Red-eared sliders are interesting, fun, and unique pets. They are also known to be the most popular pet turtles globally.
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Red-eared sliders are interesting, fun, and unique pets. They are also known to be the most popular pet turtles globally.
These turtles are tough and will thrive and live in unclean and dirty environments. Having a baby slider as a pet is an excellent choice.
They are not just cute but will also help you stay engaged in taking care of them. But having a baby turtle as a pet can be quite tempting.
Before you do anything, you have to consider the feeding time and the care needs of these turtles. You also need to check whether or not they are in good condition.
In this post, you will learn how often you must feed a baby slider and how to properly take care of them so they can grow up healthily. So, let’s get started!
How Often to Feed Baby Red-Eared Sliders?
You have to feed your baby red-eared slider every day. Once they reach 6 months, you can feed them every other day.
To estimate the age of your baby slider, you must measure the outer shell straight down the middle portion vertically.
When it’s below 2 inches in length, make sure to feed the turtle each day. But if it’s between 2 inches to 3.5 inches, you can feed the turtle with pellets every other day.
Also, you need to feed them food, which should be the size of the turtle’s head.
Here, “size of their head” means around a teaspoon level. Whether you feed them fish or mealworms, make sure it’s about their head’s size. Another strategy you can use is feeding them as much as the baby turtle can eat within 5 to 10 minutes.
Be careful that they do not eat over 10 minutes as it can lead to overfeeding. You can keep a timer and set it up to 10 minutes.
What Must You Feed Your Baby Red-Eared Slider?
Utilizing turtle pellets as the staple food for your baby turtle is one of the best ways to make sure that they receive proper nutrition. But apart from pellets, you can also feed them other insects and meat. Remember, a baby slider will eat the following things:
- Dried Shrimp
- Mealworms
- Earthworms
- Gut-loaded crickets [Crickets that ate carrots or various other veggies]
- Tadpoles
- Small Fish
- Snails
Apart from the meat, you also have to give them some greens to munch on. Here are several vegetables that are good for the baby’s red-eared slider.
- Bell Peppers
- Green Beans
- Dark-colored leafy greens like dandelions, collard, mustard, turnips, etc
- Carrots
- Squash
You can also provide your baby slider with some occasional treats, such as:
- Bananas
- Blueberries
- Mangoes
- Strawberries
- Apples
These treats are completely safe for the baby sliders, and make sure to give them in small portions.
Taking Care of a Baby Red-Eared Slider: What to Do?
Taking care of a baby slider is different compared to the adult ones. The adult sliders are pretty hardy, but the babies are fragile and are prone to numerous diseases or illnesses.
Before getting a baby slider, make sure to get a big tank [must contain both water and land], warm temperatures, and an omnivorous diet.
But the immune system of all the baby red-eared sliders is still immature, making them a lot more sensitive to their surroundings.
They require frequent feeding, a small temperature range, and a clean tank. When you keep all things in mind and maintain them properly, you can prevent your baby turtle from falling ill.
You should create a proper schedule. Please take a look at this table and try to make a similar schedule to this.
- Monday: Feed them and do spot cleaning
- Tuesday: Feed the baby turtles, spot clean, and check the temperature
- Wednesday: Feed the turtles, spot clean, and handle them to check their health
- Thursday: Spot clean and feed the turtles
- Friday: Check the temperature, feed them and spot clean
- Saturday: Spot clean and feed the turtles
- Sunday: Partial water change, check the water quality and feed them
When you follow a proper schedule, it will help you to keep up with:
- The water quality
- Cleaning
- Feeding the baby sliders
- Checking the temperatures
Following a proper schedule can also lessen your stress, make it easier to take care of the turtles properly, and offer turtle stability.
But remember one thing, cleanliness is the most crucial part of caring for a slider. This is because red-eared sliders create waste, especially in the swimming area.
When you do not clean it properly, the dirty water can increase the chances of infections, illnesses, and sudden death.
Even though the water might look pretty clean or clear, it might contain high levels of nitrites and toxins due to the waste and decaying food items.
The best way to clean the tank clean is by scooping out all the visible waste and uneaten food each day.
Use the gravel vacuum every week to eliminate around 25% of the water from the tank. After that, replace this water with treated and fresh water.
You should also test out the water every week to monitor the nitrate level and presence of ammonia and nitrites. There should be no nitrites or ammonia, but 40 parts per million nitrates should be present in the tank.
The baby sliders can easily get sick and develop an illness or infection quickly. Due to such reasons, you should detect unusual behaviors or injuries as early as possible.
Although it can be challenging to identify injuries because of their small size, there are some signs that can help you detect an injury, which are:
- Patches present on their shell
- Lethargy
- Loose Droppings
- Refusing to eat food
- Dull shell or eyes
Try to pay good attention to the turtle’s behavior. Once you get to know that the slider is acting weird or differently can help you spot husbandry and health conditions right before they become severe.
Before you bring home your baby slider, make sure to prepare all the things in advance.
You should run the slider’s tank for around 4 weeks before bringing the little fellow into your home. This can help you cycle the tank and effectively control the filtration and temperature.
How to Know a Baby Red-Eared Slider is Male or Female?
It can be a little challenging to determine the gender of a baby red-eared slider. But if you’re a breeder, this piece of information can be extremely crucial.
Besides that, as a turtle owner, you might be curious to know the gender of your baby turtle. So, how do you find out the gender of your baby’s red-eared slider? Take a look at these tips:
- The plastrons of a female slider are flat [The bottom area of the shell]
- The plastrons of a male slider are concave [Curves located towards the spine]
- A female slider’s vent is pretty close to its shell’s edge
- A male slider’s vent is situated down the tail
- The male red-eared slider has long and thick tails compared to females
The male red-eared sliders have front claws, which are much longer than the females. During the time of courtship, the male sliders wiggle their claws in the face of the females to get their attention.
But as the sliders keep aging, the difference between the females and males becomes a lot more noticeable.
When the male sliders reach 2 years of age, they have all the male features and are fully matured. But the female sliders can only be fully developed once they reach 5 years of age.
Get Yourself a Baby Red-Eared Baby Turtle Now
Baby red-eared sliders require plenty of care and support. They are small and fragile, and weak, making them prone to numerous health-related conditions.
To help them thrive, you have to feed them with both plants and meat items every day.
It’s because as a child, these sliders require a lot of protein to grow. Don’t forget to give them treats occasionally as well.
