If help

[turtlebuddies]

So I rescued this one and a smaller one yesterday! The craigslist add said yellow eared cooter with large tank included!lol anyway they were in a turtle starter plastic thing about 2 feet x 1 foot steps leading to a 8 in square platform! Not sure how long they were in that thing but acted like Olympic swimmers when put in a three hundred gallon pond! They will be put into the outside pond after stool sample comes back clean! So I think they are rio grand red eared sliders but not 100%! Any thoughts on species! Thanks

 

[ZEROPILOT]

Red eared slider! Spot-on. They are here, wild in the millions and seem to be very active turtles, though I've never kept one as a pet. They likely are prolific waste producers and you'll need filtration and lots of plants. The plants will help regulate the water and I believe that sliders are omnivores so they may eat them as well.

 

[wellington]

Yes, red eared sliders. Will def need good filtration. Some people feed in a different tank then the main tank as they are very dirty eaters. They do need to be in water too eat.

 

[turtlebuddies]

Thanks for the replies! My specific question was is this a rio grand res or just a colorful res? The only res I have had are morphs so the only thing I have to go on is internet pictures I have no experience with these! I really am surprised they lived in that little tank for so long with out any major health problems! The filter the lady have was for 5 gal tank! Which was about how much water there tank could hold anyway! Rest assured they are in a 300 gal stock tank with a laguna 2100 clear flo with uv! They seem to be doing great! Stool samples can back clean! Real skittish though seems like they were handled a lot or maybe that's just how they roll! Thanks again

 

[Yellow Turtle01]

Wow, I bet they are real happy now!!

 

[turtlebuddies]

Wow, I bet they are real happy now!!

 

[tglazie]

Those are definitely a Texas variety of Trachemys scripta elegans. You can tell by the wide yellow bands on the carapace, which are usually thinner and less ostentatious in more easterly populations. The dark marks on the plastron are also less well defined than those of eastern populations. I don't know if these are "Rio Grande" sliders per se, given the fact that I've seen those with unbelievably robust yellow bands and a red ear band that pinches in the center, sometimes to the point of forming two distinct blotches. But yeah, definitely got some Texas in 'em, but with how integrated all the populations are as a result of people releasing them into every body of water on earth. they've probably got a hodgepodge of heritable traits.

T.G.

 

[turtlebuddies]

Thanks