My grandma's would "give paw" for food and follow her whenever she let him out. Watching a little old Mexican woman with a turtle trailing after her was always the most hilarious thing 😂
I got my Red Eared Slider Turbo when she was approx 1-2 years old, from a cousin who didn't want her anymore. That's her, my icon picture. She had to have an x-ray. I had no idea what I was in for, but I wouldn't trade her for the world. She's been with me now for 17 years, most of my life. She lives in a 110-gallon Tuff-Tub, for which I have custom-built a landing platform and heat and light rig for her. Full-spectrum + UVB + ceramic heat emitter + a canister filter rated for a 500-gallon outdoor pond. Here's what they don't tell you: when you have a turtle this big they don't make habitat supplies for you. You have to get very comfortable thinking outside the box, breaking out the power tools, and making late-night trips to your local hardware store sometimes. But I love my baby! She's smart, stubborn, the vet always complements her on her beautiful carapace, and she's afraid of precisely nothing. She's the perfect fit for me as a companion animal.
Omg same tho. I’m not sure about my turtles age though. I think my parents got it as a gift from a friend so it possibly was gotten on impulse, and I have no idea of its gender or age. Hopefully I can give it a good life!
I had my turtle since I was 15 years old and now I am 29. I bought her at a dime size. I'm not gonna lie to you and say this journey has been pleasant caring for her. Shes super expensive and very high maintenance. She is very HUGE and I am very afraid to pick her up. I live in an apartment and I wish she can have a better home in an outdoor pond outside. She currently lives in a 75 gallon tank. Changing the water and filter I challenging. I'm running out of options so this video has given me a lot of hope.
I got mine when I was 15 and I'm 30! Weird we have that in common.. I decided he was a boy (named Otis Red-ear after Otis Redding) but he is actually a she lol... anyway do you have a canister filter? That was a game changer for me I upgraded him over 10 years ago to a 75 gallon tank and the filters the pet stores push on you were literally the worse thing, they leaked constantly and just couldn't handle a turtle, I think they are for small fish, so a canister filter for a 100gal tank is wonderful.... and a "turtle topper" also helps a ton! Let me know if you need any advice! Just want to help! We all have to learn the hard way with these turtles I have only met one person in a pet store that was actually helpful with Otis 🙄
@@jenns9431 it is a little house that sits on top of the tank so the turtle can get completely out of the water to dry off and bask in the heat light, google it if you have a turtle, they are great!
We had one growing up, but not for the typical reason. My dad was offered a RES that had a 4 inch shell size from someone who didn't want it anymore. He set up a tank in his own personal office and meticulously cared for it for years until it grew too big to be comfortable for it. He then dug a pond in the back yard for it, which it stayed in for another decade, well cared for. After he'd had it for at least twenty years he had a local biology teacher offer a very good setup for it (I believe the carapace was 8-9 inches though at that point) with the promise of giving it back should they no longer have a home for it. I believe it is still alive at almost 30 years right now!
my Phillip is 32 years old and Yani is going on seven, they are spoiled rotten and think they own me but I love the little stinkers, I let them walk around in the house and sometimes I take them outside and watch the neighbors oggle at them when they follow me around.
I've had my red eared slider for 11 years now. He's 12" long and 8" wide. He grew out of his 100 gallon tank so i gave him my bathtub. Now he swims, dives and does tricks. It's easy for me to drain the water and clean it. I only use my stand up shower for myself.
I love my red eared turtle Frankie! She has brought so much joy to our household. One of the joys of my days are walking up to her tank and she comes flying right over! Love her
My grandson caught a baby on a kayak trip. They live in droves in dirty ponds & rivers, so I don't understand why the water in a tank has to be crystal clear.
Had a "friend" who never fed his 2 turtles. One day I saw that one was already dead and the other was hiding on the other side of the tank scared. Needless to say I jacked the poor little thing and I'm taking care of him now! He always looks at me when I'm moving about my room. He LOVES to eat his worms from my hand. I love my little guy so much and im happy he is in a better home.
“Holding a red ear slider is kind of like holding a hamburger that sometimes kicks at you with pointy claws” Yup, that’s a pretty dead on description of handling almost all turtles. My eastern box turtle does the same if she’s not chilling on your palm. My Russian tortoise can only be held like a grumpy hamburger.
I purchased a Red Eared Slider for my 6 year old son...$10 while exiting the 4 train in NYC. "He" was so cute!! After I had exchanged $ for pet, I asked, "what does it eat?" "How do I take care of it?" The seller had no idea..."feed 'em lettuce..." So my turtle educating began. First, "what kind of turtle is this???" Then, the shock of my life!!! A HUGE tank, basking lights, UV lights, a turtle dock, a filter (a BIG filter!! Yuck!!), food, etc... Next, a trip to the pet store...$400 later....I SHOULD HAVE RESEARCHED THIS PURCHASE, however, all thanks to God, I got everything needed to properly care for a split-second costly decision!! And, my son loves his boy "Windy" (who, upon education, I believe is a female!!)
I appreciate that you pointed out that there are plenty of these turtles already in need of homes. One thing I wish you had added was the reason why these turtles are actually illegal in some places. Here in the Pacific Northwest, red eared-sliders are invasive, competing against our native painted and western pond turtles. People will either intentionally let their pets loose, or they will put their pets in a pond or stream in their yard, and it's not too hard for them to find their way to other bodies of water. Like you said, they are really hardy reptiles, which unfortunately makes them really good at establishing invasive populations, so it is important for people to be aware of just how hardy (and potentially harmful) they can be.
@@sarahmartinezDOGMAN That's good that you were able to simultaneously remove a member of an invasive species and give him a good home. We also have a lot of bullfrogs around here (also invasive), and I would love to take some of these guys out of the environment and keep them as pets, but I don't think I could handle bullfrogs (they're very loud and get very big, so they would need to eat a lot).
They became illegal in my country but fortunately the government created a special facility with a massive lake where they get to swim, feed and just lounge about. It gets a lot of visitors so everyone can now see your turtle and was so much better than the aquarium I had mine on. At the time, there was no other way of keeping a turtle in an apartment. A terrarium had to be built from scratch and I didn't have the knowhow or skill to do so, and even if I had, getting the materials would be tough. This was pre-internet so a fish aquarium it was: As large a one as I could get and with a massive rock so he had a dry hangout spot. But it wasn't ideal. He grew and grew and grew until I had a very hard time even picking him up, so heavy he was. While not very bitey, he was still dangerous unless handled by me, the only person whom he would never bite. I am very glad I could place him in proper care.
My parents bought two of these little guys at a mall kiosk for me. We didn’t have do much research, I was about 8. We didn’t have them long and they were given to another family. Being informed on your pet is so important. Thanks for your content. Hopefully impulse pet buys at petco and the mall can decrease with more education.
My female is smaller than my male, although full grown. She is dwarfed as she was really neglected before I rescued her. I love my turtles so much! Their names are Jeremy and Lily. Jeremy was turned into the Humane Society as a stray, which Is so strange since I live in central Alberta, Canada. It gets to -40 Celsius here. Also, Jeremy has a scar on his shell. He was cracked open in the past. I wish he could talk, because I would love to hear his story. At least he is safe and loved now.
Lol I should see if I can do that, red eared sliders are invasive, people decide they don’t want them and just release them,so I have seen them in parks and whatever. (In Ontario)
Mine was the very first pet I was allowed to keep because it was cheap and my parents didn't think it'd last long. I got her at dime size when I was seven, and now she's been with me for 16 years ♥️ Really interesting video!
Oh wow they get a waaaaay higher score than I'd expected. Still absolutely not a pet for me but loved learning about them and I have to say, they are absolutely gorgeous turtles
I had my albino red ear sliders for years now that have been pretty steadly breeding having eggs. I need to get a incubator now. I just got my first albino pink belly sideneck turtle as well that I am enjoying a lot. In my state, you can't have normal colored red ear sliders as the state will take them, for sure put them down, fine you and may arrest you so I stay with color morphs but they can be very costly. I enjoy mine in waterland turtle tub being retired while enjoying watching them. I never bought them to breed though but it ended up to be two males and a female so nature taken its course.
@@supportyourtroopsathletes6460 ooh, an albino red eared slider sounds gorgeous, I'm going to have to look up some pictures because I've only ever seen the normal coloration but it makes sense that at least some morphs are available, I just never really thought of it
@@Merlijn1994 .... They have a few different morphs (colorations) of the red ear sliders now as you must of seen. The albinos are the most affordable as babies I feel but still a couple hundred dollars then others like the caramel pink red ears and snow red ears. What I did not realize at the time was how much they go up in price with age and size. I went looking for a second female that was a couple years old and confirmed females are way more money than males as a person can not sex them as babies. Same with my albino pink belly sideneck turtle. Unfortunately they are a bit much for me to buy at the moment to get a few babies to raise. The normal pink belly sideneck turtles are not illegal to own now but I fear in time that they will be with those mass producing as well now in the normal colors so I invested in my albino now respectfully so the state can't take it away later also.
