caring for baby red-eared slider turtles

Question
Hi,
I'm a college student, and when I was moving out of my dorm, some girl was
going to abandon these 2 little turtles. I took them instead because I felt bad,
and they are really cute, but I don't know anything about turtles! I took them
to a pet store, and they say that they are red-eared slider turtles. They are
each about an inch long, and one is slightly larger than the other. They came
in a little plastic tank with goldfish pebbles. I bought them a 5 gallon
aquarium, and I put the pebbles in the bottom, then I added 2 big rocks from
my yard for basking (I cleaned them with a weak bleach solution, and I rinsed
them really well). I got a narrow beam 50 watt heat lamp from the pet store,
and I've been providing  about ten hours of light each day. Also, I'm keeping
them near a window. I don't know the humidity, temperatures, or UVB status.
I've been using bottled, distilled water plus some reptile water treatment the
pet store sold me, and I've been changing it every day. My problem is feeding
them. I bought reptomin (sp?) baby, freeze dried blood worms, and beta fish
food. The bigger turtle will eat all these things, but the smaller one won't eat
anything! I'm so worried about him! It's been 4 days, and I don't think he's
eaten anything. Should I take him to a vet? And can I just take him to a
regular vet or do I really need to find a reptile vet? I would have to drive with
him for several hours to do so, but I will if I need to. I've been trying to
google info on how to care for them, but I'm kinda overwhelmed and
nervous.
Thank you!  

Answer
They may be wild caught hatchlings, in which case the best thing would be that they are released in the nearest suitable aquatic habitat if there is one nearby or you have a good idea where she caught them. They usually do well for themselves in the wild and know what to do. If you keep them, there is a lot more to learn about turtles than most people think. Wild caught turtles sometimes stress and refuse to eat. New hatchlings may not eat for a week or so after hatching, but I guess you don't know how long she had them?

If the small one does not eat within a week, it needs to go to a reptile vet. For trauma just any vet might work in a pinch, but for this case you will need a reptile vet. Not much they can do with a very tiny one though, except try to use an extremely small feeding catheter, so in these cases it is usually best to let them go so they can recover and being eating on their own before starving.

If you keep them: RES turtles get as big as dinner plates and you will need larger and larger tanks, eventually something 100 gallons or more or an outdoor pond within 5-6 years. They also are going to need a UVB lamp ( linear tube or mercury vapor lamp. No compact coils ).

You will need to get them at least a 10-15 gallon tank to start, and make sure the pebbles are too large to be ingested by them. River rck works best. You will also need powered filtration rated for 1.5-2 times the size of the tank, and you will need an aquarium water heater element to keep water temp above 75F. Basking temp should be 92F-96F and you will need a dry beach space for them to get completely out of the water and dry.

Also try anacharis plant, duckweed, sheet seaweed, small crickets or worms, etc. Dry pellet food is not their natural prey and the small one may not recognize this as food. Commercial food is also not very healthy for them.

I will be out of town for a couple days, but if you have further questions, you may find me through the links in my profile and send an email.

http://redearslider.com/
http://www.anapsid.org/mainchelonians.html
http://www.anapsid.org/reslider.html
http://www.allturtles.com/setup/indoorWT.php
http://www.geocities.com/margareth100.geo/res.html
http://www.turtlepuddle.org/
http://www.austinsturtlepage.com