My wife and I adopted a RES from a young woman that got him for her birthday three years ago and now that she can drive a car she is no longer interested in keeping a turtle. She had been keeping him in a twenty gallon aquarium with a basking rock on one end and a plastic bowl of water on the other.
We have him in a forty gallon aquarium with a floating dock, live water plants, large rocks, two filters, heater, basking light and flourescent aquarium light. Yesterday when I got home from work I was looking for him and not seeing him until one of the rocks moved! It was him, he looked like one of the rocks. LOL
I came here to get info about his nutrition and habitat needs. I am seeing that we are doing okay with habitat but does he need a larger tank? I dont know yet. But we suck at nutrition and feeding. Until finding this web site I did not realize he was such a little beggar. I thought I was not feeding him enough and I won't embarass myself further by telling you what he has eaten in the three weeks we have had him but his shedding caused me some concern so here I am.
I am going to increase his diet of healthy veggies and reduce his diet of high protein foods. We want him to be as healthy and happy as possible. Sometimes we turn off the tv and just watch him. LOL He is quite the excellent swimmer and spends most of his time in the water. Right now he is basking with his neck stretching up towards the light.
We are not having any problems with him but having him is more challenging than we realized. Especially the cleaning. Thus, we passed on the $80 cleaning set up at the pet store and made our own. Vinyl tubing is available at Lowe's for 36 cents per foot and we got the flow device at a pet store on close-out for $5. Now I am about to siphon and refill his home today directly in the sink and it cost me a good deal less than the pet store set-up.
Originally we filled the tank from a hose from outside and waited forever for the water to heat up. Then we tried buckets of water from the bath tub. Now we have this latest greatest idea for easy draining and filling.
Anyway, i am delighted to have found this site and can't wait to show it to the little wifey when she gets home. Thanks for providing the information and this forum!!
