Hi! Introduce yourselves here. :: Crushes story

[moonlighter]

Crush is a little RES that started life in my yard. I have a pond with several adult turtles that come and go. One day last august I saw one of the RES's in the middle of the yard which, is quite odd since they scatter off the bank when anyone is within mile' of them. She was digging a hole and Iwatched her lay 7 eggs.



Now the last thing I needed was a new pet but I couldn't help collecting the eggs to see them hatch. I put them in a bucket and kept them moist several months but several of the eggs just shriveled up. Around mid november I gave up and just dumped the bucket thinking they weren't viable. There in the pile of dirt was this little green thing about the size of a quarter. Wish I had gotten a pitcure at this stage.
I was going to put her in the pond but I knew between the birds and the large catfish, she wouldn't make it long. Years ago I swore I would never get into any more aquariums after keeping several salt water tanks. Just didn't want the work but I found myself at the pet store buying a 10 gallon setup.
This is where i want to thank this site for all of the help in getting up to speed on turtles. You all have been a big help and a big drain on the pocket book,LOL.
Crush was named by my 7 year old nieghbor Annie. I think she is female because her incubationin the bucket was quite warm and I read that higher incubation temperatures will encourage females. We will see.
Crush didn't eat well for several days. I tried lettuce, turtle food, veggies etc. I put a water lily from the pond in the tank with her and noticed her going after the snails so I hunted snails and she chowed down. I tried a caterpillar from the garden and she went nuts for that. For the next several weeks, Crush ate like a pig. Didn't realize a cold blodded reptile could eat so much. And as my friend told me, eat beg, poop big.
Crush grew very fast and is now about 2-1/2 inches. Probably a little over feeding and probably alittle to much meat but don't see any pyramiding yet and have adjusted her diet per the recommendations on this site.
Had to get a bigger tank, 55 gal. better lights, got rid of all the gravel, XP3 etc. $$$.



Crush begs alot especially on this new diet but still eats out of my hand. It's amazing how bad their eysite is up close, but relatives can detect me coming to the pond from 400 feet.
Crush is doing good and I'm glad I found this site

[megcornell]

What a cute story, Crush is a gorgeous little RES!
Is that your pond in the background of the first picture? It looks so big, I'd love to see pics of the turtles living there

[moonlighter]

It's a 1 1/2 acre pond shared by my nieghbor. Within a few months of being dug, we had turtles and 2 alligators! There are several other ponds around and the turtles seem to travel around alot. The state came in and got the gators because they were stalking the dogs and not very shy of people. Some around here actually feed them and they then become dangerous.
We have three RES, several other species I think yellow sliders?, cooters and many soft shells.
It is hard to get a photo because they are so skittish. I can see them sunning on the bank from the house with my binoculars but as soon as I walk out, they jump back in the water. literally 400' away. I have managed to photograph a few snouts since they will come up closer when I feed the fish. In fact, fish, birds, dogs, and turtles are attracted to the fish feeding. I try and post a softshell photo later.

[eugenetimpog]

It is a really good story. I enjoyed reading it. thanks for sharing. Crush is really cute especially the in her superman pose. It looks like she is not shy anymore since she let you take a picture of her basking.

Goodluck with crush and love to see more sotires and pictures. Enjoy your stay here.

[industrial_girl_2000]

Awesome story! Thanks for sharing this.

[EmperorTunaFish]

Momma looks like a chia pet.

[steve]

Thanks for sharing! I'm tempted to scrub that shell myself!

[moonlighter]

All of the turtles in the pond except the softshells have a healthy coat of algae in the summer. They tend to bask on the surface instead of on the shore. You can see their shells sticking out of the water.

[emma]

Hello and welcome to the forum!