The

Yellow
Bellied
Slider
Turtle





The classification for the turtle is the kingdom is Animalia. The
phylum is Chordata , class is Reptilia, subclass is Anapsida, order is
Testudines, family is Emydidae, genus is Trachemys, speices is T.
Scripta, the subspecies is T.s. scripta. It is a vertebrate and it is
endotherm reptile.
Where it lives abundant in ponds and streams of the southeast
states and it is found in wide varieties of habits. They live in Carolina
bags, Sloughs, Sinkholes, Oxbow Lakes, swamps, rivers, lake and ponds.
They sometimes travel across the land between two bodies of water.

The lifestyle of the turtle is considered to be diurnal. It eats mainly
in the mornings. It frequently basks on the shore, on logs, or while
floating during the rest of the day. It prefers to stay in the water but if
not it can rest on the surface near brush piles. The lifespan of the turtle
is about 30 year in the wild but over 40 years in captivity.
It reproduces by mating it take place in the water. The adult males
reach about 5-8 inches and the female reach about 8-10 inches. The
mating occurs in the spring, summer, and autumn. They do interbreed
with other T. Scripta turtles. The female lay to 6- 10 eggs but it varieties
because the female turtle can be larger and produce more eggs. The
eggs when incubate for 2-3 months but they stay as eggs in the winter.
When they are little hatchlings they are entirely carnivores.
They feed on insects, spiders, crustaceans, fish that are tadpoles,
and carrion. As they age they will eat less and less meat. Up to 95
percent of their nutritional in take will come from plants.
It eats insects, dead fish, tadpole, and other kind of meat.
Whenever the turtle can have high protein kind of food it will eat it.
Mainly the turtle has a vegetation diet. They feed on larger
invertebrates such as insects and vertebrates like small fish, tadpoles,
and frogs.


The turtle has a digestive system the mouth, esophagus, stomach,
liver, gall bladder, pancreas, small intestine, large intestine, and anus.
The mouth is the start of the digestive system and is the cavity found
inside its skull. The esophagus is tubular and it connects the mouth to
the stomach. The powerful enzymes and acids within the stomach
decompose the food. The walls of the organs are composed of smooth
muscle that helps push the food through the system. It also aids in the
decompose process by churning the food.
The liver is the largest organ in the turtles body. It has humorous
functions that the capabilities among one is bile produced. The gall
bladder is the smallest in the turtles body. It is behind the liver. It
transfers the bile to the small intestine. The pancreas is sliver and the
gland is located next to the small intestine. It aids by introducing the
digestive enzymes into the small intestine. The small intestine is
connected to the large intestine. The Villi is on the small intestine wall.
It absorbed food into the body. The colon is known as the large
intestine. It reabsorbs excess waste and the water produced in the
digestive system. Then the anus is where the waste exists the turtle and
it the last of the digestive system.

The circulatory system is fairly simple and consists of the heart,
veins, and capillaries. The turtle has 3 chambered heart. The heart
includes the left and right auricle, ventricle. The ventricle is a little
separate but it is by a partial septum. It helps with minimizing the
mixing of the deoxygenated and oxygenated blood in the turtles body.
The process begins which the deoxygenated blood into the right
auricle. Then it flows to the ventricle and forces the blood into the
lungs where the carbon dioxide is turned into oxygenated blood. Then
it flows to the left auricle then it forces the blood back to the ventricle.
Then the ventricle sends the blood throughout the turtles body.
The yellow bellied slider turtles are a unique it can be kept as a
pet. They are the most popular pet for a turtle. It is a beginner turtle if
you want a turtle. They baby turtle are kept in 10 gallons in an
aquarium. As they age the need a bigger aquarium and it needs to be
around 75 gallons. These turtle need enough water so if they turn
around on their back there is a way to get back on their feet. They
depth of the water should be around 16 to 18 inches. The water
temperature should be kept 72-85 or 95-102 degrees Fahrenheit. They
aquarium need to be properly filtered. There can be fish that can be
kept with the turtle. The water needs to be warm so the turtle can
move around, balance, and dry completely. There can be a heat lamp
which is a UV-B. The lamp should be switched on during the daylight
hours.



The diet for the
turtle as a pet in the
aquarium the pond
plants such as elodea and cabomba can be left in the water. You can
feed it human consume vegetables such as romaine lettuce, escarole,
and collard greens and it must be change daily. Slider are omnivores
the eat insects and freshly killed fish which provides protein for the
turtle. The commercially process animal- base reptile food is fine too.
The leftover that the turtle did not eat should be removed so it wont
clog the water. We actually have this kind of turtle at my house.