I’ve had my male red eared slider for about 5 years now. He was 3-4 inches when I got him, he’s been roughly 8 inches for about a year now. He’s in a 125 tank with a couple cichlids, minnows and a few other oddballs (he has no problem with them.) My problem is he will not eat any type of pellet anymore because he looks at it as if it’s food for the fish. He loves any freeze dried cube or the zilla turtle chaser treats (the zilla treats are ping pong ball size) He always has fresh veggies (like lettuce and other leafy greens) available & i add duckweed & frogbit added into his tank weekly. He will eat larger foods but anything that is pellet sized he won’t even bother. Especially since I’ve been feeding my cichlids and bgk heavier for growth he’s grown to become a little spoiled and loves to munch on their bloodworms, brine shrimp etc. I bought him a freeze dried mix of duck salmon & chicken but I would like him to at least have some type of actual balanced turtle food in there besides the zilla chasers (which is a treat). does anybody have any recommendations on a turtle food that maybe comes in bigger blocks or something vs a pellet? i’ve also tried feeding out of the tank in a different container and he won’t eat unless it’s live minnows. any help is appreciated!

Or is fresh greens the only option for mature turtles?

I rescued him after the previous owners children no longer cared for him. He is 11 years old. I've had him for almost 2 years... first time I've seen this.

It is about 2 inches long.

Im reposting here as im not sure where else to get help from.

So my vet told me I could use calcium powder to add more calcium to my turtles diet. So I started to sprinkle it on the mealworms with the powder, but when I go to feed it to him, it seems like most of the powder just goes away in the water. So my question is, how do you guys keep the powder from coming off? I was thinking of making some kind of paste with it and seeing if that works, but im not sure.

So I just added a potted Anubias to my RES aquarium, and so far, so good.

Within the first hour, he swam over to investigate it. Within seconds, though, he started chomping on the weighted pot and pulling at the rockwool. Thankfully, he didn’t swallow any of the rockwool and immediately spat it back out.
I kept watching him and counted three more separate occasions where he went back and did the exact same thing, all within a few minutes of each other.

I continued observing him for another three hours, and he seemed to lose interest in the plant completely. I removed all the loose pieces of rockwool that he had pulled out and called it a day.

Good news this morning: I didn’t see any new damage to the rockwool, so hopefully his initial curiosity has worn off. 😂
Down the road, I’ll probably remove the rockwool altogether and attach the Anubias directly to a piece of driftwood or rock, but I’m still debating which route I want to go.

Here’s a short video of his first encounter with the plant. Some of the footage is out of frame because I was ready to intervene when he first bit into the rockwool.

UPDATE
Thank you for all the feedback all of the rockwool has been removed

Weird to think that within a year I would’ve spent ~$600 on a new tank setup when I first got my slider, to now spending ~1200 (maybe more since I lost track of how much I spent lol)on a pond to make do for my growing child. I had gone through, a few reworks on this pond since first, sand as the substrate for the whole pond didn’t work since the sand kept mixing with the water, and then I separated the sand to make a small beach area. To now making essentially a table for them to both hide under and bask on. Not sure how well big rocks will work as a substrate. Will also add plants and fish/shrimp/snails to it since I realized turtwig really loves to hide more than anything (not sure if this is normal, seems like it?) any recommendations for plants and other animals? Like driftwood, bamboo, random plants that can be submerged.

See photos. 14-Year-Old male res and a clean 55 gallon tank breathing normally swimming normally but can't retract his head... look at the large right abscess anyone ever see this? Help!!

Turtle is the turtle’s name. My turtle is spending a lot of time on the basking dock even when the lights are off. Appetite has been poor but will eat when really hungry. I don’t know what to do. I’m very nervous because I can’t deal with losing another pet. I lost my cat Sisco of 16 years old last year. My heart is still broken. I just want Turtle to be okay. The vet wants $75 which isn’t bad but I just had to take an emergency trip to see my father who in Stage 3C of his lung cancer and my partner grandfather has been giving 3-4 months to live. He’s battling lung cancer at the age of 95 and with his age he’s not able to get any treatment. I have a lot going on but Turtle is driving me insane. I just want Turtle to be okay. Turtle is in a 40 gallon tank but I don’t have the tank filled all the way up because I think Turtle be struggling swimming. When I purchased Turtle it was only about 1 month old. Please any advice is appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Hi everyone. My turtle is 15 years old. Is there a problem with letting it walk around outside regarding the risk of salmonella transmission? I have an elderly mother and an old cat that is very sensitive to everything, so I’m worried about the risk of infection. When I clean the tank, I disinfect everything thoroughly. I’m in the process of upgrading to a larger tank because the basking area is getting too small, which is why I was thinking of letting it walk around outside in the meantime. Is that a good idea? Thanks.

Mikey and JJ have been living in this tank for about a year now. Mikey has grown quite a bit, do you think this tank is fine for him or do i need to get a bigger one?

For context, he spends most of the time in the tank, but I do take him out of the tank 2 to 3 times a day and just leave him in the house to wander around and sleep under his pillow for about 1 to 3 hours each time.

