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How do you raise a baby red-eared slider if you can't find the mom or dad turtle? |
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I do not believe that turtles nurture their young past the egg stage (building an appropriate nest). Young turtles are left to fend for themselves as soon as they hatch.
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The above answer is correct... so the answer to how you raise one is simple. You don't. Leave it alone. In many areas turtles are protected, and cannot legally be taken from the wild and raised as pets. If you found it on the road, or some place that isn't safe - bring it into the bush or near a local watering hole. If the carapace is broken, take it to a wildlife vet and they can take care of releasing it after providing care.
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go to your local pet store, get reptomin baby turtle food, and all the accessories needed to ensure they have proper heat and filtration. once they become the size of a 50-cent peice, continue to feed them reptomin baby, but also start feeding them dried krill (you can find this in the walmart fish aisle - of course, you will have to break it into smaller peices with your fingers), and even try feeding them very young baby fish and guppies. with the proper water depth (recommended only being as deep as the width of their shell plus legs fully stretched out), proper uva/uvb light, proper temperature, and proper filtration (to ensure they do not get skin bacteria disease), your baby turtle should be good to go! i would also recommend getting that turtle shell lotion they have to help shells grow strong to prevent softshell disease.
Answer
Red-Eared Sliders, as your typical turtle, are the lay them and leave them type. Female turtles will lay their eggs up on the land, in a hole they have dug, cover them up, and leave them. Baby turtles, when they hatch, are equipped with the skills to survive on their own without their parents. They know to get to water and how to find food and shelter. If you have found a wild turtle, even a little hatchling, the best thing to do for it is to put it back into the wild. Bring it to the area where you found it and if there is not any water visible, walk around a bit until you find the closest water source, as this is most likely where the little guy would head after hatching. Find a safe, sheltered spot on the edge of the water for the turtle: shallow, shady, and with plant cover for hiding.
If you can't get back to that spot for a few days, you can set the turtle up in a tank with shallow water (enough for him to swim in, but not more than 4 inches). You will also want a rock for the turtle to be able to dry out on, and a light source for heat (you can get a super fancy light at a pet store, or if it's only for a few days a work light with a 40 watt bulb will be sufficient). If you keep him for longer, it's a good idea to get some sort of underwater heater and also a filter, as red-eared sliders get messy fast! For food, there are commercially available turtle pellets (like Reptomin) but to get him started you can try a small piece of red-leaf lettuce (not iceberg!). If you keep the turtle, sliders also like to eat things like earthworms in addition to the pellets and lettuce.
First answer by ID3632251604. Last edit by Twitchet. Contributor trust: 90 [recommend contributor]. Question popularity: 75 [recommend question]
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