How Do I Tale Care Of A Yellow Belly Slider?

You need the biggest tank you can afford (but this depends on its size), a UV and a UVA light (these can be brought as one light that provides both rays) and place it over a flat basking area. Turtle docks are brilliant basking areas and are very important so your turtle can dry out and get warm as they are cold-blooded. The light will also heat the water which should be about 72 -85 F during the day.

Also, you will need a water filter to keep the tank clean but be careful with size as some are too powerful for baby sliders.

For the bottom of the tank, you have several options; sand is soft and won't harm their shells but it is disturbed easily and will make the water cloudy. You can use the same gravel used for fish, but the safest option is to go with nothing on the bottom as then your turtles won't eat it and cleaning is much easier.

Feeding wise, turtles need variety. They are omnivores so need both meat/protein foods and plants. Aquatic plants such as Cabomba can be placed in the tank and left, so your turtle can munch on it as they like. Also a staple diet of commercial turtle food should be fed everyday accordingly. Other food such as blood-worms (found in aquatic shops in the form of frozen blocks) can be fed a couple of times a week depending on how old your turtle is (my turtles love blood-worms!) Some leafy greens such as romaine lettuce are also appreciated by turtles, and when they are bigger, you can feed them things such as mealworms and crickets.

A healthy turtle will be active, will bask regularly (outstretched with their neck extended to soak up the rays) and will eat well (yellow belly's are good eaters!). Make sure you check their shell over often for signs of illness, any injuries can quickly become infected.

Water should be a little deeper than the length of your turtles shell, and should be kept very clean (turtle water conditioners and filters help with this).

Turtles make awesome pets and are fun to watch eat and swim. I hope this helps...