Couple of pics of my RESs

[rich311k]

Tommy and Tara the turtles:

 

[roka64]

NICE!!

 

[ReefRaff]

turtles are the bomb. very nice!!

 

[QTOFFER]

Nice, Rich! Red eared sliders?

 

[rich311k]

Yes they are Red Eared Sliders.

 

[shayfish]

Wow. About how big are they?

 

[rich311k]

Tommy's shell is about six inches. Tara's shell is over ten inches. They are really great pets.

 

[Pleco]

I saw these for sale in a local fish store, and it had a disclaimer about being sold for educational purposes only or something to that affect, along with a wash hands thoroughly after handling sign. Wonder if California bans them except for educational purposes and the fish store just uses a loophole to be able to legally sell them. The ones i saw were small, no more than 2" shells. How big do they get? Can 1 be kept in a 10G?

 

[rich311k]

They get about a foot long. In NY the shell has to be 4 inches in order to be sold. They need large tanks. Mine are both in 75 gallon tanks.

 

[Pleco]

They get about a foot long. In NY the shell has to be 4 inches in order to be sold. They need large tanks. Mine are both in 75 gallon tanks.

Do they bite? How are they as pets, as in personality and the sort

 

[rich311k]

They are great pets. They follow Kathy and I around the room. We have had Tara for at least 15 years. They both have great personalities. They come right to the front of the tank when they see you.

The male will snap at me. He has never gotten me though. Judging form what they can do to a carrot I imagine if they got you it would smart.

 

[shayfish]

My sister had one of these for a roommate once (well, rather the roommate had one as a pet). The turtle (Willy) was bought for the roommate as a temper tantrum ceasefire by his mother when he was a child. Little did they all realise how long they live. At any rate, he also used to swim along side anyone near the tank and come up to look at you. Very cool pet indeed.

 

[Devilishturtles]

I saw these for sale in a local fish store, and it had a disclaimer about being sold for educational purposes only or something to that affect, along with a wash hands thoroughly after handling sign. Wonder if California bans them except for educational purposes and the fish store just uses a loophole to be able to legally sell them. The ones i saw were small, no more than 2" shells. How big do they get? Can 1 be kept in a 10G?

It is illegal to sell them in the US under 4 inches in shell length, unless it's for educational purposes. So yes, MANY pet stores found the loophole. One of the big reasons is that, in the 70's when RES's became more popular, people were contracting salmonella from them. I guess they assume that ones that are over 4 inches have lived long enough to not carry salmonella..I'm not sure.

I have 2 RES of my own, they are great pets.

Rich, you don't have problems with yours and the small gravel? I had to switch my gravel out for river rock because the turtles were eating it.

 

[Pleco]

Is there a site/link on how to setup a tank for one of these?

How is the maintenance/upkeep on the tanks?

What do you feed them, besides your fingers if they happen to catch you

 

[rich311k]

Rich, you don't have problems with yours and the small gravel? I had to switch my gravel out for river rock because the turtles were eating it.

Not so far Lindsay. I hope they don't read this and start getting ideas.

 

[rich311k]

They need a dry area to climb out on. You need to provided a uv light for them to bask under. The water needs to be deep enough so they can flip over. That way they don't get caught on their backs and drown. I will take a picture of the tanks when I get home.

I change about 85% of the water every week and clean out the filter. No harder than doing one of the fish tanks. They eat pellets, cabbage, lettuce, carrota and an occasional tyreat of freeze dried krill.

 

[An t-iasg]

Nice! I didn't know you had turtles!