Also, will they be ok in the winter? My pond is 4 1/2 feet deep, no dirt or mud on bottom. Should I bring it inside in an aquarium for the winter, or will a heat lamp over a bathing rock do? I live in Houston, TX, and winter temps stay around 50-60, but sometimes get to 30-40 for a day or two.

Just remember that the little turtle has very big finger nails, and the bigger he gets the bigger the nails.They will rip your liner to shredds getting in and out or digging in the bottom for winter. I would also be very careful putting in little feeder fish from a pet store to feed them. Past history has told me to NOT put any fish or plants from a pet store directley in the pond. That is a easy way to transport worms & disease. To remedy this I set up a small tank for about 2 weeks and if everyone is healthy then they go in the big pond. At alot of pet stores they have one central filter system. Alls it takes is for 1 fish out of 20 tanks to have ich and boom it gets ugly really fast. It is much easier and cheeper to treat a little tanks than a 1700 gallon pond. Anchor worms are not fun to get off and the fish are not easy to catch. I learned the hard way. If you have a small pond that is seperate for the turtle then it would be no worry. Just a thought for you to ponder.
Donna

Ohhhh!!! I did not think of that. I do not want my liner to get torn up by the turtle. Is there anything I can do to keep it from digging in the bottom or on the sides? Maybe I shouldn't get a turtle. All of the different kinds of turtles have nails?

I have had them in my pond with no problems except the fact they eventually ran away. They werent strong enough to rip the liner. Also I believe females have longer nails then males so if you get one and are worried check the back feet for the nail length. One small note dont get one to small as I bought a silver dollar one once and it got sucked into the pump from the bottom drain.. Happy ponding..

I have had a Red Eared Slider in my 12 x 5 x 3 ft pond for the past 9 months. About two months after I put him in, it got cold and he hibernated for the winter. Only recently, in April, did it come up and started to eat and swim around again. I have since put in a second smaller Red Eared Slider and so far seem to be getting along fine. The other day I purchased a four foot rubber suction cup grabber, for getting a jar off a high shelf, or dipping down into a pond to grip a turtle. º This way I can check for the health of the turtle. So far the little one seems very healthy or should say there are no bite marks to be seen. They eat the koi food that I put into the pond. I have purchased a floating rock from Petco that hangs on the side so they can get up. I am thinking about getting a very shallow bowl, next to the floating rock, to put feeder fish in. There are a couple of places to hide and dig so they seem to be happy. Over all they are good and I enjoy them.

I am going on 1 month with a turtle in my pond. Let me say this....they can climb vertical rock surfaces. They might even be able to leap and or fly since mine keeps getting out and I don't know how.

They do need a pot full of mud to burrow in to in the winter though. Especially if it freezes near you.

As for koi...I have a 9 inch koi who currently bullies my red eared slider. I feed the turtle little pellets on a rock that he suns himself on that is partially submerged. He won't eat dry pellets so I have to toss them in the water.

The koi will literally push himself on to the rock, 1/3 out of the water and muscle the turtle out of the way to steal a few sticks. Lately the turtle has planted his feet and stood his ground a little better. Its hilarious though I have seen his big clawed turtle feet push against my koi and worried about scratches.

As for eating fish....every bite he takes of his pellets he makes crumbs and all my Mosquito fish and platies swirl around him as he eats. I have seen him go out of his way NOT to eat little fish right in front of him. though this doesn't mean he will always do so.

I've been having koi with 2 fully grown sliders in the same pond for years without a problem including cold winters where it drops below 5 degrees several times sometimes consecutive days, to the extent that it snowed heavily once (which is very rare here in Egypt) and the sliders didn't have an issue actually it swam through the floating snow pieces!

Of course, if a koi would get sick or too slow it could be eaten by the sliders, which I don't mind as it's the natural practice in their habitat.

My concern now is that I introduced 2 baby sliders and worried about their ability to survive winter and be able to brumate.

We jave a mature red eared slider. She’s about 8” long long. i was to.d that they will eat the fish if they can. We have had goldfish in the pond from the beginning and a koi once that mysteriously died with all the others once. But none of them were ever harmed by her. i have seen her chasing them around but she never tries to eat them.