I've had mine since i was 13( I'm turning 34 this year). He was a fully grown rescue a friend of the family brought us so you can add a few years to his potential age. He only had one eye and a bit of a dark side from his past, since he tends to eat only the fins of feeder fish and leaves the rest to flounder for his amusement. Even though he is a bit of a psychopath he is highly intelligent to the point i can call him like a dog when i let him out and about in the yard (feels bad to leave him in his tank 24/7). All in all my petrie has been an excellent pet.
This marvelous video brings back fond memories of my first and second turtles, both red-eared sliders. Lots of fun, but as you say, not an excellent beginner reptile for most people. Keep the great videos coming!
My partner's 10 year old RES moving in with me when we got a place together rekindled my love of reptiles. We've found that shrimp, snails and plants all help with aquarium maintenance AND double as a food source. Also, alternatives to goldfish that don't share the same issues include livebearers, such as guppies and platys, which are not only a more natural diet, but look beautiful in the tank AND reproduce prolifically with little encouragement. They tend to eat algae and leftover turtle food scraps as well!
Awesome! My fiance is bringing one after we get married and I'm curious as to what other critters will be good tank mates. Do y'all have any real live scaping or live plants?
@@djabroni_brochacho4644 yeah, but the thing with these turtles is they do their own redecorating all the time. Anything you can have fixed into place is ideal. Hornwort is a good plant because it is so robust and will survive if it just floats around, which mine does often, as the turtle always rips it up. We also have some lemon baculpa, which is doing ok. I put some tiger vallisneria in, but he ate every single piece of it within an hour. As far as critters, I have had ghost shrimp, amano shrimp and cherry shrimp in the tank. He can eat them, but never seems to see them. They are constantly picking his scraps from the gravel and eating debris. The turtle also ignores mystery and nerite snails, but enthusiastically eats ramshorn snails, which breed nonstop in my fish tank. I made the mistake of putting a small pleco in the tank. It lasted about 5 minutes and almost choked the turtle. I did no research on that, and would not reccomend it.
@@adamwoehrle Thanks man I'll try some of that out. The guy is in a totally empty tank at her family's place, and I felt bad for him do I asked if he came with the package haha and they said sure take him, so I wanna get a bigger tank and put him in a little ecosystem with some rocks, wood, fish shrimp ect.
@@djabroni_brochacho4644 you should start the tank before you move him in. I don't know how much you do or do not know about keeping fish, but you essentially want the tank to be fully cycled and fish ready before you add the turtle.
I was given a red eared slider by a friend a while ago that her brother had caught in a park when the turtle was a baby, because she had to move out of the country. the poor turtle had been living in a tiny tank with barely any room to move with a huge female. So I’ve been working on building a large pond in our yard to keep him in. He’s a great turtle and extremely friendly. I’m very happy that I got him
Abhinandan Shrimal for mine basically just dug a hole in the group and placed a large tarp in it so the water doesn’t go into the dirt. Then we put bricks around it to keep the tarp in place. My dad set up a pretty large powerful filter for it in the back(I didn’t get much details on the filter bc I was away when we installed it). But we did make a little compartments for the filter out of bricks and then we place a flower pot on it so it’s pretty hidden. And then to keep hawks and stuff down we put a net over the top. We set up a bunch of pebbles and more bricks as a basking spot with a small heat lamp that we turn on at night(to make it look less obvious we put lights around our yard and just replaced one of the bulbs with the heating bulb). For advice, just make sure you have all ur materials before hand and make sure they are the right materials(we ended up making like 4 trips back and forth because we were missing something or we got the wrong thing). It was fun to do, it took us about a week and a half to finish everything
I had an heater that overheated the water and nearly boiled my poor turtle alive! I fortunately noticed it on time but he was hot to the touch- a turtle, hot to the touch!- and getting red all over, not just around the ears. It was terrifying. I had to slowly douse him in room temperature water because I feared shocking him. It took a while until he became green again even though the body temperature went back to normal fast enough.
I saw about Sylvester still having the turtles and them being happy and healthy, and honestly it just warms my heart. What a guy, and what a lucky pair of turtles!
I’ve had mine for almost 12 years now! I’m 18, so we’ve grown together. I love her so much, so thank you for this video, so I can take care of her as best as I can! We love your channel
Thank you for this video! I think that for a lot of people this is their first exposure to reptiles as pets. In fact, the first live reptile I ever met was a male red eared slider called “Princess”. Your honesty on their care means so much , especially considering how frequently they seem to be neglected.
I recently adopted an adorable female RES. I’ve had her for two months. She is pretty happy with the life she has. I am always the one to feed her, and she always splashes so much when she sees me.
My Red Eared Slider is about 15 or 16 and he's as lively as he's ever been. Now that I'm an adult, I've been able to give him the proper care he needs and I couldn't even think of not having him and his huge tank right next to me in my office. He's an awesome pet and he's been with me during some super rough times. His toughness is so respectable, having had to live in a vase for a little while when I was 11 or 12. They are amazing pets.
My story is about the same, poor care from a kid who didn't know any better, but now I've built mine a giant basking area on top of a giant stock tank with plenty of room to swim.
I’m a proud owner of one also!! He is about 2 years old and lives in our 125 gallon backyard pond, he has a great grazing area with many of his favorite plants his favorite food is live guppies and loves being handled one thing I do recommend is doing research on how to hold them, it obviously depends on the turtles personality but ours likes to jump!!🥰
Same here. I've had my girl 24 years and she's never peed when someone's holding her. Surprisingly never bitten either, even though she's always grumpy.
We have a male eastern painted, and the size is so much more manageable. Plus he's stunning. With how invasive red ears are I think the rescue suggestion is spot on. So many people think they can just release them and call it a day, but it's terrible for the turtle who is used to stable temps and food on demand, and potentially for the local population that may be exposed to diseases. We joke our turtle is such a dope at this point he would die if he had to experience a water temp of less than 75F, and he would probably swim right up to a heron thinking it's beak was food tongs then immediately get eaten. Any who... great video!
I rescued one and had her for 6 years or so. I learned quickly how difficult having one can be. She was tiny when I got her and exploded fairly rapidly. I spent THOUSANDS of dollars on a 100+ gallon tank and the best damn pump/filter money could buy. I eventually had to give her away due to my own health issues. While they are very pretty, they are very hard pets to have. Mine was really damn strong too, you are NOT kidding about kicking. Mine was nearly 11 inches like you had mentioned. I wish I had this video 10+ years ago, it would have helped me alot. I hope more potential owners see this and have a long hard think before adopting one of these turtles.
I keep my RES in a 100 gallon stock tank. Much cheaper than a large aquarium and the only real downside is that you can only view her from above. I think she appreciates the privacy that it offers though!
I keep mine in a 110-gallon Tuff Tub (very similar). I think you're right about the privacy. Best decision I made when I switched from glass tanks. The tubs are cheaper and more durable. And my turtle would eat the silicone sealant around the sides of fishtanks. Because as far as she's concerned anything that can be bitten off is food.
im really glad i saw this comment. i was about to save up to drop a lot a of money on a new glass aquarium for my turtes upgrade! do you put anything over top of it to keep your turtle from escaping? thats the only thing id be worried about
@@dillanortiz8997 as long as the basking platform for your turtle is in the middle and you don’t fill the tank all the way to the brim with water, you should be fine!
Certainly appreciate all the attention you pay to the care characteristics and needs of each reptile on your channel. I simply take for granted how common it would be for someone to buy an animal not fully knowing what is required to keep it safe, healthy, and thriving. This is the type of information I’d like to see more prevalent around the web.
Great video as always Here's a list of possible animals to cover next African bullfrog Alligator lizard Argus monitor Axolotl Basilisk Banded gecko Woma python Blue tailed skink Box turtle Budgett's frog Cat eyed gecko Chinese cave gecko Collared lizard Crested newt Crocodile gecko Crocodile monitor Cuban knight anole Cuvier caiman Dart frog Diamondback terrapin Dragon agama Dragon snake Dumeril's monitor Dune gecko Emerald tree boa False water cobra Fan fingered gecko Fat tailed gecko Fire belly toad Golden gecko Green spiny lizard/ Emerald swift lizard Green tree frog Green tree python Green tree skink Horned frog Indigo snake Leaf tailed gecko Legless lizard Mata mata Pacman frogl Poison dart frog Quince monitor Rainbow boa Red eyed tree frog Reticulated python Rosy boa Russian tortoise Sailfin lizard/ hydrosaurus Scorpion tailed gecko Shield tailed agama Shingleback skink Sungazer Tiger salamander Tiger whiptail Tristis monitor Veiled chameleon White lined gecko White throat monitor White's tree frog Yellow headed gecko
I have a red-eared slider that I named Tortuga. When he was a week old hatchling, I won him in a ball-tossing game at a fair on June 11th, 2010. He will be 10 years old this year in June. He's been a source of comfort and delight this past decade, and I can't wait for another 10 years with him.
They either escape or they get chucked in rivers and ponds when they go through adolescence and get hormonal. Not a child's pet. Actually not a pet at all.
Man, seeing a Red-eared Slider brings back memories. I used to have one and have been in my house for several years. Sadly she was getting too big for the Aquarium we had and Dad let her go within a nearby river. I miss you, Chiky.
