I have a yellow bellied slider that I kinda rescued today. It was at my school in my science class and, even though he's a good teacher, he hadn't really taken care of it. It was in a 10 gallon aquarium with no special lighting and only about an inch of dirt and hardly any water (none to soak in). He (or she) was taken care of with his recent owner and just needs some help to get back on it's feet so could yall help me find a good care sheet. I looked on this site and couldn't find one. I mainly just need help with the temps and the type of heat source. I'll post some pictures of him/her. Also I would like to find out a way (other than probing) to tell the sex of it.

P.S. Can you tell me what type of grub this is? The pictures are kinda blurry but I tried to get a clear picture. The dark part to the left is the head and under it's head it has six small feet. (3 sets) Can I feed Ol' Yeller this?

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That grub looks like a mealworm, and yes, your turtle can eat it.

Yellow-bellied sliders, Trachemys scripta scripta, are a subspecies of pond slider, just like the well known red-eared slider, Trachemys scripta elegans. Their care is pretty much the same, and you should be able to find plenty on red-eared sliders. Water temperature around 70 degrees F and a basking spot around 88 degrees will suit him nicely. For turtles, your best heat source is a self-ballasted mercury vapor light, as it will also provide the UVB rays he needs. Since the habitat is all water, except the basking spot, it's better to have both heat and UVB come from the same source so it can be concentrated on that small area.

You'll want to upgrade his habitat to at least 55 gallons as soon as possible, especially if he's already an adult. It should be all water except for a small basking spot. You'll want to feed him both plant and animal matter. Pre-made turtle pellets, insects (such as crickets and mealworms), fish, krill (found with the frozen fish food), collard greens, mustard greens, and a small amount of fruits and veggies are all good. It's especially important to give turtles a varied and nutritious diet, because powdered supplements don't stick to food well once it hits the water. It's a good idea to use gutloaded crickets as a staple, and feed the supplement to them.

Sexing sliders is rather easy as long as they're not too small. Males are usually smaller than females, have much longer front claws, and have either a flat or slightly concave plastron (bottom shell). They also have longer, thicker tails with the cloaca further from the shell. A female's cloaca will be right up near the shell and thus the tail following it is rather small. Females may have a flat or convex plastron.

Here's a male's tail and cloaca:
http://www.picolio.com/g2/d/52460-2/...4h_Trigger.jpg

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Dude!! Thank you so much. By the way, it seems I have a male.

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good luck with getting him a good setup!

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Is that something you found? Or did you just get it from the teacher? Most of the time when you purchase something you would already know what it is, that is why I am asking. If it is something you found then I wouldn't suggest feeding it to your turtle. Wild caught food can be dangerous for animals. You have no clue if it has any parasites or what it has been eating/crawling through that might be toxic to your turtle.

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I found it, so thanks for the warnning.

P.S. Is potassium chloride the same thing as chlorine; and what about magnesium sulfate? Are they safe for the turtle? Thanks.

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Safe for the turtle in what respect?
What are you considering doing with it.

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I was going to use it for both drinking and soaking purposes. I can buy a gallon of water at my local grocery store for 80 cents and was going to stock up on it if it wasn't going to harm him.

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I use normal tap water for my red-eared slider tank. i've had him in it for 5 years and he is thriving. i've heard if it's safe for human consumption it's safe for an aquatic turtle.

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I have learned, that reptiles do not need specially treated water for things like chlorine. Tap water is just fine. Its the amphibians you have to worry about.

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My name is Liz
Do what's best for the animal, not what's best for you.