Basic Care & Feeding
Bringing Him Home
Imagine for a minute that Godzilla suddenly opened the roof of your home, grabbed you by the shirt collar and picked you up in the air. The big gorilla drags you through the air at 5,000 feet, with your arms and legs waving around helplessly, and sets you down in a brand new, empty, unfurnished home in Kansas. He puts a hamburger on the table, and then stares at you through the windows, asking, “You like your new home?”
Of course you don’t. You’re scared out of your gourd. The last thing you want to do is eat. This big hairy fella could grab you again at any minute. You have no idea what he wants from you, or what’s going to happen next. You’d probably try to find a room with no windows, shut the door, and try to calm yourself down.
That’s exactly how your new turtle feels. He’s terrified. The poor guy has no clue what’s going on, he probably doesn’t really like his Tupperware container (or whatever you have him in), and you won’t leave him alone long enough for him to get his act together.
So let’s get started and give this little turtle a home!
Get an Aquarium
If you got a tiny turtle the size of a quarter, less than 2″ across, go out and get a 20-gallon long tank. If your turtle is larger, get at least a 55-gallon long tank. The “long” part is crucial - don’t get a tall tank, because your turtle doesn’t need deep water. The water should only be 1 1/2 times as deep as his shell is wide, so that way if he flips himself upside down, he can get right up again.
Either get an aquarium hood with a UV light, or a clip-on UV light. If you get a clip-on, make sure to get a screen top for your aquarium so that the light can’t fall into the aquarium and electrocute Junior. Plus, sometimes UV bulbs explode due to heat, and the screen will keep shards of glass out. This happened to me on more than one occasion. Also get a timer, which is a little gadget that plugs into a wall socket and then the UV light plugs into the timer. They go for around $10 at Home Depot and Lowe’s. This way, you can have the light come on automatically at 8am and cut out at 6pm. UV light is extremely important to your turtle’s shell development, and the times are important to his routine. We’ll get back to the routine part later.
Get a Filter AND a Heater!
Get a canister filter, like a Fluval 204 or 404. If you get a 20 gallon tank, then get a Fluval 204 at the least. I’d recommend getting a 404 right from the start, because it’ll last you longer - you can use it as you upgrade to a larger aquarium in a year or two. Canister filters are not cheap: you can expect to spend $100. Trust me, it’s worth it, because this little guy is going to poop like you cannot believe.
You’ll need a submersible heater and a thermometer to keep his tank at the right temperature. Turtles can’t regulate their own body temperatures like mammals can, so the warmer the water is, the more active they are. I’m not an authority, but if you’ve got a small turtle (2″ across or less), keep the water at 78-80 degrees. That’s way above room temperature, and if you don’t have the heater, your turtle will think it’s winter, and he’ll be very inactive.
To keep algae to a minimum, you can put the aquarium somewhere that doesn’t get direct sunlight. I’ve had aquariums right under a window as well as way away from the windows, and it makes a big difference. The water will go green in just a week or two if direct sunlight is involved.
Most importantly, put the aquarium somewhere that the little fella can get some peace and quiet. Your turtle will bask in the UV light all day if he’s comfortable, but they feel very uncomfortable and vulnerable when they’re out of the water. If people are walking in and out of the room, or if there’s a lot of noise & vibration, he’s going to be scared all the time, and keep diving back into the water. Let the guy get his suntan time.
Feeding
When you bring your first slider home, don’t be surprised if he doesn’t eat for a couple/few days. Remember our story above, where you got dropped in an empty house in Kansas? Well, your turtle feels nervous, and he’s going to take a while before he’s comfortable.
First things first, establish a routine. Every morning and evening, or whenever it’s routinely convenient for you, put a few Reptomin food pellets in the water and walk away. Leave your new fella alone and let him eat in private. Come back in five minutes - if the food is gone, leave more. If it’s still there, take it out of the tank so it doesn’t foul the water. Don’t deluge the water with food, because your turtles don’t want soggy food any more than you want soggy corn flakes. (They won’t want to eat out of the water, though, because they don’t feel safe.) Repeat this routine every day. It may take him a few days to get used to it and start eating, and that’s completely okay. Don’t stand there asking him questions, don’t beg him to eat, don’t read him the menu, just leave the food and come back.
Here’s how seriously I took the “routine” part: right before I fed my turtles, I would show them the yellow Reptomin can. I held it up to the side of the aquarium so they could associate yellow with feeding time. Believe it or not, they learned very quickly! Within a week, Mini figured out that yellow meant feeding, and when he even saw me walking up to the tank holding the yellow can, he’d beat a path out to the front of the aquarium, paddling like crazy, desperate to get to where the food would be. (This was helpful for other reasons: when I needed to get him out of the tank, and he was hiding behind the filter intake, I could show him the yellow canister and he ran right out to meet me. Sucker.)
Pellets may not be the right food for your turtle: turtles are like people, and they have different appetites. My turtles absolutely loved the pellets and refused to touch any veggies or fruit, but I’ve heard from most other turtle owners that mine were in the minority. My turtles were also addicted to brine shrimp. (When I say brine shrimp, these are the dried Reptomin variety that come in a yellow can just like the pellets, not the huge expensive shrimp you and I eat.) You can use meat like turkey, ham, or even live goldfish as special treats if you like. Once mine were about a year old, I gave them a few live goldfish once a week, and that was definitely their favorite meal. Erika couldn’t watch that, though.
After you’ve established a routine for a week or so, then you can offer some variety in the form of different fruits or veggies, but it’s important to keep the time routine the same. You wouldn’t like it if somebody showed up at your doorstep at random times of the day with random meals like sushi in the morning, corn flakes in the evening, and bean casserole in the middle of the night, you wouldn’t feel like eating either..
After a Week or Two
Once your new family has developed a routine, and you’re all comfortable with each other, you can start getting closer. I would hang out while my turtles ate, and when they finished the food, I’d add more to the water. I would even hold pellets out with my fingertips, just barely touching the water, and they learned to eat out of my fingers. (I abandoned this process as they grew up, because they tended to make wild, stabbing grabs at the food, and could easily take off a chunk of my finger.)
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