Portrait.I couldn't think of what to call my pet terrapin. Not terribly imaginative but 'Tortoise' came to be, much like Holly Golightly's 'Cat' in Breakfast at Tiffany's.
Fact Sheet
Common name: Red-eared Slider
Species: Trachemys scripta elegans
Usual adult size: 8 to 12 inches. Baby sliders reach about 2 inches by age 2 years, then grow about half an inch a year until final adult size is attained. Females tend to be larger. Tortoise was around 4 inches when we first brought her home, so she should be around 10 years old now!
Life span: about 20 years in the wild. They have been known to live up to 40 years in captivity. So Tortoise may well outlive my two cats!
Description:
- Freshwater turtle with a yellowish-green yellow striped carapace (upper shell).
- Its most distinguishing characteristic is an elongated, broad red stripe on either side of the head behind the eyes, more pronounced in males.
- Side profile, showing the characteristic red stripe on either sides of the head behind the ears.
- They love basking in the sun and often climb up onto rocks and logs, sometimes piling on top of each other if basking sites are few to come by. In the wild, they are usually very wary and will slide into the water at the slightest intrusion, which might probably account for their common name.
- My tortoise is tame and she's gotten so used to being lifted out of her tank for feeding that she doesn't even retract into her shell when handled.
- Male red eared sliders have larger tails than females and much longer front claws. Female red-eared sliders are generally larger than males.
- Tortoise swimming in her tank.
This photo was taken about 6 months after she was brought back from the Fish Farm.
We had found her swimming furiously in a tank among a school of freshwater fishes when she was about 3-4 inches long & 'rescued' her.
- Notice the albino barb (light orange fish) in the tank above.
- It had been a mistake to house them both together. The barb was originally in another tank with some other fish but we had to remove it as it was nipping the fins of others.
- I found out later that albino barbs are meant to be kept in schools and when kept in smaller numbers, become aggressive!
- The barb did not last very long with Tortoise. It had disappeared by Day 3!!
This is what the tank looks like today, matured somewhat.
Tortoise in her outdoor tank.Eventually she grew too large for the glass tank and had to be housed in a larger outdoor tank on my rooftop terrace.
I added Dwarf papyrus and one of my favorite plants, Monstera deliciosa (fruit salad plant) around the tank to provide some shade and protection, so she's well shielded from the crows which sometimes perch on my rooftop.
As a result, her basking rock doesn't get much sun but Tortoise has learnt to climb all the way up to the ledge of coping granite stones around the tank to sunbathe, and back into the tank again!
This is how I feed Tortoise!I use commercially available floating terrapin pellets. I remove her from her tank and feed her in a basin of water. This way, the tank is kept clean.
She's fed once every alternate day.
Tortoise eating the floating pellets.Killer Tortoise!!!
There was a period at the end of last year where we had rain and thunderstorms thruout the day, almost on a daily basis. As a result, I hadn't had the chance to go up to the roof terrace to feed her for about 3 days.
Strangely she didn't seem terribly hungry when given food. While she took her time (she really took her time!) I decided to clear her tank of debris and leaves. I was very surprised to net up some feathers and eventually fished out a small skull with a yellow beak and spine attached.
My initial theory was that a mynah had attacked Tortoise, following which, a fierce battle ensued, culminating with Tortoise dragging her assailant into the waters, but I guess a more plausible explanation is that the mynah had nosedived in bad weather, drowned itself in the tank and Tortoise had devoured the carcass down to bone.
Another close up.
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