Currently, it has become fashionable to keep at home not only cats, dogs and fish familiar to us, but also various exotic representatives of the fauna, including red-eared turtles. These reptiles belong to the family of freshwater turtles and are named so because of red (or yellow) spots that are located on the sides of the head like ears. The natural habitat of this species is located in the southeastern United States, however, due to its great adaptability and survivability, red-eared turtles have long settled and beyond. When keeping these reptiles at home, the owner may encounter certain difficulties.
The first of them is how to determine the gender of red-eared turtles. It can be reliably found out when the turtle reaches the age of 6-8 years. Better if the sex determination of the red-eared turtles will be done by a specialist, although he will not be able to give a one hundred percent guarantee. Usually in males, the ventral side of the shell, or plastron, is more concave than in females. In addition, they have a long, thickened tail. In females, the opposite is true - a flat or slightly convex plastron, a short tail, and also much shorter claws on the forelimbs. If you wondered how to distinguish the gender of the red-eared turtle living in your home, then remember - it will be much more convenient for you to do this when comparing it with other individuals. If you have only one animal, then it will be difficult for you to identify it yourself. Thus, how to determine the gender of red-eared turtles is one of the main difficulties lurking for the owner of the animal.
Further, it is believed that the red-eared turtle is unpretentious, so keeping it will not be difficult. This is not entirely true. The proper maintenance of these reptiles can be no less a problem for the owner than the question of how to determine the gender of the red-eared turtles. Firstly, the turtle still needs a dwelling that is as close as possible to its natural living conditions. The trap is a water reptile and, therefore, it needs a small artificial pond, but it cannot spend all the time there - it sometimes needs to get out to land. It would seem that everything is simple: place the animal in the aquarium and make there a dry islet of some material. However, this is not an optimal solution.
The fact is that it will be difficult for the animal to get out to land if a gentle slope is not provided. In addition, its surface should be quite rough, as the turtle needs to cling to its claws when lifting. Now they began to sell special sloping shores for turtles, which are placed in the aquarium. The bottom of the latter can be sprinkled with gravel for the convenience of the animal, but it should not crumble and fall into the water.
The land surface should occupy at least a quarter of the area of the entire aquarium, while it is necessary that its capacity is approximately 150 liters. In addition, you need to maintain the temperature of the water in the aquarium at least 20 degrees. Water should be changed once a month.
In addition, the red-eared turtle needs to "bask in the sun", for which a lamp is placed above the aquarium. It will also be useful to irradiate reptile with weak ultraviolet light once a week, and then every other day. It is important not to overdo it, otherwise the animal may get burned.
You need to feed an adult turtle 2-3 times a week. The diet of these reptiles usually includes crustaceans, mollusks, worms, meat, fish, as well as lettuce and sea kale. Turtles should immediately eat the food they offer, so you need to accurately calculate its amount.
From the foregoing, it is clear that the question of how to determine the gender of the red-eared turtles is complex, but far from unique in their content. But when you create all the necessary conditions for the animal, its life expectancy may be more than 30 years.