redear slider

Question
QUESTION: I realize that this may be out of your range of expertise because none of the others could answer this but I have several turtles and I always thought that they would just grow into the claws if they were long, but I have had this red ear sider for a while and she hasent grown into her claws yet. and I was wondering If I need to cut her claws.

ANSWER: Hi Michael:  Female sliders have very short claws... where as the males have much longer claws.  When you say... grow into her claws... what does that mean?  I would not cut her claws at all... They should trim naturally on the stones, etc in her tank.  What kind of decorations do you have in her tank and what is the tank set up like.  How large are the turtles???  let me know... dave

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QUESTION: she is about 5in long and I have lots of logs and rocks in her tank. and by grow into her claws I mean that as they grow biger their lims get big enough for their claws.

Answer
hi Michael:  It is very possible that she is in a growing phase and if that is the case her shell, etc would grow before her body did.  As long as she is not in an environment that is too small for her she will eventually catch up to her claws and shell.  I have seen turtles that were kept in too small of an environment and their shells are very misshapen with bodies too big for their shells to fit into... its really sad to look at.  What do you feed her? I like to recommend a varied diet with both fish and turtles. My turtle loves frozen blood worm cubes along with turtle pellets/sticks.  dave