Sasuke is a red eared slider. A young one as well so we're not holding our breath. We had no clue that to sell a turtle of Sasuke's size (his carapace is maybe a little under 2 inches long) was banned in the US. We were going to relocate Sasuke to my husband's office but we managed to find a turtle water treatment for reducing salmonella. Since I'm the one with the science background, I'm the one that is taking care of Sasuke until he's bigger. Considering Sasuke is so young, probably for the best. It's been enlightening so far. I've been reading up as much as I can on caring for the little guy so his odds of surviving are better. He didn't eat the first day or so but finally has an appetite again.

We picked up a 10 gallon tank for starters and some larger gravel (not appetizing size for now but will have to go as he gets bigger) so that I could make slope so that Sasuke has a "swimming" area as well as a "beach" with round, smooth river rocks. At night, he seems to enjoy crawling under the rocks to snooze. So far, he's done some redecorating, moving the river rocks around so that he has areas to climb up on out so he's partially out of the water. Anything else, we're going to have to order online, lol.

If Sasuke lives, I'm going to have to eventually build him an outdoor pond for during the summer months. Luckily, I'm not too worried about any loss of power in the coming winter as our new home will have alternate forms of heating. He is the absolute center of attention in the house right now so I have no worries about him not being adored despite his coldbloodedness. The kids may not be able to handle him but they love watching him swim around and "redecorate". He actually swims over and seem to look at them while they look at him. Pretty cool little guy and I'm doing my best to take care of him. Any tips you can add about baby red eared sliders?

Stephanie



In every man there is something wherein I may learn of him, and in that I am his pupil.--Ralph Waldo Emerson