The Red Eared Slider has the ability to out-perform many native turtles across the world. They have managed to adapt to the varied living conditions that they’re exposed to – from the harsh Canadian winters to the humid summers of Japan. In Ontario, they have put many of the endemic species at risk and their very presence threatens entire ecosystems.

“They literally muffle out other turtles that live here,” said Marc Ouellette, the founder of Little Res Q, a Toronto reptile welfare organization. “They fight for resources and basking areas to the point where native turtles either die out or move on because the sliders have taken over.” – The Star, 2015

How did this become such a problem? There are a few different contributors to how this non-native turtle managed to get such a large foothold across the world:

1. Pet Trade
2. Unprepared Pet Owners
3. Irresponsible Pet Owners
4. Media Influences

There are other factors that may have contributed to the spread of these turtles: the illegal sale of hatchlings, religious or spiritual ceremonies involving animals being released, and even the sale of these animals for food. Many of these elements are preventable through access to information and not releasing a pet in to the wild – thank goodness.

The Pet Trade

The unregulated sale of red-eared slider turtles is a battle many places have been fighting for a long time. You can purchase baby red-eared slider turtles at fairs, outside of malls, and by the roadside. One of these baby turtles will set you back a whopping $5.

There are some places that ban the sale of turtles under a certain size while others have made the sale and ownership of these turtles completely illegal. It won’t stop people who want a red-eared slider turtle, it’ll just drive the turtle-trade underground.

“Their omnivorous diet and ability to adapt to various habitats, gives them great potential for impacting indigenous habitats. This species has been nominated as among 100 of the “World’s Worst” invaders.” – CABI, Summary of Invasiveness

Unprepared Pet Owners

An impulsive $5 roadside baby turtle turns in to a larger investment in a short span of time – and many people are not prepared for that.

That $5 turtles comes with a bunch of misinformation from the sellers like “They grow to the size of their enclosure”, and “They make great pets for your small children”.

These turtles will grow, just like your children, whether you like it or not. They won’t stop growing until adulthood and it is not dependent on their enclosure or any other outside factors.

Now, what they don’t tell you is that this baby turtle will need a full set-up when you get home otherwise they’re at risk of respiratory illnesses and other health issues.

Your baby turtle will require:

• A sizeable tank (10 gallons per inch of shell is the recommended minimum)
• A heater
• A swamp bulb
• UV bulb
• Dual lighting fixture (or two individual fixtures)
• A filtration system (2-3x stronger than recommended for fish tanks)
• Basking dock

Buying this all brand new is pricey and is likely to cost more than $300.

Irresponsible Pet Owners

Everyone knows someone who has a story about a baby turtle that got too big or the kids weren’t into it anymore, so they released it into the local pond.

It’s the most common story I hear when people tell me about their turtle experiences.

It’s not only with red-eared sliders; one of my ex-boyfriends released his degu into the wild at Bigfish lake and his entire family joked about how they created a subspecies of chipmunk called a chip-du.

By getting a pet, it’s your duty to care for this animal and it’s your responsibility to give them the best life possible. Making uninformed and justified decisions is not enough – you wouldn’t release your child into the wild because it doesn’t seem happy with you anymore, would you?

How do you combat this? Education.

Media Influences

There seems to be a relation between the release of ‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’ movies and the popularity of turtles as pets.

A great article about this exact phenomenon can be read here on Inverse.com (Click to be redirected to Inverse.com’s Article):HOW TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES DEVASTATED THE WORLD’S TURTLE POPULATION

Another article about this phenomenon can be read here on the Mirror.co.uk (Click to be redirected to the Mirror’s article): Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle fans warned not to buy ACTUAL turtles over fears pets will be dumped

These articles do a much better job at expanding on this topic than I ever could.

What is being done about the red eared slider invasion?

There are many elements to helping this issue and with everyone working together, the native species of Ontario have a chance.

1. Laws and Regulations to help curb the pet trade and limit the availability of young turtles
2. Boost native populations through licensed breeding programs
3. Turtle Awareness and Education
4. Audrey’s Legacy Turtle Sanctuary (turtlesanctuary.ca)

These turtles are insanely invasive and they will continue to overtake native turtles until they’re removed from the populations. It doesn’t matter how many endemic turtles you breed and release if red-eared sliders are still in Ontario’s wetlands.

That’s where Audrey’s Legacy Turtle Sanctuary comes in. This is an initiative that has been created by Little RES Q to create a fully-fenced and gender-segregated turtle sanctuary for red-eared sliders. They have the chance to live their best lives in fully-stocked and aerated ponds with caregivers who routinely check on them and their needs. I’m ready to move in! Sign me up!

All of the elements come together to allow our native populations to regain a foothold from the sliders.

Little RES Q

There are organizations out there who are combating these turtles and their invasiveness. The one I volunteer with is doing this through education, stewardship, and care.

They are the ones creating Audrey’s Legacy Turtle Sanctuary. It’s a two-fold project aiming to remove red-eared slider turtles from the wild and also to provide more options for people who want to abandon, surrender, or release their animals.

Little RES Q has a multi-year waitlist. The turtle sanctuary will provide a space for eligible turtles to leave the waitlist in favour of being cared for at The Legacy.

If this is something that you’d like to support, the project is half way to its fundraising goal or if you have experience with large machines or landscaping, we would love to have you volunteer with us.

littleresq.net