How to Assemble a Red Eared Sliding Turtle Aquarium

Red eared sliding turtles are the most common turtle found in the United States and in pet shops. They are affordable and seem to be easy to care for, but red eared sliding turtles require a great deal of work. Here are a few tips for setting up a red eared sliding turtle aquarium.

Red eared sliding turtles grow as large as their enclosure allows. An aquarium must be at least double the turtle's length in width and at least four to five times as large as the red eared sliding turtle in length. This allows the turtle to comfortably move around the aquarium to eat and exercise.

Red eared sliding turtles need both water and dry land in their aquarium. They eat in the water then like to dry off on land in order to warm up. It is necessary to include water at the appropriate temperature in the aquarium. Red eared sliding turtles need water between 75 and 86 degrees. Furthermore, by including water in the aquarium you need to then change that water at least once a week. Because red eared sliding turtles eat in the water and spend as much as three quarters of their time in there it gets dirty extremely quickly.

To help keep the water as clean as possible, a filter is needed. Try to purchase the most powerful filter possible for the aquarium. It should run at all times in order to keep the red eared sliding turtles happy and healthy.

Food is also an important component to keeping a red eared sliding turtle. There are pellets available that are made from the same type of things fish food consists of. The pellets float in the water and the turtles eat them. Red eared sliding turtles should be fed at least once a day. Depending on their appetites and enclosures you may want to feed the red eared sliding turtle twice a day. An important thing to know is that they do not eat much at a time. Around five or six pellets per turtle is all they need to survive. Of course that number would go up depending on the turtle's size.

A UVB light will complete your set up and will allow the red eared sliding turtle the appropriate temperature to in order to warm up and live a healthy life. Finally, red eared sliding turtles have extremely long life spans. They can live up to 50 years so with the appropriate care your red eared sliding turtle will be a life long companion.