Red Eared Slider- My Turtle

[olufsenaudio]

I have a red eared slider turtle. I've had him for about 2 years. I just had some general questions concerning his tank set up.

I've heard differing opinions but what is the correct temperature for his tank? Is it okay to take him out of the water and if so for how long? I have Zeolite, Carbon and Some biological media in his filter, is this a good set up for him?

CR

[Steve]

Welcome, CR.

I'm going to answer your questions from a biology point of view and not an aquarium keeping point of view for a couple of reasons: 1) I haven't really kept turtles because 2) Where I live it's illegal to keep them as pets.

As far as taking him out of the water, if you mean having a place for him to get out of the water then the answer is most definitely yes. Even if it's a log/branch sticking up out of the water.Chrysemys, the genus that your turtle belongs to, needs to come up out of the water.

As for temperature, that's a hard one to answer, too without a little more information. The warmer the air temperature, the cooler the water temperature *can* be, if that makes sense. Turtles move back and forth from water to air/land to help regulate their temperature.

What temperature do you currently keep the water and what's the situation where you keep the tank? (room, ambient sun, average temperature?)

As for filtration, you are going to need to clean more often than you will with fish, even with good media. Turtles are messy eaters and their skin can harbor bacteria. If you handle your turtle at all, make sure you wash your hands. Turtles can carry Salmonella.

I hope this helps some. Feel free to ask follow ups!

BTW, wondering who this is. Are you a Facebook friend, a blog reader, etc.?
Welcome.

[olufsenaudio]

My temperature for the tank is at 75 to 78 degrees. I run a special bulb for him during the day (His name is Lt Colonel Jeff Cooper) and at night I run a blue "fish tank light". The tank get's natural sunlight because it's in a room with a large window.

This is Chandler, your former student.

[Steve]

Chandler! Welcome!

I think 75-78 degrees is fine and possibly a little on the high side. Those turtles are native to TN and survive in much colder water in the summertime. As long as Lt. Col. Cooper is active and eating (well, as active as turtles get) then I think you're doing fine.

I'm not sure about the "fish tank light" at night. If you mean that you have a light on 24 hours a day, I'd get a timer and have it go off later at night.

[olufsenaudio]

That's good to know about his temp. I'm gonna take his tank heater out and as per your advice I just ordered a new turtle dock for him to climb out on. I'm hoping next year to find a decent 55 gallon tank because he has grown and I know he would enjoy it.

[Steve]

A 55 long would be perfect.

I don't know how much you would want do do this, but at one point I had a mini terrarium set up where half of it was water and the other half was potting soil and I grew high humidity plants in there like bromeliads and African violets. I put some small fish in the water and had a day gecko in the terrarium part. It took some caulk and plexiglass, but it was pretty easy to make. Again, you may just want a 55 long and a log for your turtle, but let me know.