Hi! Introduce yourselves here. :: Say hey!

[jnutprincess]

Love these guys! Or girls... :p

[penelope]

Yes. It is so easy to fall in love with them!!!
Don't ya love being able to declare it proudly

[jnutprincess]

My biggest baby is 3 and 3/4 inches. The look so healthy! I am so proud of them! Their new favorite snack is earthworms~

[steve]

I've yet to give mine earthworms... where are you getting yours from?

[jnutprincess]

They are $4.50 a dozen at Petsmart. The kids seem to love them. I am only making it a sometimes snack... :p My mom suggested checking the prices at the bait shops, that I might find them cheaper there.

[go2garrett]

I just joined today, but have had our four RES for over 4 years. They were given to us when they were about 4 cm or 1.5" in diameter. Now the largest female is 7" long and the longest male is 5" long. I keep the males and females in separate large turtle tanks and am having an outdoor habitat constructed right now as they need more space. I am hoping it will be easier to maintain than the indoor tanks have been. I think the outdoor habitat will be pretty awesome but am debating if I should let these RES breed or not. If I had painted turtles this probably wouldn't be an issue. Glad to find a group to join. Will look around to see what others say about breeding RES and keeping outdoor turtles. Thanks!

[go2garrett]

Regarding earthworms - I get them for FREE out of my compost bin, wash them off and drop them in the tanks. My turtles LOVE them and no issues have come up in the 4 1/2 years I have been giving them to my RES. I only give these treats occasionally of late, as I am currently trying to restrict their diet so they don't grow faster.

[apondfortimmy]

Regarding earthworms - I get them for FREE out of my compost bin, wash them off and drop them in the tanks. My turtles LOVE them and no issues have come up in the 4 1/2 years I have been giving them to my RES. I only give these treats occasionally of late, as I am currently trying to restrict their diet so they don't grow faster.

Do they pick them up off the bottom of the tank or do they catch them before they hit the bottom?

[jnutprincess]

Mine usually don't notice until they hit the bottom. They don't float. But as soon as they find them it is first come first served or they play tug of war with them... Cutest thing ever! :p

[jnutprincess]

Update on my babies: Still lively and beautiful! Need to takes some pictures of them to post, will get those up soon. I officially have two boys and six girls! They were obvious to my after the first boy got big enough. He had a much longer tail than the rest and his nails were slightly longer. Also the girls are growing much faster in size than their brothers. I do have one runt that is the same size as the boys but doesn't show any male attributes. Going to keep an eye on her. Oh, and of course boys are separated from girls.


On a sadder note, I lost a baby a few months back... I woke to find its head had been sucked into the intake of my pump... The piece that covered the intake was easily kicked off by mom and I would put it back on every time, but I wasn't there and tragedy happened... I now have it secured with tape that I replace every time I clean the pump and it doesn't slip off anymore. I hope this educates others to be more careful in future, as I now am... I have noticed that the Marineland piping usually has this issue after months of use. They just don't hold securely anymore. Like maybe the pipe wares away or the water expands it...

[steve]

I've noticed some tiny cracks with the XP intake tubes. A PVC pipe replacement will probably be the safest/strongest solution.

[jnutprincess]

My babies will be a year this month! So proud!
Here are some pictures!
Also have a picture of the yellow belly we found in a highly populated residential area...

[steve]

Wow, time flies! Are you able to sex them yet?

[jnutprincess]

Yes, I have 6 girls and 2 boys! Plus mom and dad of course! Oh and I believe the yellow belly is a girl!

[steve]

Sounds like a lot of fun, who gets to do the cleaning chores?