Environment

Question
Hi Mark, I have had my red ear slider turtle for almost 16 years now.  He's grown quite big (his shell is about 9 inches in length, maybe 6 or so inches in width).  I have him in a 150 gallon tank that is 3/4 full of water and has rocks along one side that he can climb up to sun or crawl under to hide.  I'm worried that the environment isn't enough for him.  I'm worried that, as silly as this sounds, he is bored.  Every time I enter the room he begins to slap the water frantically to get my attention and will continue to do so even after I talk to him for awhile.  I know this sounds like I'm a bit of a crazy turtle lady, but I just want to make sure he's being well taken care of.  I will let him out for walks around the apartment occasionally.  Thanks so much, looking forward to your response.

Answer
LOL! He is probably fine- but hoping to get food from you, or looking for new territories. I'm betting on the first. They are well known to recognize their main food source and they generally get rewarded enough to keep it up.

If you want some enhancements, try live foods that can hide and run from him- but not too much of it. A few small fish and a couple small snails for example. Live water plants are also good, and some turtles like those little sticky cubes of Tubiflex worms you can sort of stick to odd places.

Some turtles even like toys like things that bubble randomly or floating things they cannot eat (some bump at toy boats, for example).

http://www.austinsturtlepage.com has lots of good info as well.