Meet the Red-Eared Slider

The red-eared slider has been popular among hobbyists for decades. Pretty, placid, and extremely long-lived, this aquatic turtle—a turtle that lives in or near a constant source of water—can make an excellent pet when properly cared for.

Like all aquatic turtles, red-eared sliders have very specific care requirements in order to thrive. It’s up to you to provide suitable housing, nutrition, and healthcare to ensure that your new pet lives a long and healthy life.

The red-eared slider (Trachemys scripta elegans) is one of three subspecies of the common slider (Trachemys scripta) found in the southeastern and central parts of the United States. Its natural range is from Alabama to central Texas and northeastern New Mexico and up the Mississippi River basin, almost to the Great Lakes.

Within that range, red-eared sliders live in a number of natural aquatic habitats: quiet ponds with heavy vegetation, muddy-bottomed streams and rivers, and small woodland lakes thatched with fallen logs and decaying tree stumps.

Wild sliders are most active during the day, often congregating in great numbers when the sun is out and the temperature has risen high enough. They have good eyesight and can detect small vibrations in the water, such as those caused by approaching predators. They often crowd together into tall piles at the ends of logs and other basking spots, climbing atop one another if basking room is in short supply.

Red-eared sliders are green with patterned shells, and they have green and yellow stripes on their faces and limbs. They get their name from the narrow, bright-red stripe located directly behind their eyes. As male red-eared sliders age, however, they tend to lose their coloration—many adult males appear all-black at a distance, but the red ear mark, hidden under a deep-brownish layer of color in the skin, is visible upon close inspection.

Upon hatching, young red-eared sliders measure about 1–1.5" (2.5–4 cm). At this time their shells are very flexible, but they harden over the first year of life as calcium builds up in the bones of the shell. Adult female sliders can grow to 1 foot (31 cm) or more in length with proper care. Males are usually much smaller than females.

Aquatic turtles like the red-eared slider have specific environmental needs that make them more difficult to keep than many other animals. If you’re interested in a red-eared slider simply because you’d like to keep an exotic animal as a pet, you might want to consider another herp (a reptile or an amphibian) with simpler care requirements.

Also keep in mind that red-eared sliders can live for a very long time—when you acquire one, you may need to address the possibility that your turtle will outlive you. If you’re willing and able to take proper care of a turtle for its decades-long life span, a red-eared slider might be perfect for you.