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Hello Everyone, my family and I have recently become the proud owners of a RES turtle. Her name is Ethel. Named by my 8yr old daughter...believe it or not. She joined our family one week ago today and we are all in love w/her already. According to the pet shop where we found her she is approx. 6 months old. I haven't measured her shell but just by looking and guess-timating I would say it is about 4 1/2 to 5 inches long. Does her age sound right based on the shell size?
My 8yr old daughter wanted a turtle very, very badly. She would ask me about it every single day. I finally gave in and we went to "just take a look". Of course I immediately fell in love as soon as I saw the turtles at the shop. When I was a little girl my family and I would go to the lake and while all the other kids were playing Pac Man and Asteroids under the pavillion, I would be walking around the lake just to see what I could find. I always found baby turtles and evenutally my mom and dad let me take two of the home with us. I had them for about a month when my mom found out they can carry salmonella and pass it on to kids. So, on the next trip to the lake the little baby turtles went back to where they came from. Of course now I realize that I should never have removed a wild animal from its habitat. I was just a kid in love!! I had shelves full of ceramic, plastic and rubber turtles in my room at home!!!
As soon as we decided we were going to bring Ethel home I started searching all over the web for helpful hints and tips to make her happy. This website is the most helpful by far!! Thanks for all the great advice. Ethel seems to be very happy in her new home!!!

Welcome to you and your family (especially your new family member, Ethel)! That's really neat how your daughter has acquired the same love for turtles that you had as a child!

Welcome to the forum

Greetings and Welcome to the Forum! I hope Ethel will be a happy member of your family for decades to come!

Ethel is either a lot older than 6 months, or she's been greatly overfed. 4.5 to 5 inches sounds like a turtle that's closer to a year and a half or two years old. It's hard to say the age of a turtle based on their size, because lots of factors enter in - diet, genetics, general health. But even given that variability, 4.5 to 5 inches is too much for your turtle to be only 6 months old.

Welcome!
Hope to see some pics of Ethel soon.
And, I think Spotsmama gave a superb answer to the question about the size of your RES.

I'll post some pics of Ethel as soon as I find that little cord that connects my computer to my camera!!! ) I wonder if I am overestimating her shell size? I'll have to get the measuring tape out !

longtimeturtlelover wrote:I'll post some pics of Ethel as soon as I find that little cord that connects my computer to my camera!!! ) I wonder if I am overestimating her shell size? I'll have to get the measuring tape out !

I just measured her. Her shell is just over 4 inches at 4 1/4 inches.
Is it still possible that she is only 6 months old?

I would say that it is highly unlikely she is only 6 months old. Unless she was GROSSLY overfed, that size isn't possible. Not without death anyway. My turtle is almost the exact same size as yours and we've had him for 2 years this month. So he's probably more like two and a half.

untsmurf wrote:I would say that it is highly unlikely she is only 6 months old. Unless she was GROSSLY overfed, that size isn't possible. Not without death anyway. My turtle is almost the exact same size as yours and we've had him for 2 years this month. So he's probably more like two and a half.

WOW! It's amazing how little pet shop employees actually know about the animals they sell. I wonder if SHE is really a SHE! LOL!! OH WELL!! I still adore her!!

A good way to tell is her tail length and her nail length. If she has long nails ( you can look in the gallery and see some of the turts with longer nails) and a long tail then she is a he. If she has short nails and a short skinny tail, then she's a she.

untsmurf wrote:A good way to tell is her tail length and her nail length. If she has long nails ( you can look in the gallery and see some of the turts with longer nails) and a long tail then she is a he. If she has short nails and a short skinny tail, then she's a she.

Uh Oh! Anyone know how to convert the name Ethel into a boy name? LOL!

Othello? Ethel's a really hard name to convert, but that sounds about the same.

You can just call him Ethel! He won't mind! It happens to lots of turtles. Usually they just keep the original name. Sometimes they change it.

yep, my 2 girls are ricki and jimmi. My boy has the most girly name, billi.

Welcom to the forum!! Ethal, hmmm you could change it to Eddi...