red ear slider question

[broken]

A friend of mine is building a pond in his back yard and came across a red ead slider turtle and has no place to put at the time.
I am willing to keep him in my 560gal tank that is not quite set up yet but I have a few questions first
1st will the turtle scratch the ACRYLIC tank up?
2nd Does a turtle need a cycled tank?
3rd What do I feed the turtle?
Any other tips will be apreciated and yes the turtle will have a place to get out of the water to avoid drowning.

Fast responses would be apprciated because its in a cardboard box at the moment.

 

[Vicious_Fish]

1st- Yes, I'm pretty sure a RES is capable of scratching an acrylic tank

2nd- No, turtle are not fish and don't need a cycled tank but it can't hurt. Your filter will break down the turtle waste faster if it has the beneficial bacteria already in it. If you can get some filter media from an already cycled tank to add to your filter

3rd- Depending on how old the turtle is will determine it's diet. For starters feed a high grade turtle pellet like Reptomin that contains a lot of the vitamins and minerals a turtle needs. If your turtle is young it will need a more carnivorous diet. Adult diets feature more plant material. Below is a very good care sheet on RES that will cover most of what you should and shouldn't feed. It should also answer any other questions you have. Best of luck.

http://www.austinsturtlepage.com/Care/caresheet-red_ear_slider.htm

 

[Louie]

You could go to walmart,etc and get a rubbermaid 54 gallon bin or if you prefer the cheap 30 inch long bin till your friends pond is ready.

Fill them 1/4 to 1/2 with water . Wont leak and work fine as temp housing.

 

[coura]

Its he´s intention to keep the turtle in the pond when its ready? Because this sliders are native from your area and that could actually be a wild one. If its a wild one you could have real trobble aclimating her to live in a fish tank, in this case the pond its obviously the better solution since its basicly keeping her semi-wild. But DONT release her, just in case she could be a escaped or released pet, its genetic makeup could not be favorable to local populations.

 

[broken]

Thanks for the replies guys but yeah when i first told the guy I would keep his turtle I forgot that my tank was acrylic and yeah the turtle is wild.
I think I might just release him in the bayou down the street from my house becuse I dont want to scratch my tank and I am not a big fan of taking a wild creature and caging them anyway, if it was born in captivity it would be a different story.
Once again thanks for the replies.