Re: Found a turtle while mowing the grass
Sucks in air circa Ace Ventura Pet detective.
-The turtle may outgrow the 50 but it should suffice(75E is what I would've recommended, it is a great size for a single turtle or fish IMO BTW). ;-)
-A lot of hardcore turtle keepers recommend 90 gallons minimum for a male and 125 gallons for a female. They also use rubbermaid tubs for enclosures that farmers use as water bowls for horses. They are nicely priced and you can pretty much make a mini indoor pond for your house. :-D
-A 50w or 75w basking bulb should suffice for the ATBA(above tank basking area).
-Filtration to the max is a must if you don't want to do water changes every couple days to a week. I have a 2 Filstar XP3s on a 125gallon tank and clean the filters every 6 months with small water changes every 2 weeks and 1 XP3 on a 75 gallon. Got mine from Drsfoster&smith.com. The hardcore hobbyists recommend the Eheim brand if you can afford it(they are ridiculously pricey but are apparently THE best filter ever!) with the filstars as second best.
-I'd guess it's probably an adult? Say 6inches long and bigger for GP. Adults are more herbivorous and less carnivorous, Romaine or red leaf lettuce is good and Anarchis(aquarium plant) is a good treat. If you feed it fish, go with the minnows from a bait shop or guppies which also add to the tank, try to stay away from feeder goldfish from pet stores. Supplement with pellets, I recommend Zoomed cause that's what I use and mine like it. You should be able to feed every other day or lettuce one day and pellets the next, it's up to you. For a treat, give them night crawlers as it's fun to watch them slurp down the raw and wrigglers.
-Water temperture can be kept between 75-82 degrees.
-Easy ways of distinguishing male sliders from females: males have long front claws and long somewhat thin tails. Females have short front claws and stubby tails.
:let's out air:
I think that is all I have for now. Hope it helps and I didn't come off rude or snotty, wanted to be straight forward and to the point. :D
Good luck with the little guy. Gratz on the "rescue". Welcome to the hobby of turtle keeping. :gj: :)
Re: Found a turtle while mowing the grass
Congrats on the find! I remember my brother kept red-eared sliders when he was younger. I don't remember how he cared for it (it was his pet) so I can't really offer you any advice :rolleyes:
However, you have a picture of the turtle?
Re: Found a turtle while mowing the grass
He's still a sub adult. Throw a bunch of guppies or minnows in there and let him chase them for awhile. Probably at the stage of life where he is still mostly on protein but starting to balance between proteins and plants. Either way, a balance of pellets, greens, and fish or night crawlers sounds about right.
Good luck with him. :D
Re: Found a turtle while mowing the grass
Thanks for the pics. Looks like she found a happy home. :gj:
Re: Found a turtle while mowing the grass
Oh yes. I knew I forgot something: a UVB bulb. I think they come in different forms now but the most common is the flourescent tube. A standard flourescent aquarium strip will work with a UVB 5.0 bulb. The light is usually good for 18 inch penetration into the water, but lose potency after 1 year(from what I've heard). I'm not up on the latest UVB technology but there could be something better/cheaper/more efficient of applying UVB to the enclosure.
Thank you Anya
