Talk:Red-eared slider

Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment
This article was the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment, between 14 January 2021 and 24 April 2021. Further details are available on the course page. Student editor(s): Kachina123.

Above undated message substituted from Template:Dashboard.wikiedu.org assignment by PrimeBOT (talk) 07:55, 17 January 2022 (UTC)

Translation of Spanish article
A translation of some of the Spanish article has been inserted into the existing text, large parts of the Spanish article were not translated, most notably on diseases, as this was advice and it is my understanding that Wikipedia articles are for recording facts and not for offering advice.

Keeping as pets
Would somebody with experience like to start a section about proper care of them as pets? Jason Quinn 23:26, 5 May 2006 (UTC)

Done. The section isn't exhaustive, but then again this might not be the place for that sort of thing. Basic info to keep a new owner from killing the thing before they figure it out. 171.66.152.246 22:30, 11 June 2006 (UTC)

No Headline
"Google test" means that it matched an apparently copyrighted page found on google; some people upload material they don't own, so we check from time to time.

On to more specific questions: I found Trachemys scripta elegans as a scientific name; there's also a genus Chelonia, which includes C. mydas, the green sea turtle, and the broader term "Chelonian" is used for turtles in general. I edited accordingly, but would be glad for someone to verify.

More non-UK info would be useful, in particular the species' native range. Vicki Rosenzweig

Trachemys scripta elegans of the genus Chelonia, is correct to my text books and Mike at the Claifornia Tortoise and Terrapin Club. Another is the Red Bellied Slider - Trachemys scripta scripta, which will interbreed with the Red Eared. Most of our Terrapins in the wild (3 species that I know of locally) are public "donations" from Stateside imports (running at 250,000 per month at it's height) when the Ninja Turtle craze was going on. I believe there a several farms in the Florida / Louisiana area still breeding for export.

I beleive Slider and Terrapin as names are interchangeble, country variants of the same animal ?, Slider in the US and Terrapin in Europe. Perhaps someone in these areas could help with further info with this and the species. TerrapinDundee

Since the Red-eared Slider is native to the US and not the UK, would it not make sense to have the article appear under Red-eared Slider, with a redirect from Red-eared Terrapin? -- Adam selene 13:19, 27 Jun 2004 (UTC)

I agree, it really should be under Red Eared Slider. Slider is a more specific term, and most of the species in that genus are called sliders. I'd never heard of it interbreeding with the Red Belly, but in the US, it's common to be interbed with the Yellow Belly Slider. It also should be mentioned that the RES turtle has become a large problem in many countries, especially in south-east Asia. It's much warmer there, and the RES has taken over native habitats. Nicole



I didn't know they were called "sliders" or "terrapins". When I was growing up in Texas, where they are extremely common, we just called them "red-ears". Angr (talk • contribs) 08:18, 19 April 2006 (UTC)
 * Might be a Texas thing. I grew up there and called them that too. Jason Quinn 23:26, 5 May 2006 (UTC)

Chelonia and Trachemys are seperate turtle Genus. Chelonia contains only the Green Sea Turtle, while Trachemys contains the Sliders of North, Central, and South America. I cant see where the confusion would arise. Trachemys scripta scripta is the Yellowbelly Slider, not the "red Bellied Slider". MFuture 22:50, 31 May 2006 (UTC)

Were RES illegal?
I recall my parents many years ago telling me that for a time in the United States it was made illegal to own red-eared sliders, but I don't recall why. Others I've talked to share the same sentiment. Is this rooted in fact? Ameltzer 22:32, 23 June 2006 (UTC)

They're not illegal to own, but they are illegal to sell if they're under 4 inches. Thus, you'll see many pet stores giving them away for free when you buy the aquarium and related accoutrements.