Awww!!! One of our first pets growing up was a red eared slider!!! My mom had a bird before we were born, she passed away when we were really little. I remember finding her at the bottom of her cage that morning, I think I was 3 or 4.. It's actually one of my first memories unfortunately.. But then, We got our turtle, & named her coconut. She was mainly my mom's but I've had a love of turtles ever since. My mom had a great set up for her. We'd take her outside during the summer to walk around the grass. We also had little fish tanks with zebra fish and then betas. Then we ended up getting cats. Then a dog.
I had a red-eared slider for about 15 years. My parents bought him (and about 3 others who didn't make it past the first month) for us at a farmer's market. I knew nothing about taking care of a turtle and did not at the time think to look for resources to better take care of him. Over the years I got a bit better with him, but when it came time to move 600 miles, I realized that I wasn't giving him the home that he needed, and donated him to a local reptile care facility. With any luck he's living a much better life now. The point of me saying all that is, I wish that I could have seen a video like this before getting my turtle. I would have known either to not get him at all or that I was in for a lot of work, which I ended up finding out the hard way. Now that I'm working towards my first Ball Python, I am so, so grateful for channels like Clint's that help us learn about what it takes to take care of these wonderful animals. I hope that this video helps others learn much more easily than I did that red-eared sliders, which deserve to have great lives, are not the easiest pets to give a great life.
Red eared sliders are one of my favorite animals in the world. But, they are definitely not the right pet reptile for me. Thanks for covering these in a video!
thank you so much for the content! I feel the love and respect for those special ones, your eyes are telling. It was a joy to watch and listen. I try my best here in north germany to give a red eared (red "cheek" in german) a home. Just adopted her 1 month ago, so our jouney just started. mystic old creature
Red ears bite hard, one time I was feeding mine some apples and it bit the tip of my finger, it still hanged on a bit and left a tiny wound. Still love my turtle tho.
Hi. I found 1 crossing a busy road the other day. I've put posters up in the area informing that I have it. At the moment. It's in our school pool which is 25m x 15m. It seems comfortable. Any suggestions as to what I need to do make sure I'm looking after it well...
I have a red ear slider. I have all of the things that you mentioned but my red ear slider is maybe three and a half inches long after having it for 9 years. At the beginning, I believe I was told to feed it every other day. I've been feeding it every day for a long time and I've started adding grasshoppers and vegetables to the turtles diet. it just hasn't gotten any bigger even though it's in a 29 gallon aquarium with a ton of water. I'm giving it dried grasshoppers now also. I've never given it fish though.
We just pulled two red eared sliders out of our pool. They are only a quarter size and silver dollar size. We are learning. My twins found them so we have a a habitat / aquarium but definitely need a bigger one. I’m so glad i found your channel.
I've had a Yellow bellied slider for 12 years and she's as feisty as ever, my kid got her in fifth grade and he just graduated college and look who gets the turtle lol. It's ok I love her, she's like family.
Thank you for encouraging the adoption of rescued pets, especially ones that aren't cats or dogs. Coming from Florida, with all the invasive reptile problems, I really want rehoming reptiles to become the norm among keepers, especially popular/common species that would otherwise be released to eat local wildlife and infest canal walls. The pet industry is so thoroughly dominated by cats and dogs that I don't think most people even realize that they can or should adopt/rehome exotics rather than always buy them, often bred from factory farms.
I love them. Maybe one of the few reptiles where you'd rather recommend "Don't buy, adopt". 24 years with my little one and I'm looking to expand the family in the near future since I've already seen so many up for "adoption" being kept in things like buckets, sad thing.
Awesome video, as usual! I'm glad you heavily emphasized the difficulty of keeping/affording these turtles, because my male RES is by far my most expensive pet I have (and that says a lot, as I have fish and aquascaped aquariums.) To add on a little more useful information: - I'd definitely cycle the filter in advance (like with any fish tank, really). This will take 4-8 weeks, depending on how fast the beneficial bacteria, namely Nitrosomonas and Nitrobacter, are able to establish in the biological media. This will remove all ammonia and nitrites from the water and convert them to nitrates. Ammonia can and will burn your turtle's eyes, and even skin, but nitrate is much less toxic and gets changed out with weekly water changes. - Cohabbing turtles is pretty common, but a lot of the time it's not a good idea. You'll need a lot more space if you want to keep 2+ turtles, and you'll have to have a backup tank if things go wrong. Usually, turtles will be okay together as hatchlings and suddenly become quite aggressive as juveniles/adults, so just because they're okay together as babies does not mean they'll live happily together as adults. If you do want to house multiple adults together, you'd be best off with only females or at most one male and females, as multiple males together is too risky. You'd also need a lot more space, preferably a pond if you want 3+. Also, when cohabbing males and females there's the chance of ending up with hatchlings, which you have to deal with. - Aquariums are expensive. So, if you don't care too much about aesthetics, I'd recommend a stock tub as they're built to hold water and are much less expensive. I got a 150 gallon from Tractor Supply for $115 for my male RES. It doesn't look as nice as a glass tank, but a glass tank of that size can run you $800-$1500 dollars.
10:44 I found one on the side of my house a few weeks ago. No idea how long it was there, but it was completely dried out and very skinny. I have it some water and some beef heart (I have 2 of my own sliders) and he ate, drank, and ran off when I released him to a pond. Little guy was as lively as ever
I recently rescued a red eared slider from my older brother... poor thing was stuck in our basement with a broken filter and heater, three months no water change, no heat bulbs, no UVB, no baking area and less than a foot of water. I rescue cats, dogs, any type of small mammal (usually hedgehogs) and the occasional lizard (I've got the cutest little blind leopard gecko), so working with that poor turtle was really hard. She didnt even have a name. She was living in a 60 gallon tank, but shes huge, larger than a dinner plate. So I went online and bought her a brand new kiddie pool, and all new supplies. They are coming tomorrow and I'm so excited!!! I cant stop watching care guide videos lol!
For a long time (5 years) my bf thought his Red Ear Slider was a male then one day we thought it was getting fat and low and behold she started popping out eggs. So Leonidas quickly became Leah
My partner got two red eared sliders when he was 16. He is now 34 so they are about 18 years old and have grown a lot. We just got them a new huge tank from a Petco that is closing. They are going to be so happy with all the new space!
They have a BUNCH of them in the pond at our local Botanical Gardens too. The last time we were there. It was cooler, so they were all lined up on the trunk of this fallen tree basking in the sun. I swear there must have been at least 30 of them. I've had one as a pet as well. They're super cute.
I had a few sliders as a kid here in SE Georgia. We kept them in a large plastic wading pool outside here in SE Georgia, near Savannah. I'm talking about one that was over six ft across and three ft deep. We controlled the water level with several two-inch holes in the side of the pool. We had an old truck tire in the middle which we filled with sand to create an island. About once a week we would run a hose pipe (well water with no Clorine) in the pool until the water was clear. The set-up was near a large pine tree with high branches so that it got shade during the hottest part of the day, but it did get direct sunlight in the late afternoon and morning. The sliders we had were the wild ones native to our area, and the female was very big for a slider. The male was smaller but still a full-size turtle that would really hurt if he bit. When it got too cold for them outside in such shallow water, which didn't happen too often, we would just keep them in an old ten wash tub in the laundry room. In winter the laundry room stayed pretty cool itself which meant that the turtles stayed pretty inactive which helped with making an old tub work as a temporary container. Being cool and inactive cool and inactive for a day or two was natural for them anyway since it's a native species. It's never too cold here for them to be outside for more than a day or two. We eventually released them into our pond when I became a teenager and wanted to focus on other things. For the five years or so that I kept them they stayed healthy and were descent pets and became pretty tame. The big female was probably a pretty old turtle when I originally caught her.
I kept a wild caught snapper for a few years. Not really a good pet. It grew from the size of a nickel to having a shell length over 9" pretty quickly. It was a fun pet, but VERY demanding not in a fun way (lots of tank cleaning). I eventually released it in the same water body where I caught him. I swear that it would come by and check me out when I was near.
My roommate brought one home one day. Her boss bought it for her son and was going to get rid of it by releasing it at the local pond. They are a invasive species so that actually would have been illegal.. We got her in HORRENDOUS condition! She was being held in a small ten gallon tank with rocks on the bottom. No filter and no UVB! Her plastron was schreded from the rocks, and she was in the first stages of Shell rot.. We learned absolutely everything we could about turtles and managed to nurse her back to health. It was a long and EXPENSIVE process, but very rewarding. We hooked her up with a phenomenal enclosure and six years later she's very healthy and happy. I had a feeling when she was brought home that we were in for a project, but never imagined how much we would learn and how much effort and $$ we would put into saving her.. And never expected to fall so in love with her either! Never imagined turtles could be so social and active. Guests who come over are blown away by how social she is! Yes they do love to beg for food! And the occasional accidental bite from hand feeding hurts, but it's honestly not that bad. Or maybe I just forgive her instantly! All the talk of expensive enclosures hits home though! And we did it twice! First time was to buy everything she needed that we could afford at the time. And then slowly replacing everything as we splurged on bigger/better lol.
