we got our two RES about four or five months ago, from someone who couldn't give them adequate care. they were 5-6 inches at the time, and living in a 20 gallon tank! well, we got them a 60 -- or is it an 80? gallon tank, it's decent size -- about four feet by two feet by two feet.
it was amazing to see how they changed when they got into their new house -- when they weren't living in a miserable small tank being fed some weird fruity fish food flakes, they developed such personalities! now, in the morning when they hear us stirring they come to the edge of the tank and splash the water to say, 'hello, good morning, feed us feed us!'. they like turtle food and they love the little feeder goldfish, but i haven't gotten them to eat much fruits or veggies, maybe just haven't found the right things yet.
the most amazing thing, though, is that in these past four or five months, how they've *grown* -- they were good sized turtles when we got them, now they are enormous -- they have grown at least an inch, maybe two.
my son calls them itchy and scratchy, but i don't think that fits them at all, so i'm going to have to convince him we should give them better names.
i'm thrilled to have found this place and really appreciate how knowledgeable so many of you folks are -- i know we need to outfit their tank with better basking space (right now it's just a big hollow log thingy, they had one of those turtle ramp things but we had to take it out because they were eating it!) so i'm particularly interested to see pictures and descriptions of different setups, so i can make them a really cool house.