FWIW, some legalities here are relevant to a job I held, and insofar as illegal within US, I believe that has always been myth. I do hear shoppers in pet stores all the time whispering ''Those shouldn't be here! They're illegal!''. I'm sure some of it began as a passive (and effective!) way for parents to say "no" to their children, similar to the razorblade/halloween urban myth. Often though, the banning of the importation of this species leads to the common phrase "they're illegal" in other countries, but this is in terms of importation versus local captive breeding; it's still not illegal to have a slider. As pointed out above, there is regulation now but this is strictly related to size of turtle versus size of child's mouth, so shame on the stores giving them away to avoid this! Cheers. Joevanisland 22:56, 14 April 2007 (UTC)

I remember these being sold in the 1960's at the five-and-dime store and their shells were about the size of a half-dollar. It seems they were sold for 25 cents or so. I think every kid had one at some time. Then, like the dyed chicks at Easter they disappeared.Flight Risk (talk) 04:31, 9 July 2015 (UTC)

Cleanup
This article could really use some cleanup and organization. I tried to do some minor work on the intro, but I'm not sure how much it helped. The intro is very information heavy with a wide variety of subjects that should really be broken down into sections and expanded, IMO. Looking at some similar articles for inspiration, some possible sections are
 * Biology (Size, sexual dimorphism, characteristic appearance, diet, lifespan)
 * Behavior (Sliding, aquaticism, hibernation)
 * Distribution (Whereabouts in US, UK invasion, possibly related species and interbreeding?)
 * Husbandry could be broken down further to be more useful
 * Intro
 * Salmonella
 * Housing (Tank size, filter, lighting, heat, basking area required)
 * Behavior
 * Health

I don't know that I have enough knowledge myself to flush these out very well but I'm happy to start if no one has any objections... Blurble 22:45, 13 September 2006 (UTC)

I have a qustion, how do you know if your turtle is male or female? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 66.68.251.6 (talk) 05:42, 9 June 2008 (UTC)

Under the keeping the turtles as pets section, this is shown:

The Red-eared Slider is commonly kept as a pet and often sold cheaply. As with other turtles, tortoises and box turtles, it can be difficult to care for and can live up to forty years.But the red eared slider is a very good pet to own.

Can someone good at editing Wikipedia modify that paragraph, as well as the following paragraphs, so they are not biased?

Thanks, N8

Organization
As I wanted to add a few parts, I took your suggestion (Blurble) and changed the layout of the page as well. It still needs some work, but I hope it helps! --Tadpole667 20:20, 16 October 2006 (UTC)

This was the logical breakdown of the Husbandry section anyway, but now all of the actual information is gone. What was the point of this? Sliderman 17:17, 8 November 2006 (UTC)

I see now that the Husbandry section was blanked on a previous edit. Restoring it as it was as of 10/4/06, with appropriate section headings as supplied by Tadpole667. Sliderman 08:41, 13 November 2006 (UTC)

Colour Morphs and Melanism
What do you guys think about either a new section about colour morphs and/or melanism, or working it into the article as a subsection of the Biology section? I bring this up because pastel colour morphs, for example, are interesting RES variants, and also, and more importantly, because melanistic sliders, which, I am told, are far more common in the wild than in captivity, are very often unrecognizable as red-eared sliders, to novice herpers - and oftentimes not only to novices! See picture here which I know is too dark but you get the idea.(Click on thumbnails for bigger images, of course.) (Can put up a different, better picture if need be, after batteries for camera recharge.) Hi There 16:35, 4 November 2006 (UTC)

RES Feeding Habits
The article contains this statement: Young turtles can be fed live fish or crickets and generally prefer to eat while in the water. But according to what I have heard and read, RES's of any age must be fed in water because they produce no saliva and therefore, unless they are in water they can not swallow food at all. Hi There 13:55, 5 November 2006 (UTC)

Well here is a source, accessible to everyone here, that states that RES do not produce saliva and must therefore be fed in water, irrespective of the turtle's age. http://www.redearslider.com/index_nutrition.html I am going to change the section to reflect this but if anyone has access to a different source that they consider more reliable and which states otherwise, please let us know. Hi There 02:46, 5 December 2006 (UTC)

I got a slider on my own, and have on several occasions observed her drool, quite a bit actually, on land. It is however correct that they seem incapable, or at least have difficulty in swallowing on land, I have only one time successfully fed her completely out of the water. their reluctance or incapability to feed out of the water must stem for another reason that is still unclarified.