Great video! I personally would never recommend them where I'm at here in south texas. Our local parks are infested with them and they're available everywhere... unfortunately so many people get them with no idea how to care for them including myself at one time.. sorry about the rant, but I loved this video!
So I bought my sliders 3 years ago from a sketchy beach store in Florida. I was told that I could keep them in a critter keeper they wouldn’t grow very much and would live up to a year. The lady at the store didn’t even tell me they were aquatic. They now live in a 90 gallon tank that is the centerpiece of my house and they are massive! I am so thankful for RUclips for teaching me how to properly care for them because it is devastating to me that they are basically sold as toys but they are a lifetime commitment. Cats live less than half as long as turtles do!
Proud owner of one!We took him from the zoo where his previous family dumped him (which is just heartbreaking). His name is Punyashik and he is just the most affectionate and goofy baby in the world! Thanks so much for the video, even though I knew all the information seeing how another person talks lovingly about these fellas warms my (and Punyashik’s) heart ❤️
I got my ten year old baby in February and he has been about a grand so far. He needed a tank upgrade, lots of trips to the vet from a shell disease and new equipment. His previous owner was not taking good care of him. He’s doing much better now!
I actually have a pet Red-Eared Slider at home who's name's Kim. She is 4 or 5 years old. Every morning, she would go outta the pond. Talking of going outta the pond, she does that regularly. I also see her bask regularly as well. She has a giant pond and some fish. Also, I love the video. Can't wait to see more
I only recently found your channel, and am overjoyed to be watching this video with my own Red Eared Slider who turns 30 soon. their carapace is almost a foot long now, and they need a stock tank with a canister filter and heaps of live rock. it was sold to my parents as a "no hassle pet for a child" in the 1990s.
My friend just gave me two of them they’ve been living basically on top of each other. One being bigger and just constantly beating on the small one but yea can’t wait to get them their kingdom lol & pick them some names. My boyfriends thinking Biggie & Smallz Lol
I'm so glad I came across this video! I'm about to rescue one from a not great home, but im going to build an indoor pond and basking platform. I'm so excited
I had 3 red eared sliders. When I got them they were the size of a quarter after 5 years they were the size of a football. I eventually had them in a 200 gallon tank with styrofoam floating islands and massive filter and still had to change the water every couple months. After 10 years my sister let them go when I was in the hospital because she didn't want to take care of them for two weeks .
You need to handle her/him. Ive had mine since i was a kid and at first she was scared but now she's sweet. She'll climb on u. Chill with u in the couch.. Walk everywhere around the house.. She even lets me know when she wants to go back in water..
my red eared slider was my first reptile that I got a few years ago and im so glad Ive learned and researched since I've got him. when I first got him I had him in a 20 gallon tank with a uv light and heater with no filter. I've researched, and I've gotten him so much because I just want to make my turtle boy happy. he now has a large tank, an appropriate heater, two filters, a basking dock, a heat lamp and uv light, and tapwater purifier. this is why research is so important when getting an animal! they are honestly so cute and you get a lot of satisfaction knowing they're living a good life
I got my red ear slider when I was about 6-7! Named him Squirtle because I am huge Pokémon fan lol, he was my first ever pet reptile and was the creature that sparked my love of herpetology. Squirtle was rehomed when I was a teen, and now lives in a huge custom pond where he remains safe and cared for and I couldn't be happier.
I don't know how I found this channel, but I LOVE IT! I find you very informative! And your enthusiastic yet calming voice is just wonderful! I must tell my brother that he's not taking care of Bert and Ernie the correct way! They were his boys when they were like 10-12 year's old they are now 30-32 years old they are about twice the size of the one you have here. They don't really have a place to get totally out of the water, and only a heat lamp not the UV lamp also they both are in a I think 55 gal tank, and I don't think it has a heater. So I can attest to the fact they can live a long time without proper care. I will link this video to my brother, thank you for help Bert and Ernie 💜
Today I cought 2 red ear slider and 1 map turtle quarter size i didnt want the bass to est them i have them in a big kiddie pool not the little ones but the like 4dt by 8in deep kiddie pool with a basking rock outside
I'm getting a lemon lime albino slider and a red eared slider in about a year, and Ive been saving for a giant 75 gallon aquarium for when they are bigger. I had red eared slider when I was younger that I rescued and rehabilitated and he was awesome, and I think now that I am older I want to actually keep one as a pet! So these are my graduation present to myself lol
i have a pond pump pumping water into a 27 gallon lava rock barrel that waterfalls back into the outdoor heated turtle tank. I very rarely have to turn out the water from the barrel . What fun pets.
My grandma's would "give paw" for food and follow her whenever she let him out. Watching a little old Mexican woman with a turtle trailing after her was always the most hilarious thing 😂
Your grandma was/is a Disney princess, there's no other explanation 🥰🐢
I took my turtle far a walk and now I can’t find it😐
For a second I thought it said grandma not grandma's, I was like wait wtf.
I have 2 turtles for 15 years, they do the same and react to their names ❤ just love them!
Haha, stay blessed with good health my dear
I got my Red Eared Slider Turbo when she was approx 1-2 years old, from a cousin who didn't want her anymore. That's her, my icon picture. She had to have an x-ray. I had no idea what I was in for, but I wouldn't trade her for the world. She's been with me now for 17 years, most of my life. She lives in a 110-gallon Tuff-Tub, for which I have custom-built a landing platform and heat and light rig for her. Full-spectrum + UVB + ceramic heat emitter + a canister filter rated for a 500-gallon outdoor pond. Here's what they don't tell you: when you have a turtle this big they don't make habitat supplies for you. You have to get very comfortable thinking outside the box, breaking out the power tools, and making late-night trips to your local hardware store sometimes. But I love my baby! She's smart, stubborn, the vet always complements her on her beautiful carapace, and she's afraid of precisely nothing. She's the perfect fit for me as a companion animal.
can I see ur 110 gallon tuff stuff tub? I have one, and I'm looking to make it look a bit better.
They also don't ell you how large these turtles get. Mine got so big, I had a very hard time even picking him up! He was just so heavy.
Sounds like an awesome set up. Would love to see pics
Hi Clint! My red eared is about 29 years old, and is my birthday present when I was 4. 😃
That turtle ended up with the best possible four-year-old!
Heck that’s one lucky turtle to have you 🐢
Wow how big did it grow
@@stayj4658 She's about 2.5 kg
Omg same tho. I’m not sure about my turtles age though. I think my parents got it as a gift from a friend so it possibly was gotten on impulse, and I have no idea of its gender or age. Hopefully I can give it a good life!
I had my turtle since I was 15 years old and now I am 29. I bought her at a dime size. I'm not gonna lie to you and say this journey has been pleasant caring for her. Shes super expensive and very high maintenance. She is very HUGE and I am very afraid to pick her up.
I live in an apartment and I wish she can have a better home in an outdoor pond outside. She currently lives in a 75 gallon tank. Changing the water and filter I challenging. I'm running out of options so this video has given me a lot of hope.
I got mine when I was 15 and I'm 30! Weird we have that in common.. I decided he was a boy (named Otis Red-ear after Otis Redding) but he is actually a she lol... anyway do you have a canister filter? That was a game changer for me I upgraded him over 10 years ago to a 75 gallon tank and the filters the pet stores push on you were literally the worse thing, they leaked constantly and just couldn't handle a turtle, I think they are for small fish, so a canister filter for a 100gal tank is wonderful.... and a "turtle topper" also helps a ton! Let me know if you need any advice! Just want to help! We all have to learn the hard way with these turtles I have only met one person in a pet store that was actually helpful with Otis 🙄
Get a python water changer
@@carolineo9532 what is a turtle topper?
@@jenns9431 it is a little house that sits on top of the tank so the turtle can get completely out of the water to dry off and bask in the heat light, google it if you have a turtle, they are great!
Same here I can’t keep buying mine bigger tanks so I’m thinking of building a pond she’s too big for a tank now
We had one growing up, but not for the typical reason. My dad was offered a RES that had a 4 inch shell size from someone who didn't want it anymore. He set up a tank in his own personal office and meticulously cared for it for years until it grew too big to be comfortable for it. He then dug a pond in the back yard for it, which it stayed in for another decade, well cared for. After he'd had it for at least twenty years he had a local biology teacher offer a very good setup for it (I believe the carapace was 8-9 inches though at that point) with the promise of giving it back should they no longer have a home for it. I believe it is still alive at almost 30 years right now!
Wow!! That's pretty crazy! Its older than me!!!
my Phillip is 32 years old and Yani is going on seven, they are spoiled rotten and think they own me but I love the little stinkers, I let them walk around in the house and sometimes I take them outside and watch the neighbors oggle at them when they follow me around.
Mine is almost 20. I never thought they'd live this long. I hope mine live as long your dad's turtle
@@normanbuchanan9710 I think you meant Laurel
What a fantastic story! Sounds like a very lucky turtle indeed
I've had my red eared slider for 11 years now. He's 12" long and 8" wide. He grew out of his 100 gallon tank so i gave him my bathtub. Now he swims, dives and does tricks. It's easy for me to drain the water and clean it. I only use my stand up shower for myself.
