Posted: Thu Jul 03, 2014 10:51 am Re: How long do RES live?
My turtle, Nelson, was a gag gift to my then roommate on his birthday in September 1971. Nelson's shell was about the size of a quarter then, and we assumed that he was just a few months old at most. When my roommate moved, a few years later, he left the turtle with me. Nelson arrived with a plastic dish with a palm tree in the middle (you've seen them I'm sure.) He soon graduated to a 55 gallon "breeder" tank, which is kept filled to the brim - so that he has lots of room to swim. I've covered the top with a large, thick, sheet of plastic which has a center ramp built into it that extends down into the water. The cover has clear sides and a heated rock with an overhead lamp for basking... I feed him in the sink, outside of the tank, so the tank is kept a bit cleaner that way. Nelson was 43 years old yesterday and still has lots of energy. When I first started checking around to see how long Red Eared Sliders lived, I found a few people - on FidoNet - who had turtles that were 20 to 30 years old. No one knew how long they lived; but I saw a message on this site today that had a turtle that was in its 60's and still going! Amazing...
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- Nelson on his 50th Birthday - 2 July 2021
- Nelson 2 July 2021 - 4.png (466.94 KiB) Viewed 772 times
Last edited by
johnbuckjr on Sat Sep 10, 2022 4:48 pm, edited 1 time in total.
She's my world and I honestly don't know what I'd do without her!!!! 
