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Hey everyone my name is Ramon, and well I accidentally came up on my RES:-) A couple weeks back, I heard my dogs barking furiously in the back yard. Not seeing anything at first, I quickly began to think my dogs were going crazy. Lol to my surprise I see this big turtle in my back yard about to be dog chow!!(I know scary thought) I quickly picked it up and took him inside, It was love at first sight. Surprisingly my turtles nature is very calm and patient. To my astonishment it follows me around the house when ever it is hungry, and when I let it out of his tank of course.(THE CUTEST THING EVER!!!) There are just a couple of things i'd like to know: For starters my turtle is at least seven inches in length if not more, and I'd really like to know approximately how old he or she could be??? Which leads me to my next question how could I with out a doubt know exactly the sex of my turtle; I'm dying to know!!! I have already named my turtle louis, but if it's a female i'd like to think that I can give it a better name than that;-) Also I just recieved a phone cal from a friend who asked me if i would take in an unwanted turtle. Of course I agreed, but I do have some reservations, you see the new turtle is quite a bit smaller than my turtle and I also fear that it might transmit something to my RES. What do you, my new turtle friends, recomend I do??? I would sincerely appreciate all your valuable feed back. Thank you guys for your time:-)

-Ramon

P.S I heart my turtle:-0

I can appreciate the fact that you're here researching on how to properly care for the turtle, but PLEASE let him go. He's a wild animal. If you really want a turtle, please go buy one or get one from a reptile rescue or something.

dolce007, it is not a very good idea (or legal for that matter) to take a wild animal out of it's natural habitat to make it a pet. In many instances if you see a turtle away from the water there is a good reason, such as finding a nesting area to lay eggs. Please release this turtle and if you are still interested in one as a pet, after doiing all your research, buy one from a reputable petstore.

dolce007, are there any freshwater sources near you? As mentioned, females sometimes stray looking for a nest spot and wander far. There are also a lot of people abandoning turtles, so it is possible that you have some one's discarded pet.

Well I appreciate your concern, but I sooo do not live near a fresh water source. I live in the city... Which leads me to believe that it might have been someone's pet. It some how just wondered into my back yard. The turtle is very calm and tamed, and as soon as I rescued it it showed no signs of fear. Which also lead me to believe that it has been around people. It seems to be very cofortable and happy where it is, so I have no intentions of realeasing it:-)

You might keep an eye on missing pet ads in your area. If it was somebody elses pet, may want it back.

Again I really do appreciate the concern, but sadly no has answer any of my question:-( If my turtle is at least seven inches in length how old do you guys think she could be??? Oh and through research I figured out that my RES is female. So I guess that means that I have to give it a more suitable name. Louis wil not work anymore:-( Hmmm I was thinking Shaka Kahn, what do you guys think????)

There is no way of knowing how old she is since you do not know her hatching date. They are between .8-1.25 inches when hatched, but things like genetics, habitat, over-feeding etc play a role in how fast or slow they grow. Under good/perfect conditions they should roughly be around 3 inches at a year old and an inch a year after that is considered good steady growth. But like I mentioned early with all the other factors playing a part and you not knowing what conditions she came from, there is really no way to know how old she is except that she isn't full grown... females will eventually be 10-12 inches at full maturity.

My turtle is 3 years old and is 8 inches. So that could give you an idea, but, as Sonja said, genetics and environment do play a big part.

How 'bout Louise for a name?