redearslider.com

Hi, I found a posting on my local Craigslist for this website, www.reptastic.com

Here is their care sheet for RES: http://www.reptastic.com/Care_Red-Eared-Slider.htm I think it has some good info, but also some misinformation. I have contacted them about this sheet. But they also have a bunch of other care sheets that I don't know enough about to comment on. So anyone with reptiles, check out the care sheets.

I'm interested to see if they take your advice on the RES sheets.

I don't know if he'll be changing anything, he is apparently a massive breeder and seems set in his ways. Here's the response I received, along with my email:

Response:
thanks for your input on this caresheet,

I agree that most of the information that you have supplied is correct, however our caresheets are not as detailed simply because we are in the process of creating over 10,000 caresheets on reptiles and amphibians from all over the world, if we do come across additional info that we can add, we will do so.

The only part I disagree with what you said is that these turtles should not eat meat. Meat makes up about 1/3 of their diet in the wild if not more. Deformation in shell growth usually occurs due to a fast growth rate, meaning they grow faster then they are supposed to. which means they are over fed. Pellets do not have to be their entire diet. In fact, they do very well on shrimp now and again. I feed them pellets aout 3 days a week, shrimp twice and then other meats/fish on the other 1-2 days. Almost all pellets have some sort of meat in them.

In addition, I have never had any issues with red-ears being aggressive towards eachother in smaller enclosures, even with a few males in there. Many times you will find turtles that are raised together which are the same sex that will be non aggressive towards eachother at all...

I have about 1000 turtles right now and hatchlings do fine even without uvb. A uvb light is a bonus, but not everyone can afford to have these fixtures along with heat lamps on every enclosure they own. The most important issue with hatchlings is to have heat and oxygen flow in the water, and of course a basking area...

some of the other caresheets for turtles there include the canister filters, such as a fluval fx5.

My Email:
Hi, I found your website listed on my local Craigslist. So I was checking out your care sheets on red ear sliders. I think some information is incorrect.

Sex: Males can get upwards of 9 inches, well into the size range of females. Size is not an esp. good indicator of gender.

Lighting/Filtration: UVB isn't just a must in their opinion, it is a must as a rule. Otherwise, the turtle will not live a long, healthy life. The basking temp should be more in the range of 85-100, depending on the turtle's preference. It mentions internal filters, but it should definitely mention canister filters as well. With a canister filter, water changes are drastically lessened because a canister filter can handle the amount of waste much better.

Housing: It would be useful to mention that it is recommended 10 gallons per inch of turtle. That helps to determine the tank size. And bigger is always better, as it mentions. As for the basking area, rocks aren't recommended, as often the abrade the bottom of the turtle's shell, leading to infection. Also, improperly set up rocks can topple, trapping the turtle underneath. The water temp listed is way too high. 86 degrees will send a turtle into metabolism overload, and they will shed too much. Normally you want as close to 76 degrees as possible, with hatchlings closer to 78-80, as well as sick turtles. A screen top with a mesh hole size less than 1/2" has been proven to block up to 70% of UVB waves, so that should be mentioned.

Food: Commercial pellets should be the turtle's entire diet, not meat. Meat fed daily will cause pyramiding from excessive protein and will stress the turtle's organs. Meat is allowed as a once per month treat, as opposed to more often.

Breeding: It should be mentioned that breeding red ear sliders is a bad idea, as they are already vastly overpopulated and so many are sitting in foster care as it is. Also, breeding them isn't exactly a sound monetary investment, as they are sold for a few bucks and will cost significantly more to breed. And they are an invasive species, so unwanted turtles are killing off ecosystems due to overpopulation. As for hibernation, it's fine to mention, but it's not necessary for your turtle's health and not recommended unless you are an experience keeper.

One last category that wasn't mentioned is Multiple Turtles. Red ear sliders are notoriously aggressive, so often they will kill any other turtles kept with them if the basic needs of food and space aren't met. If any aggression occurs in the form of fluttering or biting, they need to be separated ASAP.

We have a great turtle forum over at www.redearslider.com/forum if you would like any additional information.

Though I don't know about the site you posted, a lot - if not most sites just copy information back and forth. Having 1,000 turtles doesn't really mean much to me either... does that mean they are more knowledgeable or better keepers? Anyway, good luck to them, but 10,000 caresheets is quite ambitious.

