Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I really want either a Painted/Red-Earred Slider turtle and would like to know a whole checklist of everything I'd need to house one or even two.

by the time the one of the turtles are full grown you will need at least a 75 gallon aquarium. But if your going to get a hatchling a 20 or 30 gallon aquarium could last a little less than a year. You will need to have a filteration system on the aquarium to clean the water. You will need some plants in there for it to hide behind when it is scared or threatoned. You will need a floating device in the aquarium for it to bask under. Depending on what size aquarium you will need a certain wattage heat lamp. You will need a certain wattage UV light. Keep the water in the aquarium about three-fourths of the way full so no chance of it getting out when basking or swimming. You will need gravel at the bottom of the aquarium. you will need a screen top cover fitted for your size aquarium so it couldnt get out. You could also get some PH drops in the exact amount for your aquarium to keep the water just right and purified. For it to eat on you will need to buy some turtle pellets for the type of turtle your getting. Every now and then you should feed it some live matter such as baby crickets, liver, and mealworms, ect. With my experience with aquatic turtles i think that is about all your going to need. Good Luck.

crocker

forgot to mention but your also going to need a aquarium heater to put in the water to make sure the water is the right temp. and so it dosent get too cold.

Well... I would start with one, i would go for the painted. Turtles are not exactly cheap. First thing you will need is a container to hold water for the turtle. It could be a pond, aquarium, or rubbermaid container. If your going for looks the aquarium is the better, but pricier choice. If your looking to save some money I would start out with a 50 gallon rough tote rubbermaid container. You can get them at target, walmart, ect. for about $10.00. Beats the $75.00 for a 55gal tank. For a painted you could keep it in the 50 for most of it's life since they stay small around 8in. Next you will need a submersible heater such as a Ebo-Jager, or Tronic heater. Next you will need a basking light fixture, ie shop light, and a flourecent light fixture. You can get both at a hardware store for under $25.00. Then just use a standard bulb, 60-100watt for the shop light, and a UV/UVB for the flourecent, such as Repti-sun 5.0. You will need some sort of filter to keep the water clean. I would reccomed a canister filter. My favorites are the FilStars. For a 50gal I would get the XP3, priced around $100.00. For the tank setup, you will need a basking area. You could use a rock, log, ect. Something that the turtle can easily climb out on to to bask under the heatlamp. Then you can throw in some live plants or fake plants to give the turtle something to hide and explore in. One tip, start out with the right equipment the first time, you will save yourself a heck of a lot of money and frustration. So dont go for the small tank, go for the larger one that will last a while. Well that pretty much covers the BASICS. For further reading go to www.austinsturtlepage.com It is a great site that has loads of information. Hope this helps,
Chris D.
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Hey mine name is Chris and I currently have 1.0 Midland Painted, 1.0 YBS, 1.1 Leopard geckos, 1.0 Bearded Dragon