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| Name: |
Shelly
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Age: |
One year old
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| Gender: |
Unknown
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Kind: |
Red-eared Slider Turtle
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| Home: |
Hazel Green, Alabama, USA
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Introducing
Shelly, the newest member of the family. Shell-y, what a clever
name for a turtle.
Shelly was adopted from The Greater Huntsville Humane Society.
She was lucky they would accept her. Most rescue groups won't take red eared
sliders because they are too common and there are way too many of them. The
volunteers at the Humane Society admitted they didn't know much about
turtles, but at least they bought Shelly some time until she could be adopted.
When she came here, Shelly had an eye infection which kept her eyes closed
most of the time. Possibly who ever turned her in didn't feed her properly.
or the aquarium was dirty. Fortunately there are eye drops to fix that
problem. Every morning I would put Shelly in the shower stall and put the
drops in her eyes. She stayed in there for a while so the drops had time to
work before going back into the aquarium. The idea being, if the turtle can't
see, it doesn't eat because it can't find it's food. Shelly's eyes are much
better and she is now eating turtle food like crazy. Turtles are thought to
have been around for 200 million years. That should tell you they are a
hearty creature, so I'm hoping her prognosis is good. (See the one picture
with her eyes closed).
Some people think red eared sliders are easy to take care of. Not necessarily
so. The females can grow up to eight to twelve inches long. They also live a
very long time, maybe twenty or thirty years. Since they are cold blooded,
you must have a heater in the aquarium to keep the temperature in the 70's
along with a basking platform, heat lamp and UVA light in place of sunshine,
also a filter. As they grow, the tank has to be big enough for them. It's
suggested ten gallons per inch of turtle. Shelly is four inches long, so she
needs a forty gallon tank. I'm guessing she is less than a year old because I
put her in with the two other turtles that I got in September, and they are a
little smaller. Also she/he is too young to tell if she is male or female.
Perhaps Shelly is female because her claws are not very long. Males have much longer claws.
Some turtles can be territorial, so I was a little worried the other two
wouldn't accept her, but everyone is getting along just fine.
Red eared sliders are wonderful pets. It's enjoyable to watch them swimming
around the aquarium, but if you are thinking about getting one, do your
homework. Check the internet for as much information as you can find on their
proper care and what to expect as far as size and longevity. Then make the
right decision. I know did.
View more images of Shelly!
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Talk about Shelly in Pet Talk!
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