Red ear slider turtle. Need help.

[pythontricker]

my next door nieghbor found one of these beauties in his pool. he gave it to me and i have no idea what to do with it. i have already fallen in love with it and its in a little 1 gallon tank. what do i feed it? how big do they get? if you could just give me some info on exacly what i need to do. thank you

[Patrick Long]

http://www.google.com/search?q=red+e...ient=firefox-a


Google....it does wonders!

[stangs13]

http://www.redearslider.com/

[bigballs]

i would first get it out of that one gallon tank. if its i baby i would start off with at least a 30 or 40 gallon tank with a decent filter and proper lighting. i have my 15 year old, 11" female RES in a 90 gallon tank with a canister fluval and a mercury vapor basking bulb. it will cost you quite a bit at first but after you spend the initial several hundred dollars on a setup theyre quite inexpensive...

[pythontricker]

can i have a beta fish in the tank with him? and how do i tell if its male of female? also could i feed him crickets?

[stangs13]

If you want a dead betta you can! Look at the links provided. That will help alot.

[pythontricker]

can i hold it?

[amystours]

Of course, but like any other animal, you should wash your hands thoroughly afterwards, and then use hand sanitizer. For some reason, people are panicking about these little guys carrying salmonella.

Oh, and they won't hesitate to go potty right in your hand.

Here's a link to a care guide:
http://www.petsmart.com/uc/petarticl...erTurtles.html

[pythontricker]

cool cool thanks for all the help. but i have two more questions. one how can i tell if its male or female? and also do i feed it on the inside or outside of its cage? because i know the crickets always drown them selves, so to avoid that issue should i feed it in an=nother container or what?thank you.

[stangs13]

Since they hunt in water, they will feed in water... They eat fish too! I don't think your supposed to fed to many fish though, just ike a snack.