You bought hatchling red-eared sliders, Trachemys scripta elegans.

Try this link for information on set-ups, ect. http://www.austinsturtlepage.com/

http://members.tripod.com/~Draybar/draybarturtles.html has some great ideas for setting up aquariums.

You can get a food called Reptomin from most pet stores, even Wal-Mart. For hatchlings, it takes a minute for the pellets to soften up enough for them to eat it - might want to soak the pellets in water for a few seconds before offering to the turtles the first few times. It might take them a couple of days to get acclimated enough to eat. If they aren't interested in pellets after a couple of days, try pieces of earthworm or small crickets. Also try frozen bloodworms. You can get them in the frozen foods section of the fish section of most pet stores.

Make sure they have something to hide under in the water - feeling safe will get them acclimated faster, and that means healthier turtles. Artificial plants work well for this at their size. They need to climb out of the water onto a basking spot under a heat light - a normal household 60 or 75 watt bulb will work for a heat light. It's more important to have a good basking spot during the day than to have heated water, so long as your home isn't chilly.

Next time you see little sliders being sold in improper conditions, please report it to the local health department or the regional FDA office - both numbers can be found in the blue (government) pages of the phone book. It's illegal to sell them that small (federal regulation).

Katrina

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