Fresh water turtles...
Adult Red-Eared Slider
Water Turtles can make interesting pets but they require a great deal of
care to keep them healthy. This includes extensive water management, cleaning
filters and maintaining pumping systems.
Usually sold at pet stores and amusement parks at a cute 4" in size, most owners
have not researched the amount of care these turtles require. The popular
Red-Eared Slider can reach 13" in diameter and one adult would require an
environment of over 120 gallons.
The following care-sheets provide some
basic guidelines to help ensure that your water turtles live long and healthy
lives. The outdoor guidelines are for the care of hardy water turtles such as
sliders, cooters and painted turtles in the mild southern California climate.
Turtles not native to the U.S., or kept in areas with more severe climates, may
have special needs.
Please read the FDA Warning on Salmonella below. Always wash thoroughly
after handling water turtles or working on their environment.
Care Sheet for Water Turtles kept Outdoors (ponds)
Care Sheet for Water Turtles kept Indoors (aquariums)
FDA Information on Water Turtles and Salmonella
Info about the Western Pond Turtle, California's only native water turtle
The ponds...
These ponds are at one of the homes where we care for some of the hundreds of Red-Eared Sliders that are abandoned to us each year.
