Hi,
I had my red-ear slider for more than 6 years. Curretly I'm pet 3 turtles, before this I also pet 6 turtles, 4 died, 2 was released.
-new borns
from my experience, It's natural for new born baby turtles to die. sadly as it is, reference book states that about 40% of the new born turtles survive their first two years. However, after that, They grows stronger, and it'll be harder for them to die.
-temperature
Many books say there's a temperature "death range" for turtles. To understand this, we have to know that turtles only eat at certain temperatures 23.8-30 C, and that they hibernate (slow down metabolism) at another temperature, 16C below. This temperature gap, about 16C- 24C will cause the turtle not to eat, however, metabolism won't slow. So, energy will keep burning off, however, they won't have enough intake to sustain their life.
-food
red-ear slider only eat in water, even though they like to live on land more. It's also worth notice that baby red ears like to eat more meat, like worms, fishes, shrimps, etc.. but they'll like to eat vegatables more when they gets older.
-enviroment
they like to sun bath. It kills off the surface parasites, fungus,etc. make sure they gets they fair share of the sun.... Also,althought they requires water. they like to be on land more than water, well,,, that's just my turtle's personal preference.
Wish these helps,,,
