Hi! Introduce yourselves here. :: Marley the turtle

[Marley03]

Hello my name is Julie. I have a 3 year old RES. I purchased this turtle at a Serpant Safari in Wisconsin Dells. I didnt even realize that the RES are illegal to sell if they are under 4 inches long. My turtle Marley is about 8 inches long now. I also brought another RES in a Hilton Head Island gift shop when I was interning. These shops had huge tanks with many baby RES in them, and really they treat them as such a souvenir rather than a living animal. Unfortunately that turtle passed away shortly after I returned to IL. Marley lives in a store brought turtle kit, 20 L tank. I have two filters in there now. I hope to upgrade to a larger, longer tank very soon.
Marley has a tankmate, a rather large goldfish who is too big now and is going to be relocated to a lovely indoor pond very soon. I hope this will help cut down on the waste in the tank.

Marley on her dock and the fish.

[missibsu]

Welcome! Many of the shops in hilton head, myrtle beach, chinatown, etc are sick when you get them. Do you have any pictures of your other RES? We love pics!

[missibsu]

Nevermind...it came up the second time around...

Instead of relocated the fish, you should relocate the turtle...at 8 inches he should have around 80 gallons of water. Word of caution on the gravel, he could be eating it.

How long have you had the fish? He's huge.

[Marley03]

I have had the fish a year when it was about an inch. At this time I have no where to put a larger tank, but in Spring I will definitely be upgrading. It is unfortunate that pet stores tell you what will work best for the life of your pet, I should know I used to work at PETCo which is where the tank kit was purchased. But I do want my pet to be happy and will be getting a larger tank. Someday I hope to have a pond where the turtle can live. It seems like yesterday when Marley was just a as big as a silver dollar. I am planning on removing the gravel, because they really do trap a lot of waste and dirt. The fish is moving this week to the pond.
Here is Marley again but she was being shy.


I have been reading some of the posts about stock tanks. I think that may be my route when Marley gets a new home. She will most likely move in with 2 more turtles who belong to my sister. I will keep researching and look forward to making a new habitat.

[CountryGirl68]

Hi Julie and welcome. Marley sure is beautiful.

[TurtleFreak 65]

Your RES is so cute!!! That fish is almost as big as the turtle!! Watch out he could eat that fish and could cloud your water badly.

[Marley03]

Yea the fish definitely adds to the dirt in the tank which is why he will be leaving soon to the pond; for awhile Marley would nip at his fins and tail and it would just keep growing back. They now seem to have an equal respect for eachother, so I hope Marley is not too sad when he leaves.

[SpotsMama]

Marley is a beauty!

Has Marley ever laid eggs? I understand a female RES will lay eggs even when there's no male present.