new pet

Question
mark,

I've been wanting to get a turtle lately.  i do have a few questions though, and the turtle i am considering is a red-eared slider

how big should the tank be? (for just 1)
how hot should the water be?
do they like to be handled?
what do they eat?
how big do they get?
what do you reccomend as a floating platform?

thanks,
hardy

Answer
You can get complete care guidelines at sites like http://www.redearslider.com and http://www.austinstutlepage.com

A good article to get started with would be http://www.austinsturtlepage.com/Articles/firstturtle.htm or http://www.austinsturtlepage.com/Articles/newhatchling.htm

Some quick answers would be:
- Tank should allow 10 gallons of water per inch of shell length. It will get to about 10" when grown, so have a plan for 100+ gallons.
- Water temps should run 75-80F
- They do not like being handled
- Their diet is covered in full on the sites listed
- The basking site can be any things. I prefer hard plastic platforms with access ramps and non-skid materials