Invasive: Sliders have become popular as pets, causing them to be exported worldwide. While many who get a pet sliders will do research on them, some will get red-eared sliders unaware that they can grow throughout their entire life and can live to be well over fifty years, growing over 40cm (15.7in) long. Sliders also require regular cleaning otherwise they can carry diseases such as salmonella. Soon realizing the care requirements, some turtle owners no longer want their pet, and end up releasing their turtles into local waterways. Here, they compete with native turtle species, crush bird nests when basking and can introduce harmful pathogens such as ranavirus. Through the pet trade, sliders, once only found from Texas to Alabama and north into Illinois, can now be found all around the world, becoming invasive. One can help avoid this by researching before getting a pet turtle, adopting rather than purchasing and if one no longer wants their turtle, finding a new loving home instead of releasing them into the wild.
Sources:
Cotterill, Madigan. "Turtle Dumping: Red-eared Sliders are Invading Native Turtle Habitats in Ontario." Canadian Geographic, 19 July 2020, www.canadiangeographic.ca/article/turtle-dumping-red-eared-sliders-are-invading-native-turtle-habitats-ontario. Accessed 16 Nov. 2021. |