redearslider.com

Hello-

My roommates and I today came across at a dear-looking red ear slider being sold in a gift shop in a small plastic container. We felt really bad for the turtle and purchased it on the spot.

Now we're scrambling to build a proper home for it, and we're complete beginners. I've searched this forum as well as other websites but nowhere have I been able to find a clear guide on a minimal setup and all the things we need to buy (lighting, filter, fixtures, etc).

So far we've bought a 10G tank, a Tetra heater (though we're not confident it's working), and some food. We are planning on being on high-alert and manually changing the water each day until we get a proper setup. I visited a local pet store but didn't think highly of their recommendations since they tried to sell me generic kits.

We're ideally looking to spend < $200, but we're happy to spend as much as it takes to give our turtle a happy and healthy home! At this point we'd really just like to get specific recommendations on what to buy to end up with a full working setup!

Lots of stuff on the main site:

http://www.redearslider.com/index_habitat.html

Good job for realizing the plastic container is insufficient. Realize that young turtles grow fast and that 10 gallon may not be big enough for very long.

To save money, you can consider a large Rubbermaid container.

I would start with the tank too. There are some decent deals out there for used tanks and a lot of time they hold their value so you can resell when you upgrade. Welcome to the forum!

Check kijiji I bought a turtle then bought all new tank acc came out to like 400$
Went on kijiji that night to find someone selling basically everything I bought for $50

Sorry to hear it though I think all of us had made similar mistakes.