Facts about Yellow-Bellied Slider

The Yellow-Bellied Slider is an attractive turtle that make excellent pets. Despite the fact that they are not as well understood or as popular as the similar Red-Eared Slider, these animals are a good choice for those who want to include a turtle to their family.

Overall Description

Yellow-Bellied Sliders include an oval carapace and a rounded jaw. Females are typically bigger than males. Likewise, males will have a thick, long tail and will showcase darker colors than women as they grow and mature.

Colors

The Yellow-Bellied Slider has unique markings that make it stand apart. You will quickly notice this turtle's pretty yellow stripes, which are discovered on the legs, neck, and head. There is likewise an intense orange, red, or yellow spot on the sides of the turtle's head.

The carapace varies in color from brown to olive, and it likewise features yellow bars or stripes. Also, the plastron, which is yellow, can include dark blotches on the bony plates.

Environment

Yellow-Bellied Sliders are highly sociable animals.You will need to supply your Yellow-Bellied Slider with a large aquarium of a minimum of 60 gallons for a single turtle. Hatchlings need to not be housed in an aquarium that is smaller than 15 gallons. If you plan on housing more than one turtle in the same enclosure, you need to include an additional 20 gallons for each turtle, as a minimum (for more info about Yellow-Bellied Sliders read here).

Constantly utilize a high quality water filtration system to ensure the freshwater is kept pure at all times. Keep the water temperature anywhere from 75-80 ° F with the help of a submersible water heater. And make sure the water is deep enough that your turtle can totally submerge himself and swim around conveniently. A good recommendation for water depth is around 18".

Yellow-Bellied Slider Turtles take pleasure in basking, so you will require to supply your pet with a basking area that is large and comfy. The material ought to be non-abrasive and your turtle should be able to dry off completely. Use a heat lamp to keep the basking area's temperature anywhere from the high 80s to low 90s Fahrenheit as per aetapet.com information. The remainder of the air temperature level in the tank ought to be kept anywhere from the low to mid 80s Fahrenheit. Likewise set up a UVB light bulb over your turtle's enclosure.

In terms of substrate, you can decide whether or not you wish to include it in your turtle's tank. Using a substrate might make your turtle's tank more difficult to clean up, and you will require an extremely efficient water filtering system too to help you keep the substrate clean. If you are going to utilize a substrate, select gravel that is larger than what your turtle would be able to swallow.

In addition to purification, you will need to perform total water changes on a regular basis in order to keep the water quality.

Care Requirements

Since the Yellow-Bellied Slider is a turtle that follows an omnivorous diet, you will be able to feed your pet a variety of foods. These consist of pests, fish, and non-toxic aquatic plants. Good choices are small feeder fish, crickets, wax worms, mealworms, chopped vegetables, and an industrial turtle food.

Habits

Aetapet.com also reports, that Yellow-Bellied Sliders succeed in community tanks, as long as they are housed with similar turtle breeds, such as Red-Eared Sliders, Painted Turtles, Cooters, and Map Turtles. Simply make sure that you can provide your turtles a large enclosure in order to provide each animal sufficient space and hiding places, and constantly keep an eye out for aggressive habits in between your turtles.

In General, Yellow-Bellied Sliders are extremely sociable animals, and even those turtles that are shy at the start will become more comfortable in a brief amount of time. It is constantly best to buy turtles that have been bred in captivity, as they will be more comfy around people and you can feel confident that they were not gotten of their wild environments.

Giving your turtle a high quality enclosure and keeping the handling of your Yellow-Bellied Slider to a minimum will help keep your pet pleased and healthy.