Habitat - Indoor :: minimum tank sizes

[monkeyboy]

This is my first time here and I am looking for some information. Basicly, what I'm looking for is what is the smallest size tank I should have for a single RES?

As I have a 40g tank that has no occupants that used to house fish and was looking into housing a turtle.

As far as equipment for the tank, this is what is on it. glass lids (I have a screen to use for the basking light), Penn Plax Cascade 500 and Whisper 60 filters, and a heater. I'll be getting the basking light once I'm sure the tank will work with a turtle. And there is no substrate in the tank, but I have rocks to build a basking island.

I have seen how large they can get, but how can they be sexed at a young age to get a male? and whats the largest tank size for them?

Thanks

[industrial_girl_2000]

A 40gal tank is appropriate for a 4" turtle or smaller (10gallons per inch of shell rule).

They don't show their gender characteristics until they are around 4" long (males get very long nails around that time & tail gets very thick/long).

Largest tank size.....well, if you go by the 10gallons per inch rule, then you would need a minimum of a 90-gallon tank for ONE adult turtle which get between 9 and 12 inches long. Males get up to 9 inches long. Females up to 12"

[monkeyboy]

cool. next question which will help even more. how long do they normally take to reach their full length?

Farmington ay? not to far from me.

[Kallistos]

I know this is off-topic and I"ll get back on the original topic. If you'd like to save money and not have to buy a gigantic enclosures you could look into buying a musk turtle. The common musk turtle reaches about 4-5 inches which is perfect for you aquarium. These turtles are also readily available.


I really don't know how long it takes to atain full lenght, but it does depend on their diet/over-feeding.

[monkeyboy]

I'm actually looking for any turtle that wont out grow the tank and that is aquatic. I'll look into them musk turtles.

Oh I won't be buying any more tanks. I have no space left, I already a 150g and a 55g that are filled with fish.

[Kallistos]

If you're looking for a turtle that won't out grow the tank then I'd strongly reccomend you look over these care sheets.

http://www.austinsturtlepage.com/Care/1caresheets.htm

It's conviniently set-up, there are many turtles that grow up to 4 or 5 inches that you can get instead. As I said the musk turtles are wonderful turtles and you could also look into the 3-striped mud turtle.

[cam722]

If you are looking for something that's not going to outgrow the 40 gallon tank you have, then don't get a red-ear slider. As already said, they grow up to 12" for an adult female and she'd need a much larger tank than 40gallons. It's very smart of you do to the research before hand..

[monkeyboy]

thanks. thats why i asked here before i ran out and bought one.

yea i made the mistake of not researching already with my fish last year

[industrial_girl_2000]

cool. next question which will help even more. how long do they normally take to reach their full length?

Farmington ay? not to far from me.

You will get a variety of answers to that question! There are a lot of variables, including food, genetics, environment (captivity vs. wild), etc. One thing I will say though is that the baby turts (1-2 inches) grow very fast so getting from 1 to 4 inches can happen in less than 2 yrs...! Once they reach 4 inches, they do slow down a bit. When I got Sheba, she was 6 inches long already, and if I had to guess as to how long it took her to reach 11", I would prolly guess about 10 yrs (approx. 1/2 inch per year). Definitely not a problem with appetite on her....she was always hungry, always begging, and her shell as the "stretch marks" to prove it. So she grew in width & height rather than length sometimes. She hasn't grown in at least 6 yrs, and I am very glad.

You are also in SE Michigan? What city, if I may ask?