Yellow Bellied Terrapin

[SteveCourty]

Hi guys just rescued a Yellow Bellied Terrapin from a tiny tank where the owner didnt even have UV lighting and Have A few questions. First off does anybody know of any good care sheets?

[Turtle Jo]

here you go

The Terrapin Tank - www.TerrapinTank.co.uk -

Care Sheet - Yellow-Bllied Slider

[SteveCourty]

thankyou

[wilhelmjoshuataniguana]

Other Turtles »

Yellow-Bellied Slider Stats Scientific Name: Trachemys scripta scripta
Family: Emydidae
Adult Size: Females can attain carapace lengths of near 11 inches, while males are smaller at approximately 8 inches.
Range: The yellow-bellied slider is found in the southeastern United States from Alabama to southeastern Virginia. It is primarily a species of the coastal plain and Piedmont regions.
Habitat: The yellow-bellied slider is a habitat generalist, being found in slow-moving rivers, floodplain swamps, marshes, and permanent ponds. It frequently colonizes seasonal wetlands, such as Carolina bays. It is adept at overland travel. Throughout much of Alabama the yellow-bellied slider intergrades with the red-eared slider.


Yellow-Bellied Slider Species Profile



The yellow-bellied slider is an attractive species, especially as a juvenile, and is easily maintained in captivity. It is less well-known in captivity than its cousin, the red-eared slider. Yellow-bellied sliders do well in shallow water aquaria. They require basking sites that allow full emergence from the water. A basking light that provides a temperature or approximately 80 degrees Fahrenheit will be a necessity. Plastic grating or egg crate material provides a good basking platform, as the plastic will not be abrasive to the turtle’s plastron, and the grating will allow the plastron to dry, reducing the chances of shell fungus and rot.
Yellow-bellied sliders are omnivorous, however, juveniles tend to be more carnivorous than adults. Aquatic insects, such as dragonfly larvae are consumed in the wild, as well as crayfish and snails. Captives will readily consume turtle pellets, chopped meat, lettuce and fruits.
Yellow-bellied sliders are long-lived turtles, and specimens originally captured on the Savannah River Site during the late 1960s and 1970s, are still recaptured.
From:http://www.reptilechannel.com/reptil...-slider-2.aspx

[wilhelmjoshuataniguana]

Yellow Bellied Slider

By Chris H

SCIENTIFIC NAME

Trachemys scripta scripta

ADULT SIZE

Male 5 to 8" long Female 8" to 13" long

DIET

Yellow bellied sliders are omnivorous, eating aquatic plants, fish, insects and carrion, although adult females are largely herbivorous and young and adult males are more carnivorous.

TEMPERATURE RANGE (°F)

Air Temperature: Low to Mid 80's
Basking Temperature: High 80's to Low 90's
Water Temperature: Mid 70's

HABITAT

These turtles thrive in a variety of freshwater habitats including lakes, ponds, streams and rivers.

DISTRIBUTION

south eastern Virginia to northern Florida

BEGINNER TURTLE

Yes

CAPTIVE HABITAT

use an aquarium no smaller than 15 gallons for HATCHLINGS. 1 adult YBS should be kept in a 60gallon aquarium and up. Add an additional 20 gallons per turtle. Use a good filtration system, preferably an external canister filter. These turtles like to bask, so provide a fair sized basking spot. I would also recommend a submersible heater with the temperature adjusted to 75 to 80 degrees.

RECOMMENDED ENCLOSURE

Recommended size for a single adult Yellow Bellied slider - 60 Gallons. For a Trio, definently 150gallons and up.

CAPTIVE DIET

In captivity, you can use small feeder fish as well as commercially bred insects such as meal worms, wax worms and crickets as treats. Commercial turtle food and chopped vegetables round out a nutritionally complete diet along with the treats.

COMMUNITY HABITAT

Red Eared Sliders, Cooters, maps, and painted turtles work well together.

OTHER INFORMATION

Most are very sociable and those that are shy tend to lose that shyness rather quickly.

[Graham]

Are you getting permission to copy all these caresheets from other websites?

It's great to make info as widely available as possible, but many people don't take kindly to having their material posted elsewhere without their permission and without any credit.

The YBS one above is of course from Austin's Turtle Page, where it's already freely available to anyone visiting their website, it may be more appropriate to simply post a link to it?

[mariekni]

Originally Posted by Graham

Are you getting permission to copy all these caresheets from other websites?

It's great to make info as widely available as possible, but many people don't take kindly to having their material posted elsewhere without their permission and without any credit.

The YBS one above is of course from Austin's Turtle Page, where it's already freely available to anyone visiting their website, it may be more appropriate to simply post a link to it?

like this (sorry an excuse to post a link to the caresheet i wrote )
Ocean Wonders Fish Keepers Forum

[Graham]

Yes exactly, I know some forums don't like people posting links to other forums, but if it's allowed then I think it's probably better than poaching other people's work, unless of course you have their permission to do so and give them credit for their work.
I recently discovered a new website, already defunct I think, that was copying caresheets from the Terrapin Tank and elsewhere, with no credit for the original authors and no acknowledgement of where they'd got them from. I just asked for a credit for our work, but I believe some of the other commercial sites involved threatened them with legal action if their work wasn't removed.

[aussiesk8]

i agree you defo need to cover your backside these days or you'll get shafted