I've had my two awesome red ear sliders since January of 2004, so they are approximately a year and 10 months old! I initially started off with three turtles, purchased from a website and delivered to my house while I was already back at college from winter break. This meant that they were left outside of my Pennsylvania home from approximately noon to 4pm, when my mom normally gets home from work. When I got home (later that night), I opened the little container and couldn't find the turtles! After sifting through the moss, I found them, all 3! I knew I wouldn't be able to tell them apart initially, because they were all small and looked strikingly similar. After about a month of living at college with me (technically turtles aren't allowed, but I had a cool RA) I started to notice that one was larger than the others. After reading up abit, I found out that he was a she! Due to her large stature, I named her "Bertha", because she's the alpha-female of the lot. I named the smallest "Twerp" sort of a combination of "terp" (as in the Terapins) and twerp, because he was tiny! The last one I named "Gus" after the famous composer, Gustav Mahler.
While I was home for Easter break '04, Twerp passed away
and I was left with two turtles. Last Christmas, my parents gave me money to go buy new housing for them. I got a 10 gallon tank, a new filter, and a "bridge" so they may bask. My dad mounted a lamp on top of their tank to give them the light they want/need.
These turtles have been my family away from home! They have their own personalities and are just the coolest pets to own. I never thought that those quarter sized turtles would become the big ones they are today!
Bertha is roughly 6-7 inches long, while Gus is 4-5.
Glad to be a part of this community!
