Urgent Care :: Will my turtle drown?

[Vyirus]

Ok, so Ive had my Cumberland Slide for about a month now. I recently got her from a women who said she is roughly 6 years old, shes a rather big turtle a little two big for the tank she has came with. My concern is the tank it came with. The tank is a 25 gallon im roughly estimating, and the women said that it has only ever had enough water to cover the top of her shell for her entire life. What I plan on doing is moving her into a 100 Gallon tank by Sunday or Monday so she has something bigger to swim in. If I had a a basking dock and what not for her to swim to at the top. And filled the water to almost the top does anyone think since she has only had a small amount of water her entire life, that she would drown because not being able to swim since she was not able to swim to her full extent?

[krysten]

im no expert but i would guess that swimming is instinctual for turtles. if i was in your situation i would gradually introduce water to her just to be sure. Again, research a bit more before you decide to do anything

[gwennie]

If you gradually increase the water a little each day, the turtle should adjust quickly.

I wouldn't have it filled all the way to the top right away - I'd have it deep enough to where she'll have to stretch her neck out to get air if she's resting on the bottom to start with, that way she can still get air if she needs to if she's tired, and then I'd go from there and increase it every two days or every day a little bit. She'll get used to it, don't worry.

[Phantombaldspot]

Gwennie is correct. Add a little more water every few days. Your turtle should adjust.

I hate when I see turtles that only have a little water to move around in. My local pet store has an adult female Rio Grand RES (probably 10 or 11 inches) in water that's only a few inches deep. It really makes me wish I had the room to take it in.

[bradmeisel]

i think she'll swim like she's a turtle. I don't think she could drown but make sure it has some resting spots. It sounds like she is a lucky turtle to have you as a new owner.

[TheComputerGremlin]

Definitely supply some resting spots as you increase the water level. I highly recommend getting some cheap suction-cup soap dishes from like Walmart, and you can stick them upside down so that the turtle can hang off of them near the water surface. Put at least one about 2 inches from the water surface, and you can use multiple ones to make like stairs almost.

[Vyirus]

Thanks everyone for the comments Really helpful