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Well hello everyone, I guess I'm what you call a new guy. Well some info on me is I've had 3 RES's in my life. And so far I've managed my way through it. My first ones were when I was about 8 and 10, but now I have a little one that has been with me for a while. Actually since I bought it I've had him for 5 years. And thanks to this terrific website I found out he was a SHE!! And now I think it's time for her to have a buddy, she's had one before but tragedy stuck, and she was left alone. In any case anyone have an idea if I should get another girl for her, or a boyfriend!!

Welcome New Guy! If you've had your girl for 5 years then you must be quite close to her. What's her name? We'd love to see some photos!

On getting her a buddy - she doesn't really need another buddy besides you! Turtles are basically solitary creatures. If you put two together in a tank, usually (not always but most of the time) they will start fighting after awhile and have to be separated. Then you have to maintain two separate habitats. Some people who are really into turtles maintain multiple habitats but it does require a lot of committment, space and....money!

However, if you really want another turtle, I'd recommend another female. The downside of having another female is that it will get huge - as your present one probably already is - and will require a lot of space (rule of thumb = 10 gallons of tank for every inch of turtle). On the other hand, they will be less likely to fight if kept in the same tank. If you get a male, he will be smaller thus requiring less space, but the males tend to harrass the females until the females can't stand it any more and lash out.

Thanks sportsmama makes since, that getting a female would be better then a male. But surprisngly my little one isn't that big, she's kinda small only about 2 1/2 inches. And I've had here for five years so I don't know if that's ok. But she seems healthy. She can sure crawl faster then most if you give her the a split second. And her name is "Tortarita" yeah it's a long story... At the time we bought her she was suppose to be my baby brothers pet. And at the time he was only abot 3. So he couldn't say turtle as well so he said tortarita. And thats what her name became. lol She's happy I believe.

Hmmm....at 5 years old you'd really expect her to be a lot bigger than 2 1/2" long. Most of the pet turtles are grown by that age and laying eggs and are 9" to 12" long. Why don't you put a post in the Nuitrition section of the forum describing her diet and let's see if people on here can make suggestions. And has the vet ever checked her for internal parasites?

Welcome to the forum. I like her name.

What's her set-up like and what, how much and how often are you feeding her?

She's suppose to be how big and doing what!! WoW this is a huge surprise, i may be off a year and she may be 4 but i know shes at least been with me for that long. The past 4yrs I remember having to take her to my cousins house to be cared for while I went on vacation, once a year. But counting this yr she would be 4 and 1/2 almost 5. Soo wow. I've never had to take her to the vet she's always been hungry and full of energy. She gets away from me at times. About her diet I feed her at least once a day, a small meal. And she has a 10 gallon tank to swim in with a rock and log ornament to rest on, with lighting and a filter. Hmmm now I'm curious...

But I'll post her regular diet on the nutrition forum.

yeah, Donatello is 6 inch long (shell) and is only 2 yrs old, oh by the way late welcome to the group

lol Thanks TXGUY, Donatello is big compeared to my little Tortarita lol.