How many times a week and exactly how much do i feed a red ear slider turtle?

Question

just got a res and im confused how many times a week/day and exactly how much like how many pellets do i feed my res because i always hear different he is about 5" long i think he is an adult if that helps? and what else could i feed him other than pellets and feeder fish ?

thanks

Answer 1

Turtles eat a LOT.  I feed mine twice a day, & he always wolfs it down.  If he's eating, he's hungry.  They always make a mess of it, too.  Mine likes crickets a lot, live ones.  Also shrimp.

Except in the winter, when he hardly eats at all.  Hibernation mode just has him sleeping & sunning most of the time.

Answer 2

feed them once or twice a day.!!!

Answer 3

I have a map turtle which is similar to your turtle. When he was under a year old I fed him bloodworm once a day. Now that he is fully grown I feed him turtle pellets, vegetables or bloodworm every other day. It depends how old the turtle is.

Answer 4

you know my tanks and now ponds are always stocked with over 50 in a tank and in my 150 gal pond ..I generally have about 150 feeger goldfish.

I have 4 and I go through 150 goldfish a month and about 8 heads of romaine lettuce a month and dried tubiflex worms about 75 a week.

I have had 2 sliders for 36 yrs now plus a 7 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. In Comparison to females, 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. 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. For 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 primarily of a commercial aquatic turtle pellet. Hatchlings and juveniles should be fed on a daily basis; however, they should be offered no more than they will consume during a single session to minimize water contamination. The diet can be supplemented with live fish of an appropriate size (guppies, goldfish), tubiflex worms and earthworms. Plant matter, in the form of chapped 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

For adults, 20% of the diet may consist of 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 kale, 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 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 ..

Common 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.

Fungal 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 sollution to the shell, coat the shell and don't clean it off untill he is readly to swim the next day.

** Keep this up for several weeks and it should go away. .

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“.

Answer 5

As far as how much and how often, turtles are "opportunistic "feeders.  They will try and con you (and yes, they do interact with us) into thinking they are STARVING to death!

Juvenile turtles are fed once a day, about 1 teaspoon of  "good quality" pellet food, or about the the amount that is the size of their head.  Adult turtles are fed every other day, same thing, about the size of their heads.  

What you have, at 5 inches, is NOT an adult turtle.  It is about one year of age, at best.  When you got the darling thing I bet no one TOLD you that they can live up to 25 years in captivity and reach the size of a dinner plate!!!!!!!

I would SERIOUSLY recommend reading EVERYTHING you can on caring for them and feeding them.

I currently have 3 baby RES that were (ha ha) "given" to me by my daughter as a Christmas present last year and the largest was 1 1/2 inches and it is now only 4 inches.

To date, they eat good quality pellet food which I offset with vitamin pellets (soft veggie smelling stuff), chopped up earth worm (store bought so they are chemically free), kale lettuce,

some greens from the yard (dandelion and baby corn plant) and most recently I tried them on hard boiled egg white ( a very tiny amount).  They really loved the egg, though I have no clue if it is good for them.  I have tried strawberry and melon but they took one bite then turned their noses up to it.

They have also been given about once a month, very small feeder fish which they love the best.

Turtles CAN and do get overweight which looks like their top shell is getting pretty high.  You MUST watch for this.

They require ALL UV spectrum light and require heated water about 75 degrees.  They need a basking area that is out of the water.  Most of all, they REALLY like the company of other RES.

Good luck to you, read all you can and most of all...

Turtles carry Simmonella Bacteria and you "MUST" wash and sanitize your hands EVERY time you interact with them!!!!

The best sight I have found yet is...

http://www.austinsturtlepage.com/_BORDER...

Answer 6

No. You feed babies ALOT. Adults not so much. I feed my turtles pellets, crickets worms, ect. Try staying away from the colared  pellets those are just dye. Anyway, Tell me something: Its 10pm You have a Big Mac and you eat. Youll gain wait. Same with turtles. Feed there whole meal in the morning. Turtle Obesity can cause MANY problems. I also recomend feeding them in a seperate tank, like a bathtub ( to minimize poo). Hope I helped.

http://exoticpets.about.com/od/aquatictu...

Here: The first guys post is dead wrong. No there not hungry, THERE PIGS. Here if u want to go through the hassel to visit this website to show im right. Sorry, I dont want to come off as pushy or a Know-it-all.

Answer 7

care sheet for red ear sliders

Answer 8

a turtle's shell getting high is not a cause of obesity but pyramiding from too much protien.....

also, if your turtles are only a year old and they are already 5" you're feeding wayyyy too much. my turtle is at least 3 years and only 4.5 inches. she's growing at a healthy rate with very little pyramiding.

anyway. a 5 inch turtle needs to be fed every other day and with as much food could fit in their empty head. mazuri turtle pellets are the best, rep-cal is second, and reptomin is third based on healthy-ness. anything other then that has too many fillers.

turtles at that size need to start eating more veggies and less protien/pellets/fish. turtles love carrots, dark green lettuce, squash, blueberries as a treat, collared greens and kale. stay away from spinach as it can inhibit calcium consumption.

(if your turtle won't eat the veggies soak them in canned tuna juice for a bit. it will entice his senses)