Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I found a baby red eared at the creek I saw the eggs were it hatched there mother was kille her head was torn off so I took the little baby I found home.Hes not eat ing what should I do.I need some care information.

THANKS A MILLION

>>I found a baby red eared at the creek I saw the eggs were it hatched there mother was kille her head was torn off so I took the little baby I found home. Hes not eat ing what should I do.I need some care information.

Sliders lay eggs and leave them. If the decapitated turtle you found was near the nest, it probably wasnt the mother and if it were, she wasnt there to protect them or care for them. Baby RES are self sufficient at time of hatching. You can attempt to care for the turtle yourself, but be prepared to spend hundreds of dollars and the rest of your life caring for it. My suggestion is to return the turtle where you found it, learn as much as you can about RES, and when you are ready to care for one, then find a turtle.
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where do you live? are sliders NATIVE to your area??? if they are then put the baby back into the wild.. the mother was only there to have the eggs, they do protect themselves. BUT if the turtles are not native to your area then HOORAY For you... these turtles are taking over everyrhing because stupid people are leaving these turtles free and they are squeezing out turtles that ARE native to that area! although these turtles cost a lot of money to raise... i believe that people should raise these turtles instead of leaving them in their non-native environment to kill off the other turtles in that area!!!

if you want care tips: feed the turtle protein and vegetables (greens) and sometimes fruits! the turtle needs a lot of water (1 gallon per inch of shell) and a lot of room to grow, so you need to make sure u get a larege enough tank! they grow fast, but they shouldnt grow faster than about an inch a year, if they grow faster than that... this means that you are overfeeding your turtle, which could cause major problems later on in their life! you should also provide a warm (about 85 degrees) for a basking spot, which your turtle will get out of the water and sun itself. the water temp should be around 75 degrees. i think that's about it for basic needs, if there are other questions, dont be afraid to ask!
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~ Evie

Pets:
German Shephard {Dusty}
German Shephard/Collie mix {Shadoe}
2 RES turtles {Booger and Snot}
African Clawed Frog {Bingo}
Snail {Gary}

He is swimming against the glass a lot is that all right What do you mean not native

i mean... are the turtles NORMALLY (without human help) from your area??? i know that they are not native to here (i live in PA)... people get these 'great' pets that they can no longer take care of.. and instead of giving them away to someone who CAN take care of them... these people think it's easier to let these turtles go into the 'wild' and then these turtles are VERY adaptive so they end up taking over the native wildlife turtles in your area and may eventually kill them all off!

and yes, sometimes the turtle does swim against the glass, just be sure you have plenty of room for this turtle to swim!! they need a lot of swimming area... the tank should mostly be filled with water except for the basking (DRY) area that they need. if you cant get your baby RES to eat the reptomin pellets, try feedin it some freeze-dried blood worms (aka larvae of mosquitos) or get some real ones... you can actually have your own mosquito larvae if you would need to!

let us know how he/she is doing!
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~ Evie

Pets:
German Shephard {Dusty}
German Shephard/Collie mix {Shadoe}
2 RES turtles {Booger and Snot}
African Clawed Frog {Bingo}
Snail {Gary}

Aquatic turtles should have TEN gallons of water per inch of shell.

whoops.. that's what i meant! sorry for the typo... but thanks for fixing it
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~ Evie

Pets:
German Shephard {Dusty}
German Shephard/Collie mix {Shadoe}
2 RES turtles {Booger and Snot}
African Clawed Frog {Bingo}
Snail {Gary}