How to care for a red bellied cooter turtle?

I myself have a Florida River Cooter. Cooters are mostly herbivorous (they eat veggies.) Younger turtles will eat a bit of protein, like bugs and small fish, but adults should be fed almost entirely veggies. The bulk of the diet should be dark leafy greens, like collard greens, mustard greens, turnip greens, dandelion greens, endive, and escarole. "Lettuces" have little nutritional value and should not be used as staple foods (occasional foods only and/or fed with a staple green.) Ice-burg should never be offered. Other veggies should be a secondary part of the diet and should be varied often. Here's a good veggie list with nutritional info (Green Iggys are herbivores too): http://www.greenigsociety.org/foodchart.htm Although choosing good quality foods with high nutritional value goes a long way, captive reptiles are prone to calcium deficiency. A calcium supplement should be offered at least twice weekly. Using a cuttle bone in the tank at all times can help give the reptile additional calcium and help to keep the turtle's beak trimmed: http://www.amazon.com/Exo-Terra-Sepia-Bones-Turtles/dp/B002YPZDBK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1333119818&sr=8-1 You should have two separate bulbs/lights for the turtle; one for a basking temp of about 90F, situated over the dry land in the enclosure, and one for UVB. Both should be available for 10 - 12 hours a day. Placing the tank in front of the window is not good enough; glass and screen will filter out the UVB light before it even reaches the turtle, and sunlight coming through multiple panes of glass can create a magnifying glass effect, causing unsafe temperature fluctuations in the turtle's enclosure. You can also choose to use a MVB (mercury vapor bulb), which is the only reptile use bulb that will emit heat and UVB from one bulb. Remember to replace UVB bulbs according to the manufacturers recommendation (even if the bulb still produces visible light after that time), as the bulb will no longer produce UVB. You can use tap water in the turtle's tank, however you should use a water dechlorinator/conditioner before exposing the turtle to the tap water. The general rule of thumb for aquatic turtle tank size is 10 gallons per inch of turtle length. Canister filters are best used with aquatic turtles. Always go for the largest filter you can afford, rated for at least 2 - 3 times the size of the tank. Most filters are rated for fish use, and turtles are capable of making A LOT more waste. Rena, Marineland, Fluval, and Ehiem all make decent canister filters. Yes, if he gets sick you should definitely take him to a reptile vet. The first thing you should do if the turtle seems to be ill is to check your husbandry. More often than not, it's poor husbandry that leads to captive reptile problems. If everything is perfect and/or you fix a problem and the turtle is still not acting himself, then you should take him to see a professional. Lethargy and lack of appetite are common symptoms of stress and illness in a reptile. You can also watch out for white cottony growths on the skin (fungal infection), swollen eye(s) (eye infection or Vitamin A deficiency), mushy patches on the shell (shell rot), and softening shell and/or swollen limbs (MBD, metabolic bone disease.) Here's a place to help you find one nearest you: http://www.herpvetconnection.com/ Here's a few good places to read about red-bellies and aquatic turtle care in general (most species will have similar care): http://www.mass.gov/dfwele/dfw/nhesp/species_info/nhfacts/pseudemys_rubriventris.pdf http://herp-info.webs.com/aquaticturtles.htm

All sliders and cooters require pretty much the same care. first of all females get larger than males. Males get 7 inches, females 10, so a nbabymay be ok in a 10 or 20 gallon tank but an adult male or female needs at least 30, a big female 50 gallons. It should be about half full of water with at least a small land area of gravel or a wood platform for basking. It should have a baking light that gets 90 to 95 degrees where the turtle basks, this varies about 5 degrees depending on how southerly a subspecies you have. Ity needs a 5% UV B light on it for 10 hours a day to prevent metabolic shell softening and bone disease. A window will not do, it filters out the UV B and the turtle will get sick. If its a baby, they are carnivorous and like worms, insects, feeder goldfish, pieces of cooked shrimp, beeheart, and good commercial turtle pellets. As they sexually mature most become more herbivorous and do like greens- dandelion, romaine, kale. bok choy, green beans, peas and squash are better than lettuce. It needs a good strong submersible or canister filter in the tank. Hanging filter usually don't work with half-full tanks. There a over 50 of these on the market- I suggest you google submersible and canister filters and see which feeds your needs and budget. It's a good idea to change up to 1/2 of the water weekly anyhow to keep the filter from filling too fast.

All sliders and cooters require pretty much the same care. first of all females get larger than males. Males get 7 inches, females 10, so a nbabymay be ok in a 10 or 20 gallon tank but an adult male or female needs at least 30, a big female 50 gallons. It should be about half full of water with at least a small land area of gravel or a wood platform for basking. It should have a baking light that gets 90 to 95 degrees where the turtle basks, this varies about 5 degrees depending on how southerly a subspecies you have. Ity needs a 5% UV B light on it for 10 hours a day to prevent metabolic shell softening and bone disease. A window will not do, it filters out the UV B and the turtle will get sick. If its a baby, they are carnivorous and like worms, insects, feeder goldfish, pieces of cooked shrimp, beeheart, and good commercial turtle pellets. As they sexually mature most become more herbivorous and do like greens- dandelion, romaine, kale. bok choy, green beans, peas and squash are better than lettuce. It needs a good strong submersible or canister filter in the tank. Hanging filter usually don't work with half-full tanks. There a over 50 of these on the market- I suggest you google submersible and canister filters and see which feeds your needs and budget. It's a good idea to change up to 1/2 of the water weekly anyhow to keep the filter from filling too fast.

This Site Might Help You. RE: how to care for a red bellied cooter turtle? i am the proud new owner of a red bellied cooter turtle (member of the slider family) but i am ashamed to say i dont know much about their long term care. before you start yelling at me about how i shouldn't go out and buy an animal i know nothing about, I DIDNT! Mr. Turtle was the pet of a...