Oh wow that's love
Same here
Him: turtles are generally easy to handle
Me: glares deeply at my snapping turtle
They’re chill unless they’re wild or trained to bite
They’re chill until they bite your finger off
Isnt snapper another genus?
@@yulusleonard985 it is, but this is supposed to be a joke
Common snappers are the laid back who have demons inside of them... but the alligator snapper... that's a demon inside and out
I love my red eared turtle Frankie! She has brought so much joy to our household. One of the joys of my days are walking up to her tank and she comes flying right over! Love her
Proud owner of one here! As long as you KNOW what you're doing and take good care of them, you should be able to keep red-eared sliders.
And I also own Malayan box turtles and a musk turtle named Bowser.
Also me im a proud owner
Yo me too mine has been living strong for like 2 years bruh ⚡️
My grandson caught a baby on a kayak trip. They live in droves in dirty ponds & rivers, so I don't understand why the water in a tank has to be crystal clear.
I didn’t know what I was doing when I first got mine (Walmart parking lot), and he’s doing just fine
Had a "friend" who never fed his 2 turtles. One day I saw that one was already dead and the other was hiding on the other side of the tank scared. Needless to say I jacked the poor little thing and I'm taking care of him now! He always looks at me when I'm moving about my room. He LOVES to eat his worms from my hand. I love my little guy so much and im happy he is in a better home.
Rest in Peace for the other turtle. Sad to hear it was dead...
“Holding a red ear slider is kind of like holding a hamburger that sometimes kicks at you with pointy claws”
Yup, that’s a pretty dead on description of handling almost all turtles. My eastern box turtle does the same if she’s not chilling on your palm. My Russian tortoise can only be held like a grumpy hamburger.
Kyla Lol same
Large Trashcan Eastern box turtles can be captive bred too
@Hunter Does Debates yeah who said it was wild caught
I purchased a Red Eared Slider for my 6 year old son...$10 while exiting the 4 train in NYC. "He" was so cute!! After I had exchanged $ for pet, I asked, "what does it eat?" "How do I take care of it?" The seller had no idea..."feed 'em lettuce..." So my turtle educating began. First, "what kind of turtle is this???" Then, the shock of my life!!! A HUGE tank, basking lights, UV lights, a turtle dock, a filter (a BIG filter!! Yuck!!), food, etc... Next, a trip to the pet store...$400 later....I SHOULD HAVE RESEARCHED THIS PURCHASE, however, all thanks to God, I got everything needed to properly care for a split-second costly decision!! And, my son loves his boy "Windy" (who, upon education, I believe is a female!!)
I appreciate that you pointed out that there are plenty of these turtles already in need of homes. One thing I wish you had added was the reason why these turtles are actually illegal in some places. Here in the Pacific Northwest, red eared-sliders are invasive, competing against our native painted and western pond turtles. People will either intentionally let their pets loose, or they will put their pets in a pond or stream in their yard, and it's not too hard for them to find their way to other bodies of water. Like you said, they are really hardy reptiles, which unfortunately makes them really good at establishing invasive populations, so it is important for people to be aware of just how hardy (and potentially harmful) they can be.
Yes I found mine in a river here in CO. They are invasive here, but I love my lil guy.
@@sarahmartinezDOGMAN That's good that you were able to simultaneously remove a member of an invasive species and give him a good home. We also have a lot of bullfrogs around here (also invasive), and I would love to take some of these guys out of the environment and keep them as pets, but I don't think I could handle bullfrogs (they're very loud and get very big, so they would need to eat a lot).
They became illegal in my country but fortunately the government created a special facility with a massive lake where they get to swim, feed and just lounge about. It gets a lot of visitors so everyone can now see your turtle and was so much better than the aquarium I had mine on.
At the time, there was no other way of keeping a turtle in an apartment. A terrarium had to be built from scratch and I didn't have the knowhow or skill to do so, and even if I had, getting the materials would be tough.
This was pre-internet so a fish aquarium it was: As large a one as I could get and with a massive rock so he had a dry hangout spot.
But it wasn't ideal. He grew and grew and grew until I had a very hard time even picking him up, so heavy he was. While not very bitey, he was still dangerous unless handled by me, the only person whom he would never bite.
I am very glad I could place him in proper care.
My parents bought two of these little guys at a mall kiosk for me. We didn’t have do much research, I was about 8. We didn’t have them long and they were given to another family. Being informed on your pet is so important. Thanks for your content. Hopefully impulse pet buys at petco and the mall can decrease with more education.
My female is smaller than my male, although full grown. She is dwarfed as she was really neglected before I rescued her. I love my turtles so much! Their names are Jeremy and Lily. Jeremy was turned into the Humane Society as a stray, which Is so strange since I live in central Alberta, Canada. It gets to -40 Celsius here. Also, Jeremy has a scar on his shell. He was cracked open in the past. I wish he could talk, because I would love to hear his story. At least he is safe and loved now.
Our female was also smaler but they keep growing longer by the time they are Both 40years old the female Will be bigger
My male turtle named jimmy was also dwarfed but slowly growing. Hes about the size of my palm now.
Lol I should see if I can do that, red eared sliders are invasive, people decide they don’t want them and just release them,so I have seen them in parks and whatever. (In Ontario)
Damn Jeremy is a badass, survived being cracked and survived the temperature in Canada, thats one hardy boi
Mine was the very first pet I was allowed to keep because it was cheap and my parents didn't think it'd last long. I got her at dime size when I was seven, and now she's been with me for 16 years ♥️
Really interesting video!
Oh wow they get a waaaaay higher score than I'd expected. Still absolutely not a pet for me but loved learning about them and I have to say, they are absolutely gorgeous turtles
They are great pets, just not the aquatic turtles that I would recommend first to most people.
Honestly they can be a challenge, which is understandable
I had my albino red ear sliders for years now that have been pretty steadly breeding having eggs. I need to get a incubator now. I just got my first albino pink belly sideneck turtle as well that I am enjoying a lot. In my state, you can't have normal colored red ear sliders as the state will take them, for sure put them down, fine you and may arrest you so I stay with color morphs but they can be very costly. I enjoy mine in waterland turtle tub being retired while enjoying watching them. I never bought them to breed though but it ended up to be two males and a female so nature taken its course.
@@supportyourtroopsathletes6460 ooh, an albino red eared slider sounds gorgeous, I'm going to have to look up some pictures because I've only ever seen the normal coloration but it makes sense that at least some morphs are available, I just never really thought of it
@@Merlijn1994 .... They have a few different morphs (colorations) of the red ear sliders now as you must of seen. The albinos are the most affordable as babies I feel but still a couple hundred dollars then others like the caramel pink red ears and snow red ears. What I did not realize at the time was how much they go up in price with age and size. I went looking for a second female that was a couple years old and confirmed females are way more money than males as a person can not sex them as babies. Same with my albino pink belly sideneck turtle. Unfortunately they are a bit much for me to buy at the moment to get a few babies to raise. The normal pink belly sideneck turtles are not illegal to own now but I fear in time that they will be with those mass producing as well now in the normal colors so I invested in my albino now respectfully so the state can't take it away later also.
I've had mine since i was 13( I'm turning 34 this year). He was a fully grown rescue a friend of the family brought us so you can add a few years to his potential age. He only had one eye and a bit of a dark side from his past, since he tends to eat only the fins of feeder fish and leaves the rest to flounder for his amusement. Even though he is a bit of a psychopath he is highly intelligent to the point i can call him like a dog when i let him out and about in the yard (feels bad to leave him in his tank 24/7). All in all my petrie has been an excellent pet.
This marvelous video brings back fond memories of my first and second turtles, both red-eared sliders. Lots of fun, but as you say, not an excellent beginner reptile for most people. Keep the great videos coming!
They are amazing turtles. If they were the only water turtles you could get, they'd be great. But, they aren't the only water turtles you can get 😁
had one as a kid and it almost took the tip my friends finger off for teasing it with food. beatiful and active reptile but watch out for that beak ;)
Thank you rus of aquarimax pets, very cool.
Aquarimax Pets my red sliders are well crazy af
My red eared tries to rip my hand off, he has scratched me and left scars on my hand for a couple of days, he does that often, he despises me
lol XD
I Love that there are more ppl sharing. I've had mine for 20yrs. You are right about every description. They are very smart!
My partner's 10 year old RES moving in with me when we got a place together rekindled my love of reptiles. We've found that shrimp, snails and plants all help with aquarium maintenance AND double as a food source. Also, alternatives to goldfish that don't share the same issues include livebearers, such as guppies and platys, which are not only a more natural diet, but look beautiful in the tank AND reproduce prolifically with little encouragement. They tend to eat algae and leftover turtle food scraps as well!
Awesome! My fiance is bringing one after we get married and I'm curious as to what other critters will be good tank mates. Do y'all have any real live scaping or live plants?
@@djabroni_brochacho4644 yeah, but the thing with these turtles is they do their own redecorating all the time. Anything you can have fixed into place is ideal. Hornwort is a good plant because it is so robust and will survive if it just floats around, which mine does often, as the turtle always rips it up. We also have some lemon baculpa, which is doing ok. I put some tiger vallisneria in, but he ate every single piece of it within an hour. As far as critters, I have had ghost shrimp, amano shrimp and cherry shrimp in the tank. He can eat them, but never seems to see them. They are constantly picking his scraps from the gravel and eating debris. The turtle also ignores mystery and nerite snails, but enthusiastically eats ramshorn snails, which breed nonstop in my fish tank. I made the mistake of putting a small pleco in the tank. It lasted about 5 minutes and almost choked the turtle. I did no research on that, and would not reccomend it.
