Hi! Introduce yourselves here. :: hi new member needs help.

[3walcks]

hi guys i am a new member and just got a baby res. my best friend got it for my 3 year old son and now i am finding out all kinds of sorta scary stuff about them. we were told that they carry salmonella and all sorts of stuff even that they are not aloud to be sold here by law. besides all that we really dont care we are in love with it. I am keeping it i just couldnt do that to my son he just adores it. He has named it kermie( like kermit the frog) hey he is 3 i think it is cute but if you guys have any info on these like how big they get and how to properly care for them please help me i got no instructions with this turtle so i want to make sure he is happy. Thanks

[jenaero]

Read all the Stickys on this site. They cover all the basic care info.

Male RES top up around 8 or 9 inches, Females can get up to a foot long.

[3walcks]

i was just wondering where are the sticky notes at ?

[steve]

each major section has Stickies to help you out:

Urgent Care
General Care Discussion
Feeding and Nutrition
Habitat - Indoor
Habitat - Outdoor

they are the top most topics and have the prefix Sticky

[cam722]

they are at the beginning of the topics..

Feeding and Nutrition
Habitat - Indoor
Habitat - Outdoor
Urgent Care


well most all the topics have some sort of sticky .. they are always at the top with boldface type saying Sticky. They are must reads for everyone joining the forum, just full of all the important stuff we all need to know

[lydia_lady_fla]

Hi and welcome
I'm sure by now you have found the stickys right? they are very informative,like some of the post. I like the turtles name its cute, my son named his little rat terrior KERMIT THE DOG when he was around 4 yrs old. he's 17 now but the name fit well.as far as turts carring salmonella, a little known fact is all reptiles do,including frogs lizards etc. wash everyones hands well after handling and you will be fine. same precautions as handling raw chicken. there is a 4 inch law about selling turtles that through loop holes are ignored but it is not against the law to own one. you will find this here in posts as well. I have gave my 4 yr. old grandson his first pet Jacob and would never do that if I thought he would become sick from one. I understand the 4 inch law happened caz children were swallowing tiny turts and mishandling can make ya sick. well after you read the stickys ask any questions u may still have and enjoy little kermit.

[marisa]

Welcome to you and your turt. Start reading to know what the little one needs. Also look at the info here: http://www.austinsturtlepage.com/Articl ... chling.htm

If you keep your turtle healthy with a good set-up and diet and wash your hands thoroughly if you handle him or his things, you have more chance of getting salmonella from raw chicken meat than from the turtle. I'd say make sure you son does this as well, but turtles really don't make good pets for 3-year-olds, and I'm assuming he'll be a pet for him to look at more than touch. Don't be surprised if he becomes "your" pet, though.

[3walcks]

thanks for the info i did figure out the stickies and i headed straight for the pet shop and got the couple things that i needed and i am now ready to set up the tank. I was getting a little worried because kermie hasn't eaten since we got him 2 days ago. I would put in the pellets they gave me and he would not eat so i took him to the pet shop too. They were nice enough to let kermie taste test a bunch of foods and he just loves plankton. He is now eating and happy. as for my 3 year old, he is afraid to hold him if anything he just pets his shell and i knew from the start that it would be more my pet . I am a animal lover who owns one 35gallon tank with mating angel fish and clown loach and others and a 10 gal with gold fish that my son won at the fair, at one time i had many aquariums set up ( my husband said it looked like sea world in here) and i have an 80 pound border collie / golden retriever dog who my son tells every one that he is his brother. so me and my son aare very pet friendly. i bought the water conditioner stuff that helps with the salmonella and parisites . got a filter and everything else so i ssure hope kermie likes his new home. thank you again for your help i have another question kermie is very small smaller than a half dollar but bigger than a quarter, how old do you think he is or is there a way of telling this?

[sonyj]

My turtle was that size when we got him, and he still had what looked to be an egg tooth that usually disappears after a couple of weeks or so of birth. So we assumed he was about 2-3 weeks old. Yours probably isn't too much older. Just a hatchling probably. Post pictures for us to see when you have a chance. We'd love to see the little guy.

[lydia_lady_fla]

hi
no real way to tell a turts age and hard to sex a young one so you'll just have to wait my guess is he is a young one pet stores get em in bunches,a very old turt can be small if kept in an unhealthy "dish" for years. but my guess is the pet stores get em young and try to sell em fast. one thing to note is that a turtle in a new place will tend not to eat, mine waited 4 days b 4 she did so please keep introducing the pellets veggies cuttle bone etc. krill is really not a healthy diet more of an occasional treat when the little guy gets hungry enuff and nothing else is offered he will fold in and nip other things if you stand firm. glad u figured out the stickys nutrition is one of em the dos and don'ts and amount,most of us like to feed in seperate containers than their tank, this helps keep the water cleaner (floating romain lettuce in tanks good)it also allows you to see what he ate. my turt still will not eat with me in the room. I leave her to her self for like 30 min. and all the pellets or what ever is gone,other wise she will just set their for hours touching nothing if I refuse to go away turtles are funny and each is diffrent in nature but we gotta b the boss about the diet. good luck and keep pushing the good foods with in a week you will get rewarded unless they are sick they will eat soon.