Hi! Introduce yourselves here. :: Hello From NC

[linxie]

I meant to say hello a while ago, after Steve got my account activated, but work and things got in the way.

Anyway, Hello now. My name is Cris, and I have 5 baby (hatchlings?) RES. I got them when I was at the beach last month. I had no idea about some of the things I have read on this site. I had been looking for a turtle to place in the ornamental pond that my husband was constructing. The frogs had already moved in before completion.

I had asked the salesperson, all I could think of pertaining to the turtles. I then bought 5, and brought them home. I had bought a book when I bought the turtles, but it was no where near informative enough. So, I went web surfing and found this site (Jackpot! Thank you for making this available.)

Now, I know that I am in for some work. Now, I know that the 10 Gallon tank they are currently in is NOT enough. Now I know their size is NOT determined by the size of their habitat. Though they seem happy enough in their little tank, they will not stay there forever. I have been debating on moving them in with my fish (40 gal tank) or going bigger.

We plan on making an indoor pond in the Zen room we are currently building. We know the turtles will need to come inside in the winter, and thus already had that planned. I just don't know if I should leave the turtles in their current comfy habitat until that pond is built, or move them in with the fish, or just go get another larger tank (the expense, may be wasted).

The little guys are not very big, the smallest is probably 1.5 inches across the shell, while the largest is probably a full 2 inches across it's shell. I have no idea how old they are, or even how to determine age. I also have no idea how fast they grow. The only thing I have seen pertaining to size is that a male is mature at about 2 inches, and a female about 4? I think that is what I read.

Anyway, any help, advice etc is welcome in the future.

[steve]

Hi, glad you made it back to the site! RES get much larger than 2" or 4", and you will be surprised at how fast they can grow.

[rsour24]

hey, i suggest going to home depot or lowes and getting a tub there
u wont be able to see them swim but they r pretty large and will be much better for them as a temporary set-up. they r not as expensive as a tank

[Landon&Misti&John]

we got ours 13years ago at that size, and he is now almost 7 inches from head of shell to tail, so be prepared...also, I think you can winter them outside, keep looking at this site for more info...good luck, they are fun and unique and it must be nice to be building a tank..mine is ina 50gal long tank and it really is not big enough..I'm working on something bigger.

[bradmeisel]

welcome to a great site. I would suggest not keeping them outside during the winter. A constant tempurature of 75-78 degrees is important in keeping a healthy turtle among many other things.

This site has all the info you need to get started and everyone is very helpful with questions you might have. Good luck with your five new family members.

[linxie]

Hi! I now have them in a 40 gallon tank. Man, they have much more room to swim.

I plan on them being inside in the winter, so that we can enjoy watching them as well. We are going to build them an inside pond habitat when they get a bit bigger.

Thanks for the welcome!

[rsour24]

congrats in getting a bigger tank!
i have a little RES close to 2" in about 20 gallons of water once my ATBA is done he will have 30. when he gets bigger i might get another RES to put in with him cause i may get a like 300 gallon rubermaid tub for the little one to swim in(once he isnt a little oen anymore)

id love to see pics of ur turtle set-up if u have time