@@adamwoehrle Thanks man I'll try some of that out. The guy is in a totally empty tank at her family's place, and I felt bad for him do I asked if he came with the package haha and they said sure take him, so I wanna get a bigger tank and put him in a little ecosystem with some rocks, wood, fish shrimp ect.
@@djabroni_brochacho4644 you should start the tank before you move him in. I don't know how much you do or do not know about keeping fish, but you essentially want the tank to be fully cycled and fish ready before you add the turtle.
@@adamwoehrle I'll get started ASAP!
Clint, adopted Dereck and Layla in 1989 and they are still going strong. Sliders are a commitment. I’m 74 and they may outlive me. We love them both!
I was given a red eared slider by a friend a while ago that her brother had caught in a park when the turtle was a baby, because she had to move out of the country. the poor turtle had been living in a tiny tank with barely any room to move with a huge female. So I’ve been working on building a large pond in our yard to keep him in. He’s a great turtle and extremely friendly. I’m very happy that I got him
Wow, I also wanna build a pond for my turtle. How did you do it? Any advice?
Abhinandan Shrimal for mine basically just dug a hole in the group and placed a large tarp in it so the water doesn’t go into the dirt. Then we put bricks around it to keep the tarp in place. My dad set up a pretty large powerful filter for it in the back(I didn’t get much details on the filter bc I was away when we installed it). But we did make a little compartments for the filter out of bricks and then we place a flower pot on it so it’s pretty hidden. And then to keep hawks and stuff down we put a net over the top. We set up a bunch of pebbles and more bricks as a basking spot with a small heat lamp that we turn on at night(to make it look less obvious we put lights around our yard and just replaced one of the bulbs with the heating bulb). For advice, just make sure you have all ur materials before hand and make sure they are the right materials(we ended up making like 4 trips back and forth because we were missing something or we got the wrong thing). It was fun to do, it took us about a week and a half to finish everything
"you will need a uv light and a heater"
Me: leaves the sun make all the work for free
In the platform maybe on replace of UV light, but the water 100% needs the heater
I have a window near the turtle tank too
Is a pond more affordable?
I had an heater that overheated the water and nearly boiled my poor turtle alive! I fortunately noticed it on time but he was hot to the touch- a turtle, hot to the touch!- and getting red all over, not just around the ears.
It was terrifying. I had to slowly douse him in room temperature water because I feared shocking him. It took a while until he became green again even though the body temperature went back to normal fast enough.
UV cannot penetrate glass, so it's pointless. Turtles (and humans, too) need direct sunlight for vitamin D.
I saw about Sylvester still having the turtles and them being happy and healthy, and honestly it just warms my heart. What a guy, and what a lucky pair of turtles!
Didnt you see the pictures of the enclosures? He is caring pretty poorly for them
@AliNeisy Hopefully, those pictures were in an extra tank when they needed water changes. I feel the same as you if it's their primary tank.
Him: Turtles are very easy to handle
Me: looks at my Turtles that find a way to scratch me where ever my hand is on them
I’ve had mine for almost 12 years now! I’m 18, so we’ve grown together. I love her so much, so thank you for this video, so I can take care of her as best as I can!
We love your channel
Thank you for this video! I think that for a lot of people this is their first exposure to reptiles as pets. In fact, the first live reptile I ever met was a male red eared slider called “Princess”. Your honesty on their care means so much , especially considering how frequently they seem to be neglected.
I've got one of these cuties! She is wonderful and I love her. They're definitely not for everyone, but they're something special.
Well put.
I recently adopted an adorable female RES. I’ve had her for two months. She is pretty happy with the life she has. I am always the one to feed her, and she always splashes so much when she sees me.
I love how he was air swimming the whole time you were holding him
My Red Eared Slider is about 15 or 16 and he's as lively as he's ever been. Now that I'm an adult, I've been able to give him the proper care he needs and I couldn't even think of not having him and his huge tank right next to me in my office. He's an awesome pet and he's been with me during some super rough times. His toughness is so respectable, having had to live in a vase for a little while when I was 11 or 12. They are amazing pets.
My story is about the same, poor care from a kid who didn't know any better, but now I've built mine a giant basking area on top of a giant stock tank with plenty of room to swim.
Dude! The beard is coming in STRONG!!!
I’m a proud owner of one also!! He is about 2 years old and lives in our 125 gallon backyard pond, he has a great grazing area with many of his favorite plants his favorite food is live guppies and loves being handled one thing I do recommend is doing research on how to hold them, it obviously depends on the turtles personality but ours likes to jump!!🥰
I really lucked out with my turtle. He's never peed on me in the many years I've had him!
Yeah! My guy Puddles hasn't ever peed on me either in the 14 years I've had him! I didn't realize that was a thing but I believe it hahah
Same here. I've had my girl 24 years and she's never peed when someone's holding her. Surprisingly never bitten either, even though she's always grumpy.
I have a painted and red eared slider and they’ve both never peed on me
How do they pee 😶
sérene_ from their tails
1:40 Holding your Red Eared Sliders is kinda like holding a hamburger
I’m agreed with this 100%! 🤣
Imagine a burger king advert but red eared sliders replace the burgers
We have a male eastern painted, and the size is so much more manageable. Plus he's stunning. With how invasive red ears are I think the rescue suggestion is spot on. So many people think they can just release them and call it a day, but it's terrible for the turtle who is used to stable temps and food on demand, and potentially for the local population that may be exposed to diseases. We joke our turtle is such a dope at this point he would die if he had to experience a water temp of less than 75F, and he would probably swim right up to a heron thinking it's beak was food tongs then immediately get eaten. Any who... great video!
The tongs bit is amazing 😂
The pee thing is classic Louie everytime i pick him up he shows his love by pissing on me lol great vid
"Let's talk about turtles and osmosis."
I rescued one and had her for 6 years or so. I learned quickly how difficult having one can be. She was tiny when I got her and exploded fairly rapidly. I spent THOUSANDS of dollars on a 100+ gallon tank and the best damn pump/filter money could buy. I eventually had to give her away due to my own health issues. While they are very pretty, they are very hard pets to have. Mine was really damn strong too, you are NOT kidding about kicking. Mine was nearly 11 inches like you had mentioned. I wish I had this video 10+ years ago, it would have helped me alot. I hope more potential owners see this and have a long hard think before adopting one of these turtles.
I keep my RES in a 100 gallon stock tank. Much cheaper than a large aquarium and the only real downside is that you can only view her from above. I think she appreciates the privacy that it offers though!
I keep mine in a 110-gallon Tuff Tub (very similar). I think you're right about the privacy. Best decision I made when I switched from glass tanks. The tubs are cheaper and more durable. And my turtle would eat the silicone sealant around the sides of fishtanks. Because as far as she's concerned anything that can be bitten off is food.
I have a little baby yellow belly that lives in a 20 gallon long tank. Is that enough or do I need to upgrade? He is only the size of a quarter.
@@bananasxv5558 that will be fine while he's still small but you will definitely want to give him something bigger as he grows
im really glad i saw this comment. i was about to save up to drop a lot a of money on a new glass aquarium for my turtes upgrade! do you put anything over top of it to keep your turtle from escaping? thats the only thing id be worried about
@@dillanortiz8997 as long as the basking platform for your turtle is in the middle and you don’t fill the tank all the way to the brim with water, you should be fine!
Certainly appreciate all the attention you pay to the care characteristics and needs of each reptile on your channel. I simply take for granted how common it would be for someone to buy an animal not fully knowing what is required to keep it safe, healthy, and thriving. This is the type of information I’d like to see more prevalent around the web.
Great video as always
Here's a list of possible animals to cover next
African bullfrog
Alligator lizard
Argus monitor
Axolotl
Basilisk
Banded gecko
Woma python
Blue tailed skink
Box turtle
Budgett's frog
Cat eyed gecko
Chinese cave gecko
Collared lizard
Crested newt
Crocodile gecko
Crocodile monitor
Cuban knight anole
Cuvier caiman
Dart frog
Diamondback terrapin
Dragon agama
Dragon snake
Dumeril's monitor
Dune gecko
Emerald tree boa
False water cobra
Fan fingered gecko
Fat tailed gecko
Fire belly toad
Golden gecko
Green spiny lizard/ Emerald swift lizard
Green tree frog
Green tree python
Green tree skink
Horned frog
Indigo snake
Leaf tailed gecko
Legless lizard
Mata mata
Pacman frogl
Poison dart frog
Quince monitor
Rainbow boa
Red eyed tree frog
Reticulated python
Rosy boa
Russian tortoise
Sailfin lizard/ hydrosaurus
Scorpion tailed gecko
Shield tailed agama
Shingleback skink
Sungazer
Tiger salamander
Tiger whiptail
Tristis monitor
Veiled chameleon
White lined gecko
White throat monitor
White's tree frog
Yellow headed gecko
I love all of these suggestions! We're going to be busy for a long time :)
Already did whites treefrog
Also hermit crab and cuban tree frog
African dwarf and clawed frogs too! People need to know the difference
Grass snake!!! NATRIX NATRIX GRASS SNAKE
I have a red-eared slider that I named Tortuga. When he was a week old hatchling, I won him in a ball-tossing game at a fair on June 11th, 2010. He will be 10 years old this year in June. He's been a source of comfort and delight this past decade, and I can't wait for another 10 years with him.
