But first, let’s talk about what equipment you need to buy before you get such an exotic pet. Spending may be limited to just buying an aquarium, but most often you have to fork out for a heater.
Choosing a Turtle Aquarium
On average, the size of turtles is limited to 20-30 centimeters in length and width, so aquariums with a volume of up to 200 liters of water are optimally suitable for their maintenance. Depth can be any, but the animal should be able to swim freely, without experiencing a lack of space. Also, proper care for red-eared turtles implies equipment for them sushi. Its area should occupy about a quarter of the basin, cannot be gravel or sand. Instead, the land should be made rocky, otherwise the animal will begin to eat soil, which will harm itself.
Trachemys in the wild live in areas where there is no winter. They belong to cold-blooded animals, which means that their viability depends on the ambient temperature. Because care and maintenance of red-eared turtles in our conditions with cold winters oblige to equip heaters. The optimum water temperature is 22-28 ° C, values below 20 ° C are considered extremely low and life-threatening to the animal.
Keeping these turtles allows them to spend all their time in the aquarium under optimal conditions. However, if you have an animal producer, in the warm season they will have to be regularly taken out in the sun. At these points, you need to especially carefully monitor the pet, as it can damage thin skin on objects or start eating garbage.
Nutrition for Red-eared Turtles
Care and maintenance of animals is also their competent feeding. Trachemons owe much of their popularity to their unpretentious eating habits. They eat almost everything, but professionals recommend feeding pets with worms, crustaceans, mollusks, insects, frogs. The consumption of raw fish and meat is beneficial for their metabolism..
An important article in the diet of red-eared turtles is plant food. Cultivated plants such as spinach, cabbage leaves and lettuce, as well as dandelion shoots are suitable. For the best care of animals in specialized stores, you can purchase special mixtures for the preparation of which gelatin is used..
Having prepared in advance for the care and maintenance of exotic red-eared turtles, you can make a good friend for a very long time. In favorable conditions, these reptiles are able to live in captivity for up to 50 years..
