Basic care

First and foremost, it is vital that you completely understand that owning a turtle is a huge commitment in terms of time as well as money. It is very important for the turtle to be in a suitable and close to natural environment as you can provide. Turtles may carry Salmonella, which causes diarrhea and vomiting in humans but nothing to turtles. So if you handle a turtle it is a must to wash your hands before and after.

How to choose a healthy turtle:

Now if you are not into rescuing sick or hurt turtles, you probably will be looking for a healthy and "attractive" pet Red eared slider(let's call it RES from here on).

When you go to the pet store you might be tempted to select a turtle with a unique or beautiful shell, which is not entirely wrong, but you should first observe how it is behaving in the tank. 

Look for one which is active. Pick one up and see if it starts to struggle. If it does, that's good. It means the turtle is bold.(some may prefer otherwise).

Next check to see if it's eyes look bright and healthy. There shouldn't be any goop oozing out of them.

Check if it's shell is hard by pressing it in a little.

Look for any damage to the shell or tail, or for bite marks.
The tail should be short and stumpy but should taper smoothly into an elongated cone shape.

Choosing a habitat:

So you've got your RES! Great! Now select a cozy home for it.

The place where you buy it will generally tell you that a small bowl would be enough for its whole life.
They are totally wrong!

An RES is quite a large turtle. Males grow upto 8 inches while females can reach sizes upto 12 inches.
So it is crucial that you choose a proper setup for it.

For a small RES (say around 3 inches shell length or "Straight Carapace Length"/SCL ) a minimum of 75 litre tank is required. The size would be 24"x17"x13". Yes it's big; and it's only going to get bigger.
As and when your turtle grows you'll probably need bigger tanks for it. The general idea is 15 litres per cm of SCL.

List of items very crucial for the setup:

Filter: A canister filter is the best for starters as well as later on. The water should be clean at all times. RES are very messy so do take care.

Basking area: There has to be a platform over the water which is completely dry and easily accessible for your turtle.

Basking lamp: If your setup is out in the sun, make sure there's no plastic or glass cover over the tank. Turtles need a lot of UVB light for their survival and a plastic or glass cover will filter it.

If your setup is indoors you very strongly need a basking lamp which has all the spectrum of light over the basking area, or else your turtle will die.

Thermometer: Keep monitoring the temperature of the water and basking area.
The water temperature should be 24C and Basking area should be 32C


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