Red Eared Slider

Red Eared Slider
Trachemys scripta elegans


The Red Eared Slider is distributed across the whole of Eastern USA and southwards into Mexico. The sliders ('slider' refers to their habit of scurrying into water when frightened) are currently placed in the genus Trachemys. Agassiz first described Trachemys in 1887. The sliders have also been placed in synonymy with both Pseudemys and Chrysemys at one time or another. In 1986, Seidel and Smith returned them to Trachemys, which is where they remain today. The only species occurring in North America is Trachemys Scripta, for example; T.s. elegans (Red-eared slider), T.s. scripta (yellow-bellied slider), T.s. gaigeae (Big-bend slider), and T.s. ornata (ornate slider). gaigeae (Big-bend slider), and T.s. ornata (ornate slider).

The red eared slider is easily identified by the red stripes behind their eyes. The differences between a red-eared male and female are listed below, but the earliest that one can tell whether a terrapin is male or female is at approximately seven months:



The equipment that you'll need to create a suitable environment for the terrapin is as follows:

A suitable sized tank
Heater and thermostat
Filters and air pump
Light bulbs
Suitable depth of swimming water
Dry area
Thermometer
Red eared sliders can grow up to 30cm (12in) in length so the size of tank needed will depend greatly on the size and number of sliders you intend to keep. The best sizes of tanks for most sliders are 20- 30- and 55-gallon aquariums, depending on the size and number of specimens. The ideal water temperature is 24-30C (75-86F). They require a suitable basking area out of the water. Red-Eared sliders must be kept in warm water to encourage them to eat. Sliders must have full spectrum lighting. This replicates and provides radiant energy given off in nature by the sun. During this process a collection of vitamins (mostly B3) is absorbed into the recipient's body through exposure to the light. DO NOT use "black light" - turtles benefit less from black lights, and frequently a turtle's vision will be damaged due to the intense quality of the beam (it can result in permanent blindness within a short space of time).

A balanced diet is needed to provide all the essential nutrients, minerals and vitamins that a terrapin needs for growth, bone and shell formation and repair of damaged tissues. Terrapins are mainly carnivores, but they do need a small amount of fruit and vegetable in their diet for it to be balanced. Meat contains protein, a little fat and some minerals and vitamins. Fish contains protein, calcium in the bone and fat and vitamins A and D in the liver oils. Calcium is strongly needed in a terrapin's diet, as a deficiency in either calcium, vitamin D or both will result in soft-shell which is difficult to cure. Fruit and vegetables contain mainly vitamins (A, B1, B2 and C). Below I have taken a table from a book called Understanding Terrapins by Ruth Midgley. This basically sums up what should be in a terrapin's diet (I would recommend buying/reading this book as it is mainly aimed at people intending to keep red-eared sliders).



Allow the terrapin to exercise outside the tank. Maybe let him/her roam around in the garden (when the weather is right). Do not allow the terrapin to bury itself in the soil or grass, as they are difficult to find. DO NOT keep terrapins in the sun for more than a few minutes; if they are kept longer it may kill them. Once the terrapin has finished exercising, wash off all the soil with luke-warm water. If the terrapin cannot exercise in the garden, allow it to exercise on a carpeted floor.

This sheet only briefly outlines a red-eared slider's requirements. If you are seriously considering buying one and keeping it healthy you must read round this creature and find out as much as possible. The red-eared slider may be one of the most commonly kept herptiles - it is relatively cheap to buy, and the young do look particularly delightful, but it is surprising that many people buy this herptile with no knowledge of what they have bought, and not even providing the bare essentials. People come back with (what was a healthy terrapin) an unhealthy terrapin to the pet shop because they could not be bothered to look after it properly. If you cannot provide a red-eared slider (or any other animal in fact) the bare essentials, do not buy it. If you did it would be wrong and cruel to keep it.