turtle senses

Question
hi yexalen!
thanks so much for responding to my last question about the turtle species :) now i know that mine is a yellow-bellied slider.
i have 2 questions right now. i was wondering if turtles have good hearing. mine is just a baby and he is in a tank in my room. when i vacuum, im afraid he'll be scared or turn deaf because of the loud noise. how well do turtles hear? i also havent been playing my music as often lately, because i am afraid of hurting his ears.
my second question is just out of curiousity. do turtles have color-vision?
it would be great if u could get back to me, thanks again for ur previous answer.

Answer
Hello Anita, I do not know that much about these topics but I will try to help.

I know when underwater noises are different and really distorted. It may scare them, but my turtles (Red Ear Sliders) are used to it by now. I know that when they are basking they will slide into the water and stay there until I am done. I am sure they can hear it but I wouldnt think they have hearing like Dogs do. But getting them used to the noise would be just as well. After a few months your turtle should realize that this horrible noise you are making is not going to hurt him. He may still seek shelter but not be so much afraid of it. I have never heard of a turtle going deaf from loud noises like this. So I dont think their hearing s all that sensitive.

Music is fine but I would keep the volume to a minimum. No louder then you would keep the television.

The eye sight is a little difficult for me to answer as well. I am not even sure if many studies have been done on it to determine wether or not they can see in color. It is quite possible they do and I am thinking its most likely.
However I do know that when the turtle is under water they can see very well, when basking or out of the water their eye sight is very poor. So another reason why people shouldn't take there turtles out of the tank very much. It would stress and definately scare them not being able to see very well.

Hope that helps
Good luck
Yexalen