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Hi everyone! I just got my turtle last month. I have never owned a turtle before. How I got him was a little weird. The girl that had him came into my college class with him in a box and said if nobody took him she was going to let him out outside. Now we live in New York and at the time it was 30 degrees outside so I told her don't I can take him. She said it was a girl, but the next day I took him to the vet to make sure everything was ok with him and the vet told me its a boy. How can I tell if it's a boy or girl? I have been reading articles that say if they don't have long nails or a pointed nose its a girl.
He is still a little scared of us even after being with us for a month. The girl had him for a month and showed me a video of her dog "playing" with the turtle. The dog was barking at him and was batting him around the room. This girl only had him for a month and never cleaned the tank. Is there any way to get him more used to us and try to get him to relax with us? or strangers?

Welcome. Males have long nails and fatter tails than females. But if your turtle is young its hard to tell. How long is it? Getting it used to people might just take some time. We like pictures!"

This is him I'm going to get better photos tonight. I'm also going to get him a bigger tank right now he is in a 20 gallon tank with a small underwater filter and every week i have to take everything out and do a complete tank cleaning. I want to do something that would be easier like a canister filter.

When I got him his shell was 4" long and now he is almost 4 1/2" long. His shell is also shedding again and he also has this ridge in the middle of his shell. He also used to love carrots and lettuce but now when he eats it he will just throw it up after a few hours this doesnt happen with the pellets its just mostly the carrots it's like his stomach can't handle the carrots.

Looks good. Those river rocks will trap a lot of debris. Sand is a better option. Don't know what to say about throwing up veggies? Is the eater heated?

yea it is i just feed him in the normal tank. I don't have a second tank

what type of sand do you recommend and will that hurt him he loves to dig and try to eat everything.

http://i.imgur.com/1j0ZdtE.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/0LmkgYv.jpg

This is a picture of the side of his bottom shell and his tail the best i could. He gets squirmy sometimes hes starting to warm up to me.

Some people use just plain old play sand they sell at home depot or menards etc. Aquarium sand works too. I would look on line for colored sand if thats what you like.My turtles don't dig in the the sand and as far as I know they would wrather eat my finger than eat it! I'm out on the town so I will look at your pictures tomorrow.

The different colors sound really cool. Thank you for the suggestion and sounds good thank you for the help I'm just always nervous about being wrong about the gender.

Looks female to me. I agree a tank upgrade is needed soon

Thats what i was thinking and yes it does need a tank upgrade im going this weekend to see who has the best deals. Is a fish aquarium tank good?

Run away from anything called a turtle tank. Aquariums are what we get... the best deals are sales of $1 per 1 gallon, up to 55 gallons. Used tanks are fine too.

ok awesome and the fish tank tops are fine or should i get a reptile top? also whenever she lets me pet her jaw she opens her mouth closes her eyes and lets out this sound and leans into my finger is this normal or am i hurting her?

Sorry for all the questions im completely new at this

What kind of uvb and basking lights are you going to use? What sound is she making?