What does a red-eared slider eat?

When young they are more carnivorous (meaning they eat eat meat) and will eat fish, snails, crayfish, insects, frogs and earthworms. For both adults and juveniles a varied diet is important.

You can feed them the commercial turtle food (from pet stores), but do supplement with the other things they like to eat to keep them healthy and interested in their food. Adults are more herbivorous but still need some "meat" (fish, worms, etc.) A good base for adult diet is 1/4 of diet pellet/dry turtle food, 1/4 carnivorous foods (fish, worms, etc.) and 1/2 the diet should be plant based. Good plant foods to feed are romaine, kale, chard, and dandelion greens (without herbicides or pesticides!). You can also feed some aquarium plants such as elodea and horn-wort. I also feed my turtle tomatoes, bananas, horn-wort, romaine lettuce, commercial pellets and give her cuttle bone (like for birds) on occasion to give her extra calcium. Don't feed a lot of spinach or carrots as it has something (oxalic acid) in it that makes it hard for them to absorb calcium, which is very important for turtles. Baby and young turtles can be fed every day but adults only need to be fed every other day or so. My turtle loves to catch and eat rose-red minnows. It is also good exercise for her.

They also love to eat earth worms !