When I was a kid, I knew I always wanted a turtle, if I only I knew how to get one and how to provide for all of it's care needs. Six years ago a friend of mine was introduced to a Red-eared slider who was the size of a quarter. The tiny turtle was found in a Brooklyn shoe store in a plastic container left behind by unknown individuals. At the time the species was mis-identified as a Yellow Belly Slider and then a Cumberland Slider. Furthermore, Paffie (the RES turtle) was thought to be a male for most of that time, but was recently identified to be female. I started taking care of Paffie in May of 2015 at which time she had a 7.25" carapace length. As of late January the length was nearly 8". Paffie was given to me in a 20 gallong long aquarium and I upgraded her accomodations t oa 55 gallong glass aquarium in October. The original filter was a Turtle Clean 511 which was replaced with a Filstart XP-M. The XP-M configuration replaces micro-fiber filtration with additional biological media.
When Paffie was placed into my care, I was instructed to feed her 15 ZooMed pellets each morning. I now feed her a varied diet which include the afformentioned on some days in addition to one of two ReptoMin turtle stick formula, freeze dried crickets, river shrimp and various leavy greens. All leafy greens are fed in addition to daily diet. I'm still learning but everty weak I pick up something different and so far I've fed Paffie red leaf lettuce, collard greens, turnip greens, and parsley which was least favored. Very recently diced pepper has been offered with mixed success.
A UVB lamp has never been used until a few months ago. For the longest time Paffie basked beneath a 70w SwampGlo which provided good heat. There is a possibility Paffie got UVB from occasional walks in the sun in a large platic container during water changes and nearby windows being the less direct source. The UVB source in use now is a 100w Mercury Vapor lamp. Basking and water temperatures are checked regularly and monitored consantly.
Paffie only begs for food once a day in the morning. She does it agressively and comicaly trying to swim between the glass and the posts which support her basking platform. Why go around an obstacle when you can try to swim through it? This is the first winter she has lived in a tank with more than four inches of water and with a water heater. The previous owner was fine with her "hibernating" and not eating much when it got really cold in the winter. I've read that this wasn't a good, that if a turtle does not fully enter brumation, their immune systems are weakened.
I'm here because I want to take the best care possible of my turtle buddy. Future plans include an awesome above tank basking area complete with an area to bury eggs (it's only a matter of time) and an safe outdoor setup artificial pond setup. I'm also considering a large above ground pond liner for the den. The floor is concerete and this would be a good safe indoor setup if Paffie gets huge.