Hi! Introduce yourselves here. :: New turtle owner....

[Prophet]

Hello everyone,

New owner here. Sure wish I had found this website before my wife decided to buy my five year old his turtle.

Alot of helpful info on this site and I plan to spend a couple of hours here doing alot of research before I go and buy more equipment so we have a very long lived and healthy turtle.

[SpotsMama]

Good for you! How many of us have said the very same thing about research? It's very hard to anticipate what a decent setup for a RES entails.

But don't get discouraged! Once you have a good setup in place then you can all enjoy your new family member. RES are funny, interesting and outgoing.

I hope you all are making sure your little son knows that turtles are a look-don't-touch pet. For a variety of reasons, the care of the turtle needs to be with an older person.

Welcome to the forum!

[mikeneezy]

Yea I was handed my turtles without any notice .... glad I found this site. Lots of good advice and people here.

Welcome !!!

[Starchick]

Very true! Even when you've done it before, sometimes it's shocking how all the equipment adds up. This site has a pretty useful cost calculator that will help you sort out what you need. Also, if you can order online you can save a lot of money, reptiledirect.com is one of the least expensive ones I've found, and I've had good luck with them. And if you have a petsmart in your area, check out their website, because the prices are often lower than in-store and they're required to pricematch. Good luck getting everything sorted out, turtles are definitely a whole new world of info.

[Prophet]

Thank you everyone! Cost really isn't an issue it is just learning what all I need. Right now he is in a very basic set up and the tank isn't even cycled all the way which is a concern for me right now. He is also in a tank that is to small for this kind of animal. The tank is only a 15 gallon. I told the wifey never to buy another animal until I have researched it so we know we are ready for it but I guess my son talked her into it which I can't really blame here lol... he can be so cute some times.

I am actually thinking about building an outside set up....

[theguys]

AAAhhh, I can tell you're getting hooked. Actually, I wish I had many years ago, as turtles are such great pets to have, and watch grow. So bite the bullet, get the right stuff, and your whole family can enjoy watching it grow up with your son.