Mini sticks
What are “mini sticks”? Wikipeditor 12:31, 20 January 2007 (UTC)
 * See mini sticks and they are gone now. CambridgeBayWeather (Talk) 12:53, 20 January 2007 (UTC)

Article Has Failed the Google Test
Unfortunately, some of the authors of this page have stolen content from an About.com article (http://exoticpets.about.com/cs/reptilesturtles/a/reslidercare_2.htm). I am removing the problem sections in compliance with About.com's copyright. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 66.253.228.144 (talk) 22:40, 3 May 2007 (UTC).

Rewrite
Large portions of this article need to be almost completely rewritten. The tone of this article is entirly unencyclopedic, and in parts is written as a pet keeping guide, which is completely unacceptable. I'll start on this in a few days, as I'm not currently in a place where i could attempt to accomplish this. DurinsBane87 07:30, 8 August 2007 (UTC)

Could really use it. Most of the "Reproduction" section is original research. Jack Vermicelli 98.243.84.182 (talk) 02:20, 24 September 2008 (UTC)

The Loyalty Section
Some of you might immediately think that the "Loyalty" section is blasphemy or something, but it's true! My turtle, Pete, is 4 years old. I spend so much time with him he follows me like a dog. Peteturtle 22:29, 19 August 2007 (UTC)

Unless you have a reliable source, you have no reliability and what you say you know oes not matter. This article is written far too much like apet guide as it is. If you know something is unsourced, regardless of how true it is, you most likely shouldn't write it. DurinsBane87 13:50, 21 August 2007 (UTC) The food chane of this animal is! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.208.207.125 (talk) 00:54, 11 September 2007 (UTC)

What's the story behind the name?
My sister had a lil' minor flip-out when she heard about RESes for the first time, because, well, turtles don't have ears, do they? What's the etymology of the name? ekedolphin 18:42, 22 August 2007 (UTC)

They usually have a red marking where ears would usually be. DurinsBane87 20:27, 22 August 2007 (UTC)

RES do have ears — Preceding unsigned comment added by 88.95.156.147 (talk) 10:02, 29 July 2015 (UTC)

How-to Template
Much of the pet section reads as an instructional on how to keep a RES as a pet and without much reference/citation with redundant overlapping information. --76.214.226.199 21:24, 8 November 2007 (UTC)


 * I have removed some of the how to info (per WP:NOT) in the pet section, but more editing is required. Some parts are factual rather than instructional so they might be worth keeping. Beechhouse (talk) 13:11, 12 January 2008 (UTC)

Help
Help, my RES don´t want to go into water and keeps hiding under sofas and beds, is that normal? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 189.28.199.207 (talk) 00:25, 26 January 2008 (UTC)

Article lost quality...
It's been while since I visited this page and I'm surprised to see that the article has gotten worse over time by small incremental changes. Perhaps there should be a checklist of items that the article that we agree it MUST include such as care as pets, sexual dimorphism (which is currently missing), etc. Jason Quinn (talk) 17:06, 16 February 2008 (UTC)

Self Researched?
Someone put a lot of their first person text/personal research into the article... I don't have time to fix it now, just pointing it out. Robin Chen (talk) 03:07, 3 May 2008 (UTC)

Is editing through?
I am an aquatic ecologist. I read through this section and it seems pretty good to me. Maybe this is wiki-blasphemy, but I hope nobody who is interested in turtles would use wikipedia as the only source. As it is, it is a good introduction. Someone mentioned salmonella. A blurb about that muight be nice, just so that people out handling turtles know to wash their hands. I'm taking down some of the issues listed at the top of the page. If you all think that's wrong, go ahead and put it back. Citations are needed in places... but real encyclopedias often don't cite things that are considered "common knowledge". Even if it is only commonly known among experts in the field.