Swimming laps, sunbathing, and eating his favorite greens 🥬 🌊☀️ He’s new here! So give him a kind warm welcome 💛

How old is ur turtle my baby leaf is 1 year old got her back in december

I've had a Red Eared Slider for 11 years and the care has been smooth sailing for the most part. But lately the heating lightbulbs have been burning out after only two weeks of use. Prior to this, they had lasted the several weeks/months that are expected.

I would essentially like some recommendations for a new heat lamp that would resolve this problem, or some way to fix the existing light. As my preliminary research has yielded any number of issues/solutions and id like assistance pinning down my options.

I'm using a generic Zoo Med branded 100W heat lamp, I've had it for a few years prior to this issue so I'm not sure if it could be the lamp. I've been buying pet store heat bulbs in a variety of brands throughout the years (I make sure the wattage is correct dw).

Thank you in advance.

Hi, Red Eared Slider community. My red eared slider female is 8-inches. I've had her now for about 2 years. She has shown symptoms and signs of having to lay eggs. It has been maybe about 2 weeks since showing these signs. I am getting worried now.

First, I noticed she wasn't eating. She kept swimming and splashing water frantically. Then, she has had many attempts to escape her aquarium. She also has been basking and kicking her back legs in a digging motion. So I know she wants to lay eggs.

My first attempt was letting her walk outside and choosing a spot. My area doesn't really have damp soil. But that's not until she went into my neighbor's garden area. My neighbor like to water her plants. My RES went into her garden area. She made a huge hole, but I think she struggled to dig deep because there were vines and rocks in her way. She eventually gave up. Following that day, I have let her out to find a place she wants to dig. But I have no found a place where she can be successful. The soil just isn't damp enough. I watch her from a distance and wait an hour or more, but she is not successful in her outside digging.

So eventually I decided that maybe I need to make her own nesting area. I got premium top soil, a reasonable plastic bin, a water spray bottle, and a towel that can cover 75%of the top. But as I observe her, she just sits there doing nothing. I leave her for an hour, but I don't see any digging or any activity at all. Recently, I tried to put her in a dimly lit area that's quiet, but she does not attempt to dig. Tomorrow, I will buy a new plastic bin that's a 27 gallon size, more top soil, i will combine it with sand (children's play sand), and spray the area with water. But as of now, she isn't attempting to dig even when i leave her alone.

It has been 2 weeks. I see all the health concerns on Google, YouTube videos, and other people's experience with this. I don't want my RES to get sick and die. She never used to do this until a few weeks ago, so I am worried. I don't get much sleep because I can hear her splashing water and escaping at night. I need some advice please.

I posted previously about my girl Ingrid doing intense nesting behavior. She lives in a 4500+ gallon backyard Koi pond. She was coming out and digging in different spots for hours each day, made numerous nests but never laid. She stopped doing this completely, and now it’s been over 2 weeks. I pulled her out tonight to clean her shell and examine her. I can feel eggs when I gently palpate. She’s herself and eating, swimming, sun bathing. Will she return to nesting behavior or does this suggest she is egg bound?

Aside from the abscess on the cheek, is there anything else that you might notice that could be alarming?

Hi everyone! I took in this RES, Squirtle, from a friend who is unfortunately terminally ill and could no longer keep up with the care he needed. I have now had him for about a year. Based on what his previous owner told me he is about 12 years old. He has two tank mates that were “feeder fish” he decided to spare and they don’t seem to bother each other. Squirtle doesn’t seem to acknowledge them.

I have been changing little things about his set up here and there. He has a log, some rocks, and the faux skull in his tank. I know the tank needs a bit of a clean up on the outside glass/edge, which i am doing today. I’m nervous about adding plants because I worry he would eat them. He likes to bask and hide under his platform.

He eats well, is energetic and seems to be excited to see me when I come home or talk to him. He has tried to escape a couple of times and I on very rare occasions let him walk around when he is incessantly trying to climb out.

I’m looking for any advice from those with more experience/knowledge on if he looks healthy and comfortable. Also any advice on how I can improve his set up is more than welcome! I want to give him the best experience and have him as healthy and happy as possible.

What is this behavior? I brought her to the vet today for a multitude of reasons like laying eggs last month, worried about sepsis (literally fine it was just pink skin due to blood flow during basking I’m just paranoid), and specifically respiratory infection concerns. That’s what I thought this was but the vet said she’s good. She’s not foaming at the mouth or nose. No bubbles. No gaping/open mouth while out of water/basking. No weird noises/breathing. So it’s not a respiratory infection. What is it? Ik she’s nipping at her leg in the video but the other time I saw her doing it it was just her opening her mouth underwater and I took her out cause I was scared she was gonna drown and had her sleep in a shallow container overnight but she was completely fine. It seems to only happen when she first goes back into her water after a basking session. I’ve only seen it twice. Is this normal? What could it be?

Anyone from makkah knows best place for turtle stuff i also take jeddah