My RES turtles.

Skits · 03-12-12, 10:43 PM

I realised I never posted about my turtles on this part of the forum, so here I go.

Last January (according to photobucket, but I can't remember when we got them), we got two little turtles. The smallest one was Stanley and he was healthy. The second was Sheldon, he was a bit bigger and seemed to have shell rot. Over time it slowly went away.

Here's baby Stanley. It's hard remembering him this small.

And baby Sheldon. I don't have many of him for some reason. Mainly because we bought him two days after we got Stanley.

Both together as babies.

Skits · 03-12-12, 10:44 PM

And this is them now. They don't have gravel in their tank anymore, js.

They are both about 4 inches now, not sure if they're males or females yet.

EDIT: Actually I'm sure I have more recent ones of them. Going to go through my laptop.

Skits · 03-12-12, 10:47 PM

Here we go.

KORBIN5895 · 03-12-12, 10:59 PM

Awesome! Turtles are my favorite animal!

Trent · 03-13-12, 09:21 AM

Nice turtles!

LISA127 · 03-16-12, 10:29 PM

Turtles and tortoises are my favorite reptiles. Last April I came home with a hatchling gulf coast box turtle. He has grown so much! Your babies are too cute!

guidofatherof5 · 03-17-12, 09:59 PM

Nice looking little shelled ones.

Bradyloach · 03-17-12, 10:11 PM

That's deff my next reptile

Skits · 03-19-12, 07:59 PM

Thanks all

Bradyloach · 03-19-12, 08:02 PM

Skits! I really want a res turtle! Are they hard to look after?

Ikester1981 · 03-19-12, 08:36 PM

good going on your turtles so far. I have had 3 reds and now have only 2. They both look like girls you can tell by the length of the front claws and the tail. males have extremely long front claws compared to the females. these are for mating purposes. In the tails the females have short thin tails and the males have longer thicker tails starting at the base. I would defiantly get some gravel bout 2in base as they love to dig in it. this simulates a natural environment. As they get bigger you will need to find a way to prop up your turtle dock as they at full grown weight will be bout 5lbs. If you wanted to give them some "out side time" you could do that too. just keep an eye on them if you do. also keep their diet diverse, and feed them live feeders or ghost shrimp form time to time. it keeps them active and they love the chase. I know all this by having my reds for 12 years now and at about 5lbs each and 12-13 in from front to the back of their shell, they are full grown. over the years I still find my self sometimes staring into their tank for periods of time. my whole family loves them. they take more and more care as they get older in regards to keeping their tank clean but with a 30 year life span plus. you will get years of enjoyment out of them. congrats!!!! BTW do NOT put snails of measurable size in with them as snail death is by far the worst thing I've ever had to clean out my turds tank

Skits · 03-24-12, 06:05 PM

Oops I forgot about this thread.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bradyloach

Skits! I really want a res turtle! Are they hard to look after?

They aren't too hard to look after at all, I clean their water and scrub their tank every two weeks but with a better filter I would of had to do it less I believe. I always have crickets and mealies on hand to feed them, and I just chop up some lettuce and other veggies for them and they love it. The only thing is making sure their shells stay healthy which if they have the right basking light set up, a big enough tank, and clean water, they don't have problems with.

They have such great personalities as well.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ikester1981

good going on your turtles so far. I have had 3 reds and now have only 2. They both look like girls you can tell by the length of the front claws and the tail. males have extremely long front claws compared to the females. these are for mating purposes. In the tails the females have short thin tails and the males have longer thicker tails starting at the base. I would defiantly get some gravel bout 2in base as they love to dig in it. this simulates a natural environment. As they get bigger you will need to find a way to prop up your turtle dock as they at full grown weight will be bout 5lbs. If you wanted to give them some "out side time" you could do that too. just keep an eye on them if you do. also keep their diet diverse, and feed them live feeders or ghost shrimp form time to time. it keeps them active and they love the chase. I know all this by having my reds for 12 years now and at about 5lbs each and 12-13 in from front to the back of their shell, they are full grown. over the years I still find my self sometimes staring into their tank for periods of time. my whole family loves them. they take more and more care as they get older in regards to keeping their tank clean but with a 30 year life span plus. you will get years of enjoyment out of them. congrats!!!! BTW do NOT put snails of measurable size in with them as snail death is by far the worst thing I've ever had to clean out my turds tank

I read that they can only be sexed after they outgrow four inches, I think they are about that size now but I want to wait a few months just to be sure, but they do look female to me. I always thought the long claws was the female, oops! :P I will have to get them some live shrimps next time I go to the petstore. Also I wouldn't put snails, or anything live in there really, I don't trust them anymore. We had three catfish in the tank with them when they were younger, and both turtles went after them and ate two of them! And I was thinking of building a plywood basking spot for them once we get the 55 gallon for them (once my dad gets a bigger tank for his fish)

Ikester1981 · 03-25-12, 05:37 PM

suhweet. A 55 gal is what you will need when they reach full maturity. bare minimum for 2 female sliders. I would ask you to consider more than just ghost shrimp for live prey. the idea is to simulate a natural environment in your house. there are plenty of live animals in rivers and ponds where these turtles live in nature. (i.e. tadpoles frogs snails minnows crawdads and baby fish). a diverse diet will be the best for your turds, and it keeps them fit, as they have to catch food that aren't plants. It is possible to over feed your turds and have them be over weight. also make sure the type of lettuces you feed them are compatible with their diet. they cant digest all types properly. I feed mine romaine. pond plants such as anachris are great too. They will eat almost completely protein when growing. but they will need a 50/50 plant protein diet when they're full grown. as far as lighting as much uvb as you can afford in fluorescent is the best. a 100 wat uva will be needed as they reach maturity. you can get combo uva/uvb bulbs but they run high starting at about 100bucks. as far as the plywood dock... I believe it will rot and grow mold at an alarming rate. if you have any lighting it will promote bacterial groth (algae) if you want a home made dock? look into plexi glass or something like that . once again!!! love those Red Ears.!!!!

Skits · 03-25-12, 11:11 PM

Yep

And I'll look into other prey for them and get them as much as I could. I can't do baby fish though unfortunately, my dad is a huge fish fanatic and can't stand seeing fish fed live. And I feed mine romaine lettuce as well, I know iceberg has too much water and no nutrients in it (I know that's what it is about hamsters and rabbits, not sure if that's why it isn't good for turtles). I'll invest in a god light for them and for sure build the dock out of plexi glass, I never thought of using that for some reason, thanks!

Ikester1981 · 03-25-12, 11:18 PM

sure thing. if you have any res questions/concerns! let me know and i will do my best to answer you to the best of my ability!!