I honestly didn't know there were 10,000 animals you could own! It seems a bit high to me.

that personfrom that website imho is full of [----]. where is he or she getting the infomation for their care sheets from? do they know their info is true? does this person know all of their care information from experience with "10000" different reptiles? this person sounds like a breader in it simply for the money

I think this person is leaning more towards quantity instead of quality. He stated in his response that he's not providing specific information because he's trying to make so many caresheets. And anyone with 1000 turtles (if that wasn't exaggerated) to care for is not caring for them properly. No one person has enough time to properly care for a 1000 turtles. By the time he finishes accumulating his caresheets, if he ever does, he'll have a database of basic information that any beginning herper would already know. Basically, he's wasting his time because his site will be basically useless.

wow you guys are sure quick to hate, dont rag on him and his site cause it doesnt include everything you think it should have, if you've read his care sheet it contains most of the vital information about turtle care than is usually given by most people, and his site isnt even a red ear slider specialized site, just herps, so i commend him in that the site provides info on essentials and a lot of resources to connect with actual reptile experts

if he is a breeder, then he'd probably be more inclined to listen to people who have experience with large successful colonies of reptiles, than some random strangers on a hobbyist site who have had maybe 2-3 turtles their whole life

its not constructive to dismiss his site as sh*t and useless, someone (beginner or experienced) is going to read it whether you like it or not so why not join the forum and contribute, not everything on this site is completely accurate, i keep reading tons of posts of people panicking cause they think their turtle is sick from not eating cuttlebone as listed on RES.com's caresheet, we're supposed to help each other not degrade

SpenceMasta, what if someone gets 2 turtle after reading about red ears on the site and later the both die because they fought with each other? And they have to have a UVB so that should deffinently be on there.

people on here seem to be set on keeping multiple turtles together even after reading the care sheet on this site and the numerous complaints about fighting, people still do what they want, and there are many successful cases of ppl keeping multiple turtles, if they had the sense to care for their turtles long enough i hope they have the sense to realize the danger when fighting happens

sorry but. al the owner of that site is very knowledgeable of turtles. and has been breeding them for years. he has several as his own pets. and he knows what hes talking about. reptastic is a great site. and even though his site is all reptiles. he strictly is a turtle guy. they have a live chat room. and everyone there is friendly. no one is sarcastic and belittleing to new reptile owners that arent sure how to take care of their pets. i've found this site very helpful.

this is why i went and found reptastic, because many people on this site are quick to rag on the new pet owner who is simply asking a question on how to take better care of their pet. at least people come to this site for help. they could just keep their turtle in a little bowl and not care at all. when someone comes to this site asking for help. and you belittle them and are sarcastic with their answers, thats just gonna drive them away. that doesnt motivate someone to go drop a few hundred dollars and redo their whole setup. you have to encourage someone how to properly care for their pet. NOT MAKE THEM FEEL STUPID. I come to this site because there is a lot of good information, and knowledgeable people for turtle care. The only con is that a lot of people are just not nice a lot of the time. If everyone can just be open, tolerate, respectful to all members, that may not know as much as you, than there would be so many less discouraged people. Then they will be motivated to take care of their turtle and spend money on their turtle, instead of just taking their turtle to the local pond because they are so discouraged.

can everyone just be nice? and make this site pleasant for everyone?

hi, im jamie. i am a member of this site, though i rarely use it. i was informed of this thread. i am a mod on reptastic. i am the mod for the chat room as well. we have a live chat tonite scheduled for 9:00 pm eastern time. tonite in the tortoise room in the chat. i encourage u all to come to the chat tonite, and discuss this topic w us, in a respectful manner. if u cant be open minded, and contribute to our site, then i ask that u turn down my offer. we r always open to suggestions. we dont claim to know everythin at all. in fact, we love for other people to give us their info that they have from their personal experiences. and just to clear somethin up, al is strictly turts. in fact, theres a select few who deal w turts. i am one of them. i dont have many, unlike al who has hundreds, if not a thousand. he is very respectful to people, as long as he gets respect back. he is open to suggestions as well. so instead of sayin horrible things about the site, and bashin on the caresheets, y not come to our site and help us make it as knowledgable as possible? in fact, u can start by creatin ur own caresheets. we r here to help other people out. and help with anythin we possibly can. not to be better than other forums, as it is not a competition.we just wanna help people,and have fun in process, as im sure this forum does too. so please, if anyone has any qs, or contributions, please come on over and we can chat respectfully to eachother. thanks.

Am I the only one who is going to go to the chat room. im on ther now.

I talked to them about filtration, UVB, and about multiple turtles. And it did seem like they would try to do something like adding to their caresheet, they were nice and acted like they will do everything they can to help with other people and their turtles and in the process of upgrading and adding things to the site. I told them about filtration by using links from this site. Im still in the chat room talking about cresties and other reptiles.