Ulysses from Daddy Wanted

Ulysses is the 'wise' red-eared slider who seems to be the only one listening to Grace these days. If not for her tiny audience of one, Grace might have pulled into her own 'shell' when she loses her job, her best friend tries to hide her pregnancy, and the guy in the apartment below her is showing non-creepy, stalking tendencies. 

Red-eared slider

The red-eared slider (Trachemys scripta elegans) (Br. Eng Red-eared terrapin) is a semiaquatic turtle belonging to the family Emydidae. It is a subspecies of pond slider. It is the most popular pet turtle in the United States and also popular in the rest of the world. It is native only to the southern United States and northern Mexico, but has become established in other places because of pet releases and has become an invasive species in many introduced areas, such as California, where it outcompetes the native western pond turtle.


Red-eared sliders get their name from the small red dash around their ears. The "slider" part of their name comes from their ability to slide off rocks and logs and into the water quickly. This species was previously known as Troost's turtle in honor of an American herpetologist; Trachemys scripta troostii is now the scientific name for another subspecies, the Cumberland slider.

The red-eared slider is the most common type of water turtle kept as pets.^[13] As with other turtles, tortoises, and box turtles, individuals that survive their first year or two can be expected to live generally around 30 years.

Red-eared sliders can be quite aggressive—especially when food is involved. Behavior is usually noted to become this way when fed live food. If being kept as a pet, care must be taken to prevent injury or even death of its smaller tankmates. Additional care is needed if shrimp are used as food. Smaller red-eared sliders less than a year old have been known to choke on the shells of the shrimp and suffer from lung puncture.