed my two RES while I am gone. They are 2 years old and about 4 inches in size. I have heard about putting feeder fish in their tank, I have never given them to them before. Any comments on this idea or any other suggestions? Thanks for the help! Bob and Carlos appreciate it so much :)

Answer 1

oh they need the calcium in the fish to make thier shell healthy. Toss about 20 ion the tank and they will be gone when you get home..do you feed any greens

I have had 2 sliders for 36 yrs now plus a 8 yr old and a 5 yr old. This is how I have taken care of them for 36 yrs. Great pets.

I have had them in a stand alone 150gal pond from sears..for about 6 yrs now..

**Here is some important and a lot of info. If he or she is small get feeder guppies or small feeder goldfish, frozen brown worms ..or live brown worms from a fish store. petco and or petsmart do not carry live worms..

**Red-eared sliders, Gender especially juveniles, can be difficult to s*x. Gender in adults is determined by external physical characteristics and behavior. Males have longer fore claws (which are use in courtship), a longer tail length, a longer distance from the body to the vent opening, a tail that is thicker at the base and generally a smaller body size and shell length. Turtles are considered juveniles till after 5 yrs old.

Their Home

The minimum enclosure size for hatchling re-eared slider should be a 20-gallon aquarium minimum. As a general rule, the water depth should be at least 2 times the turtle's length, with several extra inches of air space between the surface of the water to the top edge of the tank to prevent escapes. So if your turtle is 4” around  he needs at least 10 to 12” of water to swim. For ONE 4 to 5 inch long sliders, the recommended minimum enclosure surface area is 50 gal plus tank with an extra square foot for each additional turtle.

What to Feed

In the wild, re-eared sliders eat both animal and plant sources of food. However, juveniles are mainly meat eaters but still love the greens.

In captivity, the diet for juveniles should consist  of a commercial aquatic turtle pellets and small feeders guppies or goldfish or minows. Hatchlings and juveniles should be fed on a daily basis. The diet can be supplemented with live fish of an appropriate size (guppies, goldfish), tubiflex worms and earthworms. Plant matter, in the form of  leafy greens or finely chapped mixed vegetables, can be offered once weekly but may not be readily accepted until they grow older.

Fill tank with approx 20 feeder guppies and or 10 to 15 small goldfish. you’ll know when to replenish the live food supply. just count what’s left and then fill it up again..Get a cuttle bone from the bird dept and drop in the water for added calcium. Hopefully they may eat it and that’s what you want.

For adults their of the diet may consist of some commercial turtle pellets. Plus 80% of their diet is fresh alive fish to catch in their water which also gives them exercise when trying to catch to eat. Adults should be fed greens , romaine, red leaf lettuce, mustard greens, dandelion, watercress, parsley. Swiss chard, shredded carrots, shredded squash, thawed frozen mixed vegetables and miscellaneous fruits. Adults can be fed every two to three days. NO iceberg or cabbage!!

Vital Statistics

Total Body length: 5-8" average, up to 12 inches max.

Life span: 15-25+ years

Males have the longer foreclaws..

Water quality and Filtration

Sliders are voracious feeders and tend to foul the water real quickly with their messy eating habits and frequent defecation. Therefore, a system needs to be in place for good water quality. Partial to full water changes can be performed. Many different filter systems are available ..

*** Health Problems

If you take proper care of your red-eared slider by providing excellent housing, nutrition, lighting, and heating, it is unlikely to ever become ill or injured. However, it’s still important to familiarize yourself with ailments common to sliders so that you can quickly identify them in your own slider, should it become ill. The following are some of the most common medical problems among red-eared sliders.

Fungus Infections

“Fungal infections are fairly common among red-eared sliders, especially younger ones. If you notice what looks like a light layer of cotton on your slider’s shell or eyes or in its mouth, this is most likely some form of fungal infection. Although their appearance can be alarming, most infections in their early stages are fully treatable at home. If a fungal infection remains untreated, however, it can spread across the entire body and cause serious harm to your turtle.

To treat a mild fungal infection, immerse your red-eared slider in a warm saltwater bath for about half an hour each day, using a soft sponge to gently scrub the infected regions. You can also treat patches of fungus with topical applications of a mild antiseptic, such as povidone-iodine. As long as the problem isn’t severe, you should notice signs of recovery within a day or two, and a full recovery in about 10–14 days.

If your turtle has a persistent fungal infection that home treatment isn’t curing, take it to the vet for treatment. Several medications are available that can address a fungal infection if it hasn’t spread too far.”

**Shell Rot.

First make a dry box to keep the turtle in, shell rot needs water to grow.

Keep it warm and give it plenty of light.

Scrub the shell gently with a toothbrush and water.

Let the turtle swim for about 20 minutes a day in something other than his pond..clean water.

1-2 times a day take a cotton ball apply Hydrogen Peroxide to it then to his shell. It'll start bubbling which means its cleaning it. it. DO NOT get it in his eyes.

Then clean the shell and apply providone-iodine solution to the shell, coat the shell and don't clean it off until he is ready to swim the next day.

** Keep this up for several weeks and it should go away. . MOST important !!! TOSS in a bird cuttle bone in the water for calcium. it will dissolve real slow and if they eat it that’s fine!!

Respiratory Infections

“Slider turtles and other aquatic species are susceptible to respiratory infections. Most respiratory infections that can affect sliders are mild and easily treatable in their early stages, but there are also some particularly virulent infections that can kill a turtle very quickly without veterinary attention. Sliders usually develop respiratory infections when their tank is too cold.

Symptoms of an infection include a runny nose, wheezing, lopsided swimming (an ailing lung changes the turtle’s buoyancy), lethargy, and a refusal to eat. If you identify the illness in its early stages, you may be able to treat it by removing the sick slider from its quarters into a new, clean tank (especially if you keep multiple sliders, since the majority of respiratory infections are contagious) and keeping it a few degrees warmer than normal. Warmth is the most crucial factor in treating respiratory infections in the home. If the condition persists for more than a few days or worsens, bring your slider to your veterinarian, who will treat the infection with antibiotics.”

Contact the “herpetologicalsocieties.com“.

Ps..I have arthritis in my hands, so I have  pasted my answer for you. I just try to help you the pet  owner as much as I can. I wish you  Luck.

Answer 2

Yes, You can buy Rosy Red Goldfish from your local Petsmart. They WILL eat them. But they will make your tank dirty so you will have to clean it when you get back. Also you can buy a Automatic Fish Feeder that you could probably fill with pellets. Id get about 35-40 and they sell for about 10 cents.

Answer 3

Yeah you can put fish in there, they will probably all disapear, put in like 10 in there, and also plants, because veggies would rot in 10 days. Anachris and water lettuce are cheap plants. And oh yeah, you can only leave for 10 days if you have a timer for your lights, one that turns them on and off. You can get two at a hardware store for $5 each, one for the basking lamp, and one for the UVB fixture.

Answer 4

You have a lot of options, each with different pros and cons.

One option is to overfeed them some for about a week before, and then just a little heavy just before you leave. 10 days is not much for a healthy turtle to go without food.

My preferred recommendation is to establish a good tank with strong filtration, some live plants (since I don't use a substrate, I have my plants in pots), snails, small fish, small shrimp, etc. If it eats everything, I just restock a few things at a time, and I let the powerful filters handle the waste.

For more ideas, try http://www.austinsturtlepage.com

Answer 5

Try small feeders like rosy reds or white clouds, if there hungry enough they will eat them.

Answer 6

well when i use to go out of town i would buy mine crickets and put like a million pellets in the tank and that worked great