My red eared slider....?

Question

i think my res might be a little lonely all by itself, lol can i put any fish in there? my tank is too small for another turtle

Answer 1

Don't worry , he isn't lonely. I wouldn't put any fish in their - he will eat them.

Answer 2

As i understand it turtles are content living by themselves.  I have had 2 RES for like a year and they have grown from 2.5 to 7 inches and are about to get their 3rd aquarium (75 gal). So do put that into consideration.  Even though you don't have enough room for a second one now, you might when you decide to upgrade aquariums.  Mine do play together in this super funny game they have, so they do enjoy each other.  I will soon try a larger fish in with them but ANYTHING smaller they eat.

Answer 3

don't put fish in there unless they are big enough for your turtle to leave them alone, which is hard to find esspecially for a small tank. you can get bigger tanks cheep in a classified add. it would probably be a good idea to get your turtle a friend. they can live with any kind of slider, mud, or painted turtle

Answer 4

yes dont listen to anyone else, since obviously you said you cant have another turtle since the tank is too small, fish are ok to get, but of course he will eat them, so only put feeders in the tank such as minnows and guppies! Please dont get another turtle they will fight for space until the smaller, weaker one dies! Only get feeder fish, crayfish, shrimp as small feeders! I dont think he willl be too lonenly with loads of fish and feeders to chase in the tank!

Answer 5

Yes they can get lonely..BUT...for 2 turtles you MUST have a 60 gallon plus size tank or they will become canabalistic. They will rip limb and tail and shell off another turtle to get the most food and the most room in the tank.

The ONLY fish in their tank is the ones they eat...no cute ones cause they will disapear.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/29035692@N0...

The bigger the environment the bigger the healthier the turtle. Remember 10 gallons for every inch of turtle. I have used kiddy pools and plastic pond liners from most nurseries and worked great.

Did you know that they need to bask under a reptile light UVA/UVB for 8 to 10 hrs a day for the vitamin D that they need to grow. So that means getting a turtle dock also.

Leave the heater on 75 to 78 degrees always. These turtles in captivity do not hibernate their eating may slow down some but they will not hibernate.

Their water needs to be clean otherwise they get sick easily from dirty water cause they p**p allot.

Total Body length: 5-8" average, up to 12 inches max. Life span: 15-25+ years

Males have the longer front nails and are used in mating. And are considered mature at about 5 yrs old. You can’t start sexing till about  3” across.

You need a good filter system! Gravel larger than they can swallow.

You need to feed them feeder guppies, goldfish or minnows for protein and calcium daily drop 20 or so in the tanks and watch them disappear in a few days!

This way when they swim for their dinner they get exercise also!

They sleep at the bottom of rivers, streams. lakes or ponds or your tank to avoid predators like coyotes,  foxes, owls, hawks, possums, raccoons and even some wide mouth bass.

TOSS in a bird cuttle bone in the water for calcium. it will dissolve real slow and if they eat it that’s fine!!

They can have garden worms, meal worms, snails, crickets, flies, crayfish small frogs, dragon flies and  anything that moves only as a treat.

They need leafy greens Romaine, Butter lettuce. (Iceberg and cabbage are bad for them, any other leafy greens will do) for vitamin A that they need at least 3 to 4 times a week.

You probably already know that they get sick easily, shell rot, respiratory sickness, lopsided swimming, coughing, blowing bubbles from their nose.

**Swollen cloudy eyes means lacking in Vitamin A. Which we all need for good eyes. Google ‘vegetables with Vitamin A.

Contact the “www.anapsid.org/societies, for a turtle vet /  rescue in your city and state.

I wish you luck.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/29035692@N0...

Answer 6

Hey, i have a 10 gallon with 2 red ears and they are veryyyy happy togeather, inless you have smaller then a 10, you need a bigger tank. DONT PUT FISH IN, well you could put feeder gold fish in ahah they will eat some and become friends with others!!!

Answer 7

Turtles do not get lonely- they have no social needs, besides mating.

But, I'm sure it would enjoy a few fish anyways- turtles love fish.