Red Eared Sliders Deserve To Live

Being a Turtle Rescue it just does not make sense to NOT take Red Eared Sliders. We have not met another Rescue that does take them, Why? We don't care, every Red Eared Slider gets a shot at Life here with us. Here's a video to highlight this .....

Awesome!!! It's not their fault that people messed up and made them invasive and maligned!
People need to be educated about these, and how to manage their existence without being cruel or careless.
Here in Jamaica, they used to be available in every pet shop years ago (which is how I got mine as a child). When they got too big, they were taken to the zoo or just let go anywhere.

Red eared sliders are the most common turtle here too, but nowadays their sale is very regulated which is why Reeves turtles are the cheapest. You can get them for about 50 euros, which is about 52 dollars.

Here in Finland we have only our climate to thank for when it comes to red eared sliders not being invasive.

Hello, I know this thread was posted ages ago, but I only joined this forum a little over a month, and yes, the shelters here in Hong Kong are stuffed with red-eared sliders. It's outrageous that Hong Kong and Mainland China are the only places which sell newborn sliders. I kept like, 9 of them and only one, Chocolate, survived.

I wish these guys weren’t so common in the pet trade…not to mention how it seems exceedingly rare that you meet a responsible owner who’s actually kept their slider for more than a decade. Seems like they may just get discarded (which is WHY they’ve become invasive) or simply die from neglect over time They’re such an invasive species that you often see this scenario happen-

It was caught in the plants near the shoreline. No living creature deserves to linger on and slowly starve to death though. Fortunately I was able to find a wildlife rescue to take this little guy in and hopefully get the hook out of its throat.

There’s a lot of different facets to the issue of irresponsible pet ownership and both invasive and endangered species…but I’ll get off my soap box now and just appreciate that this is a site that people have sought out to educate themselves on becoming better pet owners!

RES are invasive animals. In the Pacific Northwest they are populating the native area where the Western Painted turtle and the Western Pond turtle are supposed to live. Both of those turtles are threatened species partly because the RES's are so aggressive and they populate so easily. Both these turtles I mention are shy and very easily intimidated.
it is illegal to own a Red Eared Slider in Oregon. Because I used to operate a turtle rescue, people would drop a RES in a box at my back door. I had to not keep them in Oregon....so how to get rid of them??? Most of the time they are euthanized. I always had to literally drive them to another state, then find a rescue there who would take them...
The red-eared slider is native to the southeastern United States. When they are released into Pacific Northwest waterways by pet owners who can no longer care for them, they cause significant problems:

• Competition: They are larger and more aggressive than native species like the Western Pond Turtle and Western Painted Turtle. They take over the best "basking" spots (logs in the sun), which native turtles need to regulate their body temperature.
• Disease: They can carry parasites and diseases, like salmonella, that native populations have no natural immunity against.
• Reproduction: They lay more eggs and lay them earlier in the season than native turtles, giving their offspring a head start on resources.

in the time I am talking about, there was no Eppsdynasty. RES are a hard turtle to keep as they are active, they bite and will kill any other water turtle in the same area...
Frankly, in my opinion...they do deserve to live simply because they are a living animal, but in reality...most here are euthanized, or they are dumped in the forest to damage the native Western turtles.
I did keep RES in California...

Maggie3fan said:

RES are invasive animals. In the Pacific Northwest they are populating the native area where the Western Painted turtle and the Western Pond turtle are supposed to live. Both of those turtles are threatened species partly because the RES's are so aggressive and they populate so easily. Both these turtles I mention are shy and very easily intimidated.
it is illegal to own a Red Eared Slider in Oregon. Because I used to operate a turtle rescue, people would drop a RES in a box at my back door. I had to not keep them in Oregon....so how to get rid of them??? Most of the time they are euthanized. I always had to literally drive them to another state, then find a rescue there who would take them...
The red-eared slider is native to the southeastern United States. When they are released into Pacific Northwest waterways by pet owners who can no longer care for them, they cause significant problems:

• Competition: They are larger and more aggressive than native species like the Western Pond Turtle and Western Painted Turtle. They take over the best "basking" spots (logs in the sun), which native turtles need to regulate their body temperature.
• Disease: They can carry parasites and diseases, like salmonella, that native populations have no natural immunity against.
• Reproduction: They lay more eggs and lay them earlier in the season than native turtles, giving their offspring a head start on resources.

in the time I am talking about, there was no Eppsdynasty. RES are a hard turtle to keep as they are active, they bite and will kill any other water turtle in the same area...
Frankly, in my opinion...they do deserve to live simply because they are a living animal, but in reality...most here are euthanized, or they are dumped in the forest to damage the native Western turtles.
I did keep RES in California...

Click to expand...

I need to make clear...I personally never euthanize any animal...

I agree! There is a herpetology organisation and there were numerous sad cases of RES dying after being abandoned. There was a turtle with its face injured so badly you can't tell it's a turtle.

People who cannot care for their red-eared sliders anymore should consider housing them outdoors.
Red-eared sliders can be extremely inexpensive and undemanding to keep with the right setup.

We currently house our red-eared slider in an outdoor kiddie pool during the day and bring her into the garage at night to (protect her from predators). Kiddie pools are readily available and sold for cheap at dollar stores during the summer.

She gets natural sunlight and has no need for a heat lamp for half the year. A concrete block placed in the pool can be a convenient basking area. A chair can be moved next to the pool to create a shady area to prevent the turtle from overheating on sunny days.

She feeds on dandelions and lettuce from our garden. Our pet store sometimes gives away duckweed and bladder snails for free for us to feed her. We also buy
Cheap feeder fish (goldfish and rosy-red minnows) for her to chase around for enrichment.

A filter is not necessary if you can do frequent water changes. Abundant floating plants can be used both as natural forage and natural filtration.

When the weather gets too cold to house her outdoors, we bring her indoors for artificial hibernation.

HIBERNATION REQUIRES EXTENSIVE RESEARCH AND SHOULD NOT BE ATTEMPTED FRIVOLOUSLY.
HIBERNATING YOUNG, WEAK, OR SICK SPECIMENS CAN RESULT IN THEIR DEATHS.
IMPROPER HIBERNATION CONDITIONS CAN ALSO BE DANGEROUS FOR HEALTHY INDIVIDIALS.

However, once the research has been done, hibernating hardy and healthy specimens can be an efficient, inexpensive way to maintain them during the winter months. During hibernation, turtles are barely alive. They do not need heat, water changes, exercise, or even food. In fact, it is best not to disturb them when unnecessary.
Because of this, hibernating turtles are extremely inexpensive and undemanding to keep.

This method of keeping red-eared-sliders is not without its risks.

That sounds like a happy turtle and you didn't need to break the bank taking care of him! Kiddie pools are great enclosures for many creatures.