Turtle Care: The First 90 Days, Step by Step

Red-eared slider turtle basking on a log — A red-eared slider basking. Basking light and clean water decide the first ninety days. Photo: Greg Hume — CC BY-SA 3.0

A new turtle's first three months decide whether it thrives for thirty years or stalls in six. Here is the week-by-week setup: temperatures, UVB, water quality, diet and what to log.

Turtle swimming underwater — Water quality, not food, is the most common early mistake with aquatic turtles. Photo: See his respective owners — CC BY-SA 4.0

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Photography credits: Greg Hume (CC BY-SA 3.0) via Wikimedia Commons