How is this feeding routine for my Painted and Red Ear Sliders?

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
Here is a website to sex the turtles

http://www.chelonia.org/sexing/sexing_Chrysemys_picta.htm

For RES, males will have longer nails and their tail will be longer as well, kinda the same style as the painted in the link above.

Like I said before, I do advise getting a larger tank as soon as you can. If you can't afford a bigger tank, aim for a rubbermaid stock tank.

I would aim for something at least 50 inches long, 30 inches wide and once again depth is your choice. I know people that keep them in 2 feet deep water and some people that keep them in 5 inch water.
 
m1ste2tea;4823752; said:
sounds like a good routine. Mine is about the same. I like the dandelion idea, I think im going to try that in the summer.

My turtles eat them but they don't love it. So I only feed them it after a few days of not feeding them. They are not so picky when they are hungry.

dadfish123-
Lettuce is great to feed turtles if you feed them a well balanced diet. Too much of any one food is unhealthy for turtles. Make sure your not feeding iceberg lettuce.

Komodo-
I will start looking for a bigger tank. The 55 gallon seems so large and they don't even look crowded. I had no idea they needed such a large tank. Thanks for the link. The res that was mounting has a deformed tail. It looks like a little nub. It was a birth defect. His claws may be slightly longer I'm not sure. He is like half an inch larger than the other one. Wouldn't the female be larger since they are the same age?
 
Females are larger but sometimes it does not happen until later in life.

Bigger is normally better in the fish/reptile world in my mind. Turtles can survive in small tanks,but it should be more about making sure the animals are happy, than just what is the minimum.

My opinion is look at measurements of tanks, not so much gallons.

According to gallons, a 55 standard is better for turtles than a 40 gallon breeder tank, but I really think 40 gallon breeders would be a better shape than a 55 gallon.
 
Does over filtering the water and lots of water changes help the turtles like it does for an overstocked fish tank?
 
karate626;4824655; said:
Does over filtering the water and lots of water changes help the turtles like it does for an overstocked fish tank?

Yup

same rules apply. Turtles produce waste,it goes in the water.

Some people debate that a filter cannot handle what a turtle produces, but my biomedia seems to handle it no problem so far.
 
Mine does too. I will add an extra filter too as a backup and to help over filter. Until I find another tank for them I will do frequent water changes and over filter. Do you do 100% water changes. That's what I do about every 2 weeks.
 
karate626;4824753; said:
Mine does too. I will add an extra filter too as a backup and to help over filter. Until I find another tank for them I will do frequent water changes and over filter. Do you do 100% water changes. That's what I do about every 2 weeks.


I do 100% water changes weekly on my turtles and 50-80 weekly on my fish.
Stress Coat (water conditioner)in all tanks as well. There is chlorine in my tap water
 
Does the stress coat help the turtles? I thought it help replace the slime coating on the fish. I can change and to 100% water changes to my turtle tanks every week. I do 50 for my fishtanks as well.

Do you use the floating (I think it's foam) logs for your turtles? They save a lot of swimming space in my tanks.
 
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