Everyone had a turtle as a kid. No one remembers what happened to the turtle 🤔
Yeah. The neighbor had her three boys climb my fence and dump their turtle in my yard over the summer :/
They either escape or they get chucked in rivers and ponds when they go through adolescence and get hormonal. Not a child's pet. Actually not a pet at all.
Mine are still alive.
I still have my turtle
I didn't have turtles, I had parakeets and dogs
Man, seeing a Red-eared Slider brings back memories. I used to have one and have been in my house for several years. Sadly she was getting too big for the Aquarium we had and Dad let her go within a nearby river.
I miss you, Chiky.
Awww!!! One of our first pets growing up was a red eared slider!!! My mom had a bird before we were born, she passed away when we were really little. I remember finding her at the bottom of her cage that morning, I think I was 3 or 4.. It's actually one of my first memories unfortunately.. But then, We got our turtle, & named her coconut. She was mainly my mom's but I've had a love of turtles ever since. My mom had a great set up for her. We'd take her outside during the summer to walk around the grass. We also had little fish tanks with zebra fish and then betas. Then we ended up getting cats. Then a dog.
I had a red-eared slider for about 15 years. My parents bought him (and about 3 others who didn't make it past the first month) for us at a farmer's market. I knew nothing about taking care of a turtle and did not at the time think to look for resources to better take care of him.
Over the years I got a bit better with him, but when it came time to move 600 miles, I realized that I wasn't giving him the home that he needed, and donated him to a local reptile care facility. With any luck he's living a much better life now.
The point of me saying all that is, I wish that I could have seen a video like this before getting my turtle. I would have known either to not get him at all or that I was in for a lot of work, which I ended up finding out the hard way.
Now that I'm working towards my first Ball Python, I am so, so grateful for channels like Clint's that help us learn about what it takes to take care of these wonderful animals. I hope that this video helps others learn much more easily than I did that red-eared sliders, which deserve to have great lives, are not the easiest pets to give a great life.
Red eared sliders are one of my favorite animals in the world. But, they are definitely not the right pet reptile for me. Thanks for covering these in a video!
thank you so much for the content! I feel the love and respect for those special ones, your eyes are telling. It was a joy to watch and listen. I try my best here in north germany to give a red eared (red "cheek" in german) a home. Just adopted her 1 month ago, so our jouney just started.
mystic old creature
Red ears bite hard, one time I was feeding mine some apples and it bit the tip of my finger, it still hanged on a bit and left a tiny wound.
Still love my turtle tho.
I usually use hand feeding its bites hard but I think gained some resistance about bites
Hi.
I found 1 crossing a busy road the other day.
I've put posters up in the area informing that I have it.
At the moment. It's in our school pool which is 25m x 15m. It seems comfortable.
Any suggestions as to what I need to do make sure I'm looking after it well...
I had one that was pretty large and aggressive. Latched onto my arm when I tried to pick him up. Drew a little blood and left a mark for a few weeks.
I have a red ear slider. I have all of the things that you mentioned but my red ear slider is maybe three and a half inches long after having it for 9 years. At the beginning, I believe I was told to feed it every other day. I've been feeding it every day for a long time and I've started adding grasshoppers and vegetables to the turtles diet. it just hasn't gotten any bigger even though it's in a 29 gallon aquarium with a ton of water. I'm giving it dried grasshoppers now also. I've never given it fish though.
Try a 55 gallon should do u good js got one off at 55 gallon
10:36 i like how its just chilling there like "Yeah, thats the spot"
Best part of swimming is just floating in peace
This is my red eared slider turtle Lynn.
Well thought I could post video of mine
We just pulled two red eared sliders out of our pool. They are only a quarter size and silver dollar size. We are learning. My twins found them so we have a a habitat / aquarium but definitely need a bigger one. I’m so glad i found your channel.
I've had a Yellow bellied slider for 12 years and she's as feisty as ever, my kid got her in fifth grade and he just graduated college and look who gets the turtle lol. It's ok I love her, she's like family.
Me too.y daughter didn't take good care of her by me so now he's mine now. Love him.
My son just died yesterday, he was with me for 12 years. :' ( I miss him so much!
@@sarahmartinezDOGMAN I meant he was with me for 12 years.
@@ayhanerdm GOD BLESS YOU AND YOUR BEAUTIFUL SON. MY HEART AND SOUL GOES OUT TO YOU.
Are you Turkish ?
@@willamdafoe9300 Yes, I am. Why?
@@ayhanerdm We are neighbors! 🇬🇷❤🇹🇷
Thank you for encouraging the adoption of rescued pets, especially ones that aren't cats or dogs. Coming from Florida, with all the invasive reptile problems, I really want rehoming reptiles to become the norm among keepers, especially popular/common species that would otherwise be released to eat local wildlife and infest canal walls. The pet industry is so thoroughly dominated by cats and dogs that I don't think most people even realize that they can or should adopt/rehome exotics rather than always buy them, often bred from factory farms.
My red eared is 17 years old got him for my birthday when I was 5! His name is Tom and he is a very loved member of the family
I love them. Maybe one of the few reptiles where you'd rather recommend "Don't buy, adopt".
24 years with my little one and I'm looking to expand the family in the near future since I've already seen so many up for "adoption" being kept in things like buckets, sad thing.
Hi, Clint. My friend is going off to college and she asked me to take care of them, very happy that am able to give a pair of them a loving home.
Awesome video, as usual! I'm glad you heavily emphasized the difficulty of keeping/affording these turtles, because my male RES is by far my most expensive pet I have (and that says a lot, as I have fish and aquascaped aquariums.) To add on a little more useful information:
- I'd definitely cycle the filter in advance (like with any fish tank, really). This will take 4-8 weeks, depending on how fast the beneficial bacteria, namely Nitrosomonas and Nitrobacter, are able to establish in the biological media. This will remove all ammonia and nitrites from the water and convert them to nitrates. Ammonia can and will burn your turtle's eyes, and even skin, but nitrate is much less toxic and gets changed out with weekly water changes.
- Cohabbing turtles is pretty common, but a lot of the time it's not a good idea. You'll need a lot more space if you want to keep 2+ turtles, and you'll have to have a backup tank if things go wrong. Usually, turtles will be okay together as hatchlings and suddenly become quite aggressive as juveniles/adults, so just because they're okay together as babies does not mean they'll live happily together as adults. If you do want to house multiple adults together, you'd be best off with only females or at most one male and females, as multiple males together is too risky. You'd also need a lot more space, preferably a pond if you want 3+. Also, when cohabbing males and females there's the chance of ending up with hatchlings, which you have to deal with.
- Aquariums are expensive. So, if you don't care too much about aesthetics, I'd recommend a stock tub as they're built to hold water and are much less expensive. I got a 150 gallon from Tractor Supply for $115 for my male RES. It doesn't look as nice as a glass tank, but a glass tank of that size can run you $800-$1500 dollars.
10:44 I found one on the side of my house a few weeks ago. No idea how long it was there, but it was completely dried out and very skinny. I have it some water and some beef heart (I have 2 of my own sliders) and he ate, drank, and ran off when I released him to a pond. Little guy was as lively as ever
Unbelievably comprehensive breakdown. Thanks Clint. Keep up the good work
You're very welcome! Hopefully it helps a lot of people and a lot of turtles :)
I recently rescued a red eared slider from my older brother... poor thing was stuck in our basement with a broken filter and heater, three months no water change, no heat bulbs, no UVB, no baking area and less than a foot of water. I rescue cats, dogs, any type of small mammal (usually hedgehogs) and the occasional lizard (I've got the cutest little blind leopard gecko), so working with that poor turtle was really hard. She didnt even have a name. She was living in a 60 gallon tank, but shes huge, larger than a dinner plate. So I went online and bought her a brand new kiddie pool, and all new supplies. They are coming tomorrow and I'm so excited!!! I cant stop watching care guide videos lol!
I was thinking this was a strange looking slider, I realized I've never seen a male red ear before
That's interesting.
So maybe you have seen only yellow-ear slider.
For a long time (5 years) my bf thought his Red Ear Slider was a male then one day we thought it was getting fat and low and behold she started popping out eggs.
So Leonidas quickly became Leah
@@Reesie02136 Didn't he notice the nails? Male sliders have very long, distinctive nails.
My partner got two red eared sliders when he was 16. He is now 34 so they are about 18 years old and have grown a lot. We just got them a new huge tank from a Petco that is closing. They are going to be so happy with all the new space!
We have them at the local park :) they are so neat and i love watching them bask!
They are super neat!
