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My turtle is only 2 1/4 inches long and has a very dark shell. I've named him Thor and he was a gift from my parents. The man we bought him from said that i should keep him in a container but said nothing about a tank with filtration. I've been doing a lot of reading on this site, which I AM SO GLAD i found, and you guys have said that they need to be in tanks. I've had Thor in a large container with gravel and several larger rocks for him to get out of the water on. But he seems unhappy. He's always trying his best to get out of his enclosure and it makes me feel bad for him. I clean his enclosure twice a week. Thor also eats pellets and sun dried shrimp. He is a hearty eater but i'm worried I might not be doing enough for him. Any suggestions would help. I'm going to get him some veggies tomorrow and a tank if at all possible. I'll do anything to see my little one happy, so please, any ideas would help me out a lot. thanks.

read all the stickys on the different topics. they help alot. poor little fellow stuk in a plastic box. Atleast your trying to change that. think 1 inch=10 gallons of tank. so if you have a 2.5 in. turtle you need a 20-25 gallon tank.

I just have to ask--Thor is a RES, right? What do you mean by "a very dark shell"?

Thor is an RES. What I mean by his shell being dark is that his shell is a dark kreen but you can still see outlines of a lighter green through out it. It's not dark dark green, kind of a medium. He seems healthy, just unhappy. I just gave him a dandelion to eat. He seems uninterested in it.

I'v never thought to give my turtle a dandilion. did he like it? Get a bigger tank as soon as possible though.

I got a tank from my sister, a 20 gallon, so I'm soaking it right now and tomorrow I'll put it all together.

He sniffed the dandelion, but didn't eat it. Thor is a little stubborn when it comes to eating new foods. I've had him on the same diet for far too long now.

I am curious though, how old do you guys think Thor is? Can you tell their age by their size?

You can't really be sure unless you knew when he hatched. His size is partly dependent on his living conditions--warmth and overfeeding, especially foods with a lot of protein, for example, will result in his being big for his age (not good). A turtle that's been kept in poor conditions will be smaller than his age (and likely not in good health). Captive turtles are often bigger than ones in the wild at the same age. At one year, a shell length of around 3 - 3.5 inches would be good.