Thanks —Preceding unsigned comment added by 131.230.62.244 (talk) 15:05, 6 June 2008 (UTC)

Incubation
The main article mentioned laying the eggs on paper towels and then covering the eggs with towels. Could someone expand on exactly how to do this? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.6.149.148 (talk) 01:03, 9 June 2008 (UTC)

I found this to be a good website on raising turtles from eggs. http://turtle_tails.tripod.com/raisingbabyturtles/raisingbabyturtles.htm

Eyes
Red-eared sliders have the coolest eyes:) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.215.121.114 (talk) 02:09, 16 September 2008 (UTC)

Please help me figure it out...
My RES is all of a sudden trying to burrow in the rocks around his pool. why is she doing this??? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.119.118.17 (talk) 23:05, 19 October 2008 (UTC)

Shedding the skin?
What does it mean when the RES sheds skin or peels? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.176.105.12 (talk) 03:30, 3 November 2008 (UTC)

It could be skin infection, poor diet, or lack of proper drying rocks to perch on. —Preceding unsigned comment added by JosephCampisi (talk • contribs) 17:51, 23 January 2009 (UTC)

my turtles shed skin when they have been basking under the uv light for long periods and its only noticable when they go back into the water and there skin comes off in the water. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Nemo.shark (talk • contribs) 21:21, 25 August 2010 (UTC)

I have found water turtles to do good on a diet of shellfish, fish oil and krill oil, and mineral powders such as coral calcium or Aquamin sea minerals, that I cake on the oiled up shell fish. You can also get vitamins to put in the water, but be careful not to over do it. Water quality is very important. I use canister filters that pump water through the filter, which work better than the air bubble driven filters. Get good water quality measurement strips at your local aquarium shop, and check the water frequently. I change the water weekly from aged water storage. Of course, a non-glass, unbreakable water thermometer is a must as well. —Preceding unsigned comment added by JosephCampisi (talk • contribs) 18:03, 23 January 2009 (UTC)

I also make local aquatic plants available, as well as red leaf lettuce (which my carp eat readily), but I have yet to actually see a red-eared slider eat any greens. —Preceding unsigned comment added by JosephCampisi (talk • contribs) 04:30, 24 January 2009 (UTC)

Recently I made some mini meatloaf balls with turkey, parsely, tomato, egg, various oils, which my slider really enjoys small pieces of. In fact preferring it to the canned baby clams. Mini meatloaf pieces seems like a good way to get oils and vegetable matter into their diet. I think I will add some coral calcium powder too next time.

Another useful tip is to hang (or attach with aquarium silicone) a piece of plastic needlepoint canvas off the basking ledge. This way they can grasp onto the part underwater and easily climb up onto the dry basking ledge since they have good toe claws that easily grip the screen. JosephCampisi (talk) 16:43, 15 August 2009 (UTC)

Gestation in relocated RES.
The RES in my Husbandry care which were relocated from Long Island, New York to Plantation, Florida, bred in several seasons in both areas. In New York the gestation period was 102 days. The same four females gestated in 92 days in Florida. Detailed Husbandry over three decades is available on http://home.comcast.net/~joeaamar/site. —Preceding unsigned comment added by JOEAATURTLE (talk • contribs) 22:35, 24 March 2009 (UTC)

New site: Joeaamar@gmail.com. Also TurtleHusbandry on Facebook. JOEAATURTLE (talk) 02:08, 31 October 2022 (UTC)

Laying Eggs on paper towels.
The Turtles bury their eggs in sand-dirt mix of their choice. After they are carefully removed from their nests, within 45 minutes of depositing, the eggs are carefully rinsed of sand and debris using the fingers as support and gentle wiping. They are then placed on moist paper towels as described. More details can be found at http://home.comcast.net/~joeaamar/site. —Preceding unsigned comment added by JOEAATURTLE (talk • contribs) 22:41, 24 March 2009 (UTC)

Use of I, we and you
Can this be removed from the article?

