General Care Discussion :: Too small turtle?

[PolarBear]

I recently adopted the cutest turtle, named Dash, from a friend. Never having a Red Eared Slider before (my sister had a box turtle when we were little), I've been trying to do my research! One thing I have noticed that seems off is her size. Dash is approximately 10 years old....and only 4 inches long. Is this healthy? Normal?

I do have some background on Dash:
About 9 years ago, my friend took her on once an old roommate moved out leaving the poor turtle behind. She says that Dash was only about 2 inches long and very sickly, but that she nursed her back to health. When I received Dash, she only had a 20 gallon tank (the same tank she has had since she was 2 inches long), filter, basking rock, and one basking light (NOT UVB). Her water level was only about 6 inches high. My friend says she just feed her pellets and sometimes veggies about 3 times a week, always feeding her in a separate 5 gallon tank.

Here is the tank she had been living in for 9 years, just as i received it:


I've only had Dash for about 2 weeks. The first thing I did was buy her a UVB bulb and water heater. Water is about 75 degrees now. I'm planning on buying a 50 gallon tank later this week. She is very bright and alert. SUPER friendly, she always swims back and forth when people get near her tank, sometimes even trying to crawl out to you! She loves to bask, probably does it for at least 6 hours a day. She will eat right from your hand and has an amazing appetite. I feed her about her heads size in pellets (ZooMed Growth Formula) plus some green leaf lettuce and a little carrot 3 times a week in a separate small tank. She eats all of it in a matter of minutes! According to her previous owner, she won’t eat feeder fish or other raw meat.

I'm very interested in knowing what else I can do to better her health, and if she will ever get any larger? What does her tiny size mean?

Plus, I am only guessing she is a girl from her nail length. Am I wrong?

Here is Dash:

[rsour24]

from what i can see id say girl. she does seem small but the only thing you can do is keep her in a proper environment. one thing u rly want to do is take out that gravel. turtles can tyr to eat it and it gets stuck in them and it can be fatal. its just not worth the risk of having it.

[Doomed]

The water is 75 degress?
Fahrenheit you mean.

[PolarBear]

Yes, Fahrenheit! She is not boiling I promise!

I was planning on getting rid of the gravel when I moved her to her new tank.

She seems really healthy, despite never having a quality environment. Tough little turtle I suppose.
Maybe i'll just always have a mini turtle.

[steve]

The shell does appear more roundish but she looks good otherwise. She might get larger with these changes, but you don't want to do anything drastic to compensate for her past care.

If you're looking for a new tank, Petco has their $1 per Gallon sale... you can get up to a 55 gallon tank for $55. What might be better is a "breeder" style tank which are wider, but I'm not sure if they carry those and I think they only go up to 40 gallons.

[Doomed]

Red Eared Sliders are extremely tough turtles that don't get sick easily. [Once after the 'newborn period']
However bad their conditions may be,i've seen turtles living in cramped conditions grow to their adult sizes.

The picture of her basking,is so cute!
Anyway,how can Dash be only 4 inches long when she is 10 years old?
Never heard of it haha xP
The second picture looks as though she is overgrowing her shell,like as if someone had filed it smaller.
From what i've read,she seems to be a lively and happy turtle and you are making every effort you can to make it stay that way.

[Ashley]

Petco carries the 40 gallon breeder tanks.

[PolarBear]

So I just bought a 40 gallon breeder tank. Also I upgraded from a penguin bio wheel 200, to a 350. Is that overkill? I know turtles are messy, but I do feed her in a separate tank.

Doomed, I don't know why she is so small either! I am sure she is at least 9 years old though. I was thinking maybe Dash was a male because of the size...but everything else matches a female.

Thanks for everyones input!I'm getting her tank set up now...i'm sure she will appreciate it! I don't think she has been able to really swim in a long time, so we'll see how that goes!

[steve]

Yea on the new tank, I'm sure she'll love all that space. I can't comment on the bio wheel, but it should be fine. Depending on what you're feeding her, you don't need to feed in a separate tank.

If you post a pic of the underside of the tail, we might be able to give a definitive answer to the gender question.