They have a BUNCH of them in the pond at our local Botanical Gardens too. The last time we were there. It was cooler, so they were all lined up on the trunk of this fallen tree basking in the sun. I swear there must have been at least 30 of them. I've had one as a pet as well. They're super cute.
I had a few sliders as a kid here in SE Georgia. We kept them in a large plastic wading pool outside here in SE Georgia, near Savannah. I'm talking about one that was over six ft across and three ft deep. We controlled the water level with several two-inch holes in the side of the pool. We had an old truck tire in the middle which we filled with sand to create an island. About once a week we would run a hose pipe (well water with no Clorine) in the pool until the water was clear. The set-up was near a large pine tree with high branches so that it got shade during the hottest part of the day, but it did get direct sunlight in the late afternoon and morning. The sliders we had were the wild ones native to our area, and the female was very big for a slider. The male was smaller but still a full-size turtle that would really hurt if he bit. When it got too cold for them outside in such shallow water, which didn't happen too often, we would just keep them in an old ten wash tub in the laundry room. In winter the laundry room stayed pretty cool itself which meant that the turtles stayed pretty inactive which helped with making an old tub work as a temporary container. Being cool and inactive cool and inactive for a day or two was natural for them anyway since it's a native species. It's never too cold here for them to be outside for more than a day or two. We eventually released them into our pond when I became a teenager and wanted to focus on other things. For the five years or so that I kept them they stayed healthy and were descent pets and became pretty tame. The big female was probably a pretty old turtle when I originally caught her.
Suggestions
Asian box turtle
Common snapping turtle
Spiny softshell turtle
Painted turtle
Diamondback terrapin
I like all of those, though some of them aren't as easy to keep as red eared sliders.
I think a snapping turtle video would be AMaZInG but I don’t think they make a good pet
I kept a wild caught snapper for a few years. Not really a good pet. It grew from the size of a nickel to having a shell length over 9" pretty quickly.
It was a fun pet, but VERY demanding not in a fun way (lots of tank cleaning).
I eventually released it in the same water body where I caught him. I swear that it would come by and check me out when I was near.
@@raymondjacque6594 yep hes had rattlesnakes on this before so i thinkk hes done worse
All the turtles, like, all of them
My roommate brought one home one day. Her boss bought it for her son and was going to get rid of it by releasing it at the local pond. They are a invasive species so that actually would have been illegal..
We got her in HORRENDOUS condition! She was being held in a small ten gallon tank with rocks on the bottom. No filter and no UVB! Her plastron was schreded from the rocks, and she was in the first stages of Shell rot..
We learned absolutely everything we could about turtles and managed to nurse her back to health.
It was a long and EXPENSIVE process, but very rewarding. We hooked her up with a phenomenal enclosure and six years later she's very healthy and happy.
I had a feeling when she was brought home that we were in for a project, but never imagined how much we would learn and how much effort and $$ we would put into saving her.. And never expected to fall so in love with her either!
Never imagined turtles could be so social and active. Guests who come over are blown away by how social she is! Yes they do love to beg for food! And the occasional accidental bite from hand feeding hurts, but it's honestly not that bad.
Or maybe I just forgive her instantly!
All the talk of expensive enclosures hits home though! And we did it twice! First time was to buy everything she needed that we could afford at the time. And then slowly replacing everything as we splurged on bigger/better lol.
Great video! I personally would never recommend them where I'm at here in south texas. Our local parks are infested with them and they're available everywhere... unfortunately so many people get them with no idea how to care for them including myself at one time.. sorry about the rant, but I loved this video!
Aren't they a native species here? I see a lot of RES and a few soft-shelled turtles when I go to a certain park
They are native but a lot of them are just unwanted pets, far too many in Texas
So I bought my sliders 3 years ago from a sketchy beach store in Florida. I was told that I could keep them in a critter keeper they wouldn’t grow very much and would live up to a year. The lady at the store didn’t even tell me they were aquatic. They now live in a 90 gallon tank that is the centerpiece of my house and they are massive! I am so thankful for RUclips for teaching me how to properly care for them because it is devastating to me that they are basically sold as toys but they are a lifetime commitment. Cats live less than half as long as turtles do!
That turtle is a pretty boy❤
Aren't they beautiful creatures??
@@ClintsReptiles yes they are my little slider is very happy rn
I have had my slider for over 10 years and you are 100% right on all your points.
“They know that you are the bringer of the food”
Proud owner of one!We took him from the zoo where his previous family dumped him (which is just heartbreaking). His name is Punyashik and he is just the most affectionate and goofy baby in the world! Thanks so much for the video, even though I knew all the information seeing how another person talks lovingly about these fellas warms my (and Punyashik’s) heart ❤️
Turtle: turns head to look at him
Me: I love that turtle I will protect him with my life
I got my ten year old baby in February and he has been about a grand so far. He needed a tank upgrade, lots of trips to the vet from a shell disease and new equipment. His previous owner was not taking good care of him. He’s doing much better now!
"a hamburger that sometimes kicks at you with pointy claws" ok great
I actually have a pet Red-Eared Slider at home who's name's Kim. She is 4 or 5 years old. Every morning, she would go outta the pond. Talking of going outta the pond, she does that regularly. I also see her bask regularly as well. She has a giant pond and some fish. Also, I love the video. Can't wait to see more
Just watching with mine resting in my lap. :P
I only recently found your channel, and am overjoyed to be watching this video with my own Red Eared Slider who turns 30 soon. their carapace is almost a foot long now, and they need a stock tank with a canister filter and heaps of live rock. it was sold to my parents as a "no hassle pet for a child" in the 1990s.
That beard is glorious
I have two turtles, Snipper and Snapper. Had them since I was like 10 and they're super big, growing bigger every day
I just got mine yesterday and I already love him so much and would sell my kidney for him
I have a juvenile red eared slider turtle named Lilly. And she is absolutely a great turtle. I love her dearly. She is my second red eared slider.
My friend just gave me two of them they’ve been living basically on top of each other. One being bigger and just constantly beating on the small one but yea can’t wait to get them their kingdom lol & pick them some names. My boyfriends thinking Biggie & Smallz Lol
I'm so glad I came across this video! I'm about to rescue one from a not great home, but im going to build an indoor pond and basking platform. I'm so excited
I think the grading system needs some work if a 4.0 comes with a don't get recommendation and a long list of caveats.
I had 3 red eared sliders. When I got them they were the size of a quarter after 5 years they were the size of a football. I eventually had them in a 200 gallon tank with styrofoam floating islands and massive filter and still had to change the water every couple months. After 10 years my sister let them go when I was in the hospital because she didn't want to take care of them for two weeks .
“They’re very very interactive”
My Red-eared sliders: Dead
You need to handle her/him. Ive had mine since i was a kid and at first she was scared but now she's sweet. She'll climb on u. Chill with u in the couch.. Walk everywhere around the house.. She even lets me know when she wants to go back in water..
my red eared slider was my first reptile that I got a few years ago and im so glad Ive learned and researched since I've got him. when I first got him I had him in a 20 gallon tank with a uv light and heater with no filter. I've researched, and I've gotten him so much because I just want to make my turtle boy happy. he now has a large tank, an appropriate heater, two filters, a basking dock, a heat lamp and uv light, and tapwater purifier. this is why research is so important when getting an animal! they are honestly so cute and you get a lot of satisfaction knowing they're living a good life
I am warning you don't eat a sandwich while holding your turtle
Rest in peace Sheldon
HOLD UP
LMFAO
I got my red ear slider when I was about 6-7! Named him Squirtle because I am huge Pokémon fan lol, he was my first ever pet reptile and was the creature that sparked my love of herpetology. Squirtle was rehomed when I was a teen, and now lives in a huge custom pond where he remains safe and cared for and I couldn't be happier.
Red-eared sliders are awesome I have one and I've had her since I was six I had to build a custom enclosure so now she has land and a lot of water
How'd you do it? I also am thinking of building a pond for the little guy. Any advice?
I don't know how I found this channel, but I LOVE IT! I find you very informative! And your enthusiastic yet calming voice is just wonderful! I must tell my brother that he's not taking care of Bert and Ernie the correct way! They were his boys when they were like 10-12 year's old they are now 30-32 years old they are about twice the size of the one you have here.
They don't really have a place to get totally out of the water, and only a heat lamp not the UV lamp also they both are in a I think 55 gal tank, and I don't think it has a heater. So I can attest to the fact they can live a long time without proper care. I will link this video to my brother, thank you for help Bert and Ernie 💜
Today I cought 2 red ear slider and 1 map turtle quarter size i didnt want the bass to est them i have them in a big kiddie pool not the little ones but the like 4dt by 8in deep kiddie pool with a basking rock outside
I'm getting a lemon lime albino slider and a red eared slider in about a year, and Ive been saving for a giant 75 gallon aquarium for when they are bigger. I had red eared slider when I was younger that I rescued and rehabilitated and he was awesome, and I think now that I am older I want to actually keep one as a pet! So these are my graduation present to myself lol
I’ve had a red eared slider for five years and I never knew they could pee on you 🤣
i have a pond pump pumping water into a 27 gallon lava rock barrel that waterfalls back into the outdoor heated turtle tank. I very rarely have to turn out the water from the barrel . What fun pets.