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Greets All,

We are taking the plunge into the turtle world - specifically the RES's. We kinda are doing things bass-ackwards. My wife and I have been planning an oasis-like 320 sq. ft. garden in our Phoenix-area backyard with a 650 gallon pond/stream/waterfall (See my full post about that in the Outdoor Habitat Forum). It dawned on us while planning the garden that we could/should get some turtles. We went on a fact-finding trip to a reptile dealer. He doesn't sell RES's but referred us to the Phoenix Herpetelogical Society, as they do all manner of reptile adoptions - including RES's. We hope to begin construction this winter after the temps get out of the 100's, with completion and adoption time in the early spring. At this point we are looking at getting two adult RES's. We know we don't want to end up with babies, so we need to figure out whether to get 2 males or 2 females. Any input on that would be appreciated. I will send updates as we progress. Until then I will be lurking, reading, and inputting some.

Hi Dutch, welcome to the site. Male RES should probably be kept separate and the females will have a better chance of getting along. Let us know how it goes

We are still planning to get the 2 RES's for the "pond garden", but now the whole area is going to be expanded. Adjacent to the planned garden we are adding another 440 s.f. of desert grassland type garden to house a to-be-adopted Desert Tortose. There will be a 18" divider fence between the two areas. The Phoenix Herp Society adopts out both turtles and tortoses. Y'all think the needs for a RES is involved ... you should see what a desert tortose habitat entails!

Will keep y'all posted on our progress. Temps still over 100, so no digging yet!

-Dutch

Sounds great, can't wait to see pics!