Oh no.... I need help

[jonnythan1252]

I'm getting a turtle soon and its going to be my first. I dont know if its a red eared slider or a painted belly(box) turtle. my question is, do they have similar care set ups? any tips? feeding habbits? tyi!

[L.West]

I've kept Map Turtles in the past (aquatic) and I can tell you they are alot of work if done correctly. Mine were both pretty small and were kept in a 100 gallon stock tank. I had to drain the whole tank once a week in order to keep the water quality optimal. I also ran an FX6 canister filter on this tank which is a monster filter.

You will need a large tank, massive filter and UVB lighting for them too. You will need a docking station with the UVB light mounted above it. They love to bask and need the UVB rays to be healthy. Don't forget submersible heaters also.

Like I said - hopefully you did some research to know what you are getting into.


Best of luck to you.

[Kcl]

Red eared sliders can grow up to 12" in length although males will be smaller than females. This means that an adult can require more than a 120 gallon tank, which is very expensive. They also require a very good filter. They can live over 50 years. However, most captive red eared sliders in the US either die in the first few years due to insufficient care, end up at rescues which all have tons of them, or get dumped in waterways. A majority of US waterways now have red eared sliders as an invasive species due to this, which has damaged the native turtle populations in these areas. If you're getting a red eared slider, *please* take a look at your ability to care for an adult first. Not a lot of people have the resources for them.

Painted turtles are a much easier - although still difficult!- proposition primarily because they can be about half the size of red eared sliders depending on the specific painted turtle species. Once again, males are a bit smaller than females. You can be looking at a 75+ gallon tank, but once again, this depends on the species, but even the larger species tend to be under 8". This is still expensive but more manageable. Painted turtles can still live over 50 years.

Although you then listed box turtle in parentheses - this is COMPLETELY different than painted turtles and red eared sliders as it is a terrestrial turtle and red eared sliders and painted turtles are primarily aquatic.

So, step 1 = figure out turtle species.