"This article uses first-person ("I"; "we") or second-person ("you") inappropriately. Please rewrite it to use a more formal, encyclopedic tone. (March 2009)"

Someone must have re-worded the problem areas. I can't find any use of these words.

Acham1973 (talk) 01:04, 7 June 2009 (UTC)Acham1973

Photo
If I didn't know any better, I'd say those turtles at the top of the article "basking" are actually "mating." However, this photo here of a different type of turtle shows a three-turtle pile, so apparently this is what turtles do to bask. Maybe I need to get my mind out of the gutter, but perhaps a different photo or a more descriptive caption would help? Thanks! CSZero (talk) 16:34, 5 July 2009 (UTC)
 * For clarification, many turtle types often engage in a sort of 'stacking' behaviour and pile on top of each other like dominoes or something when basking. I've never read any scientific explanation but I suppose it has some social order component. -Falcon8765 (talk) 03:13, 25 July 2009 (UTC)
 * Additionally, hatchling turtles don't engage in sexual behavior as far as I know :) -Falcon8765 (talk) 03:14, 25 July 2009 (UTC)

Albino Red- eared slider
I just caught an albino turtle in my pond. Is it worth anything? I've read that doing this by chance is about 1 in a million. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Rhpmikel (talk • contribs) 02:33, 23 August 2009 (UTC)

r they illegal now
r they illegal in the usa now? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.59.218.19 (talk) 02:26, 5 November 2009 (UTC)

Consistency in name
The name red-eared slider is not consistently used within the article. It varies widely: Red-Eared Slider, Red Eared Slider, Red-eared Slider, Red-eared slider, red-eared slider, and red eared slider. I would propose consistently using the style as in the article's title: Red-eared slider when the first word a sentence or caption and red-eared slider otherwise. This proposal complies with the WP Style manual--"Common (vernacular) names of flora and fauna should be written in lower case—for example, oak or lion." Note however, that there are some species groups (e.g., birds) that are exceptions to this rule (see: Wikipedia:Naming conventions). Comments? Pinethicket (talk) 23:35, 9 December 2009 (UTC)
 * Since there has been no objection to this proposal, I am implementing it. Pinethicket (talk) 18:34, 31 January 2010 (UTC)

turtle link
I'm not going to fight you on linking turtle, but that is a commonly known word, and we already have a link to the family within the sentence (a narrower grouping). The days of chair and table getting wikilinked have left and people are being more sparing in the links as it improves readability. Again, won't fight, just explaining my thoughts.TCO (talk) 05:18, 13 February 2011 (UTC)


 * P.s. I just took "Painted turtle" through FA and its a good article and I didn't link "turtle".  And it's one genus over from T.s.s.  Like rivals!  ;-) TCO (talk) 05:20, 13 February 2011 (UTC)

Neurophysiology
There's no information here and it's not cited... remove? 99.189.175.248 (talk) 00:24, 20 July 2011 (UTC)

turtle shell colors
why the heck did they say this is "c" class! umm... why do turtle shells look different if they can be same gender, type, and species? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Venomxx (talk • contribs) 23:49, 22 December 2012 (UTC)

Captive red-eared sliders live longer than 40 years in captivity
I have a female red-eared slider who will be 52 this summer. She was purchased in March 1965 at Andy's Pet Shop on the 21:47, 22 June 2016 (UTC)2601:647:CB00:7BF9:99B7:A4B5:626F:4EEF (talk)Alameda in San Jose, CA. She still lays eggs 2 times/year.

Red Eared Slider diet
Reference regarding diet of RES being 'lots of plants, but are omnivorous." broken. The first three references on a Google Search contradict this. RES are principally carnivorous when young and eat more vegetation as they get older. A diet, in the wild consisting of fish, insects, crustaceans, as well as some plants is appropriate. Current information is erroneous at worst, unsubstantiated or an in the minority at best. Sonthert (talk) 01:58, 16 February 2017 (UTC)
 * broken I think you mean that Google Books does not have 9781605014593. That is not broken it just isn't available easily. Please provide contradictory sources. Invasive Spices (talk) 24 September 2022 (UTC)

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