Red Ear'd slider

[SquishyFish]

Has anyone heard of anyone adding a red ear'd slider (turtle) to their aquarium? I have a 175 and think it would be pretty cool. I understand they have to have a place to get out of the water and a U.V light for the health of their shell, but other than that is there any problem with putting one in a South American tank? I cant imagine a S/A would mess with a slider

Keep in mind, I'm talking about putting a small one in and letting it lose at the local lake when it gets too big.

 

[tbonem91]

only problem I see is temp - theyre much more of a cold water species and might not do too well in a tropical tank... that and they eat fish

 

[tropicfishman]

iono turtles will eat anything they can, especially small fish, so use cuation if ya do

 

[rich311k]

They will eat your fish if they can catch them. They are very messy I have one in a 60 gallon and I have to change out most of the water every week. They will move anything in the tank they can. They love to rearrange stuff.

 

[Devilishturtles]

It's also good to mention that you cannot *legally* obtain a RES smaller than 4 inches in the United States.

As for releasing it, that usually isn't a good idea. Once you raise it on staple foods and such, it will be very diffuicult for it to learn to find it's own food in the wild. A basking light that provides UVA AND UVB is needed, as well as an area wide enough and dry enough for the shell to completely dry out. Otherwise, you will have cases of septicemia, shell rot or fungus, etc. That said, you'd have to drop the overall water lever in your tank around 10 inches for their to be enough room for the platform and so the turtle can't get out.

IMO, turtles should be in their own tank or not at all.

 

[JDogg]

It's also good to mention that you cannot *legally* obtain a RES smaller than 4 inches in the United States.

are you sure of that? I have one as a classroom pet that was purchases and buy a student about 5 years ago at the size of a quarter, the student donated it tom me about a year ago, she is not over 10 inch.

 

[SquishyFish]

All good points...and all in favor of skipping the Turtle. Oh well.

Thanks for the input everyone.

 

[Devilishturtles]

It's also good to mention that you cannot *legally* obtain a RES smaller than 4 inches in the United States.

are you sure of that? I have one as a classroom pet that was purchases and buy a student about 5 years ago at the size of a quarter, the student donated it tom me about a year ago, she is not over 10 inch.

Same here. I got mine in NC at a roadside stand when they were less than an inch in diameter. I'm simply saying that they might not be as easy to find as one might think.

There are also a few rules that bend if you are using the turtle for educational purposes, and obtain permission for it. Which maybe your friend did.

 

[noncentric]

It's also good to mention that you cannot *legally* obtain a RES smaller than 4 inches in the United States.

are you sure of that? I have one as a classroom pet that was purchases and buy a student about 5 years ago at the size of a quarter, the student donated it tom me about a year ago, she is not over 10 inch.

Yep, I think the main thing is the term "legally". I also got a few RES's that were very small, but they weren't purchased from a reputable pet store by the person that gave them to me.

As with most things, it's almost always possible to get anything - it's just whether or not it's 'legal' to get them. There are plenty of ferret owners in CA, even though it's illegal to sell ferrets in CA.