Can you send live baby turtles through the mail?

Google "red eared slider care" and "red eared slider care sheet" for everything you need to know. Here's some good ones that answer all your questions. http://www.austinsturtlepage.com/Care/caresheet-red_ear_slider.htm http://exoticpets.about.com/od/aquaticturtles/tp/resguide.htm http://www.redearslider.com/ Quote: "i want to be prepared. so I'm turning to Yahoo-answers. you're saving three baby turtles lives!" I'm sorry but nobody made you order them now instead of next week after you learned this info. This is all stuff you should have found out BEFORE you bought them. As with any herp, the viv/tank/pond etc etc should be set up and ready BEFORE you get the animal to help the transition. If you don't know what care goes into keeping a certain animal then you don't even know if you can care for it or even if that's what you really want. Shipping is not illegal (Although why do you question that after the fact? If you suspected someplace of illegal activity then you shouldn't buy there) it's done overnight and is quite safe. If you're not there when the turtles are delieved and they die left on the porch then the seller isn't responsible, you are. They're usually provided with a 48 hour heat pack, but if that runs out then they're in trouble. Three red eared sliders are going to need a very large pond, a rule of thumb is 10 gallons per square inch EACH and the minimum depth is twice as deep as they are long. So lets say your baby turtles are just 5 inches now, that means it needs to be 10 inches deep. When they're full grown, it'll need to be two feet deep minimum and all that water needs to be heated. A heat lamp won't cut it. The water area should be at least 5 times longer and 3 times wider than the length of each turtle. Since you said they're babies they're also going to need a warmer set up than adults, 80 degrees water temp, 80 degree ambient air temp, with a 95 degree basking temp. You can lower that 5 degrees once they're adults. They don't just need a heat lamp, a water heater, a filter etc etc but they also need a full spectrum UVA/UVB light for 12 or so hours a day. Also having a filter doesn't mean you don't have to clean. You need to change a quarter of the entire pond each week with a filter. Feed once daily until it's 6 months old then after that feed every other day. You can read all about their complicated diet and suppliment needs in those care sheet links I gave you.

what can they eat? Turtle pelts, dried shrimp, lettuce(NOT ICEBERG) and, goldfish (very small)/miniows :) I just feed mine freeze dried shrimp and turtle pelts how big do they get? 12 inches but most don't how big of a tank do i need? most people say start at 50 or 60 there full of crap start 40 mine have enough space.. the every inch on the turtle =10 gallon tank is kinda off. Its fine I've had mine health quite some time. how much water can i put in there for them to swim in? Half full about maybe a little less. what food to they eat? Mine eat Turtle Pelts and freeze dried shrimp and there fine. :) this next one is awkward but I've had allot of animals and I've seen many different kinds.... how do they poop? lol! Idk.,.. I've never watched you should get a filter even just a cheap one that way you don't have to clean out the tank every week :) do i need to take them out of the tank to feed them? No thats one of those crazy things people think of I just turn off the filter and put the food in the water about a hand full. how do i tell if its a boy or girl? The boys have long claws and the females are bigger How long is their lifespan? 20 years (probs less) how big of a heat lamp do they need? Go to your pet store and ask for a UVA light thats all they need :) what is a good climate for them? 80 degrees water temp and a basking rock i live in a usually cold(chicagoland area)area,if i'm not home when the UPS guy gets here,how lonng can they be outside? Hm.... not very long probs 1 hours tops how warm does the water need to be? 80 degrees how many times a day do they need to get fed? (I'm guessing three?) Yes but when they grow into adults they need to be feed everyday What are some good things to have in the tank? Basking rock, gravel at the bottom, filter and, any extra rock I love mine! There so cute :) And if you can the right stuff they can be really easy, so if you get want I said your turtles could live 20 years :)

yes u can but most of them have health problems if u do bc its not the right tem. or humi. or ect

It is perfectly safe. i got three baby res turtles through the mail and they are all in a 20 gallon tank and are healthy and happy. If you do get a tank like mine thats small it is only to start off cause they will grow and eventually need a much bigger tank

I'd reccomend finding a forum for owners of exotic pets and asking them, that way you will have people with a huge range of experience.

go to austins turtle page (google it) it will tell you everything

live animals tend to die when sent through mail

UPS is not the mail. They are usually pretty good at getting live thing to you alive. I'd still want to be home during the day; UPS may require a signature and that could mean that the turtles go back to an unheated warehouse until Monday. Head for a pet store and buy a book by De Vosjoli on the care of RES. It's not perfect but it's still pretty good.

first off i work for petsmart and our reptile shipment is mailed to us it perfectly safe and if its a reputable site they know what they are doing when they ship live specimens also you will need to be home to accept the shipment and most likely will need to sign for them. they eat anything crickets fish ect. but pet stores sell pellets for them to eat which contain everything they need. They can get to be the size of a dinner plate, they mainly feed in water so leaving them in there terrarium to eat is fine. Gender is nearly impossible to determine till they are full grown or have a herp vet sex them. They can live anywhere from 5 to 15 years, for the tank pet stores sell turtle tanks designed for water turtles a 20 gallon should do while they are small but as they get bigger no smaller than a 40 or 50 gallon tank will be needed. Fill the tank with several inches of water and provide a basking spot water temp should be around 70 degrees Fahrenheit and a decent under water filter because they are very messy. Also regular water changes will help with keeping the tank clean