Rescued Slider Habitat Help Needed

[John Owen IV]

I rescued a Red Eared Slider and a Yellow Bellied Slider that had been abandoned in an above ground plastic pond. The pond was thick with algae, and was in a completely shaded yard. I was told by neighbors the turtles had survived there several years, winters included, prior to the folks losing their home to foreclosure. I currently have the turtles in my basement in a large pond to get through the winter. They appear to be a male Red Eared and a female Yellow Bellied, eggs have appeared in the pond twice. The Red Eared is bigger by an inch or two, though they are both large turtles approximately 8-10 inches in length. They were covered in algae when I got them, but their shells have since cleared up nicely with basking. Though the turtles have been together for years, they recently began fighting, the smaller Yellow Bellied bullying the bigger Red Eared, biting very aggressively. I immediately separated them, but am wanting to build a permanent outdoor enclosure. I have a spring fed creek on my five acres, but it is primarily shaded, and not sure if they would survive, and they are used to being fed. I intended to build a large pond(15' x 20' x 4' Deep), but am concerned about the fighting, and their ability to survive the winter, even though they apparently did fine with the winters in a small above ground pond. Any suggestions? I'm a little north of Atlanta in Georgia, so relatively mild winters, with only 2 or 3 weeks of intermittent below freezing weather. Any advice is welcome, want to do what is best for turtles.

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi, John, and welcome to the Forum!

If you put them into a pond on your property, you can still toss the occasional meal into the pond for them. They'd find it. Also, in a larger area they probably wouldn't fight. Who knows if they fought in their algae-full pool before they were rescued.

I'll send an alert to a couple of our water turtle members. Wait a while for them to come on and help you:

@Markw84 @Anthony P @tortadise

 

[Markw84]

@John Owen IV

Sounds like breeding activity from what you are describing. Are you sure of the sex of the sliders? You mention thinking the T s scripta (yellow bellied) is female and the T s elegans (red ear) male. If not sure, how about a picture of them - head & neck, front claws, and tails shots? Certainly will be evident at that size. Normally 8" is pretty average for a male, and 10" for a female with adult Trachemys. Its just that you mention the scripta being smaller, and more of the aggressor biting, and that normally will be more evident in the male. However, both sexes will exhibit that behavior. Their mating behavior is quite aggressive with the male biting and holding on to the top of the neck of the female to subdue her and get her receptive !! ??. Can leave a pretty nasty wound! It is natural, and in a bigger pond like you are describing will be totally fine. Scripta and elegans are subspecies of the same turtle, so breeding between them is common. You will end up with intergrades. If she nests, just leave the nest in place and if not destroyed by a predator, they will hatch on their own.

As far as weather, your turtles will be great outdoors in your pond year round. They will brumate (hibernate) in the colder weather when the UV strength of the late fall drops and the water temps dip below 50f. A shaded location is not a problem as long as there is a place they can find sun, or dappled sunlight in which they can bask. In a fairly natural pond like you describe, they will also find a lot of natural foods. Trachemys are at least 50% herbivores as adults and will scavange bugs, worms, etc. As Yvonee suggests, just get a 25 lb bag of Mazuri aquatic turtle diet at a feed store and toss in a few handfuls every day. They will soon learn to come over to you for the food.

Post some pictures of the turtles and let's be sure of the type and sex of each.

Welcome to the forum, and ask any other questions you may have.

Mark

 

[TammyJ]

Welcome and thank you for this rescue job! Best of luck.