Hi! Introduce yourselves here. :: Received 2 Baby RES's today for X-mas. Kinda scared.

[Scott St Pierre]

I helped raise my sister in laws RES turtles when I was living in NY for a year. She knew I missed them so she bought me two tiny little ones from Chinatown in NYC. I wish I knew I was getting them.

They came in a tiny little tank with Barely any water (she herself has a big tank with lots of rocks and some plants.

Just a little freaky that all of a sudden I'm a turtle owner, 2 times over!

[cam722]

Well at least you have a clue on what they need. Guess you know bigger is better and will avoid tons of upgrades

Congrats and welcome to the forum.

[reptilegrrl]

That IS kind of freaky! Not really nice, to give a pet as a surprise. But I'm glad they've gone to someone who knows how to take care of them and likes them.

Don't be scared- this site has a lot of good info and nice people

[sonyj]

Welcome to the forum... After reading through some of the info on here and the main site as well, if you have any questions just ask. It's scary at first but once you give yourself the right knowledge on how to take care of them it's much easier. (speaking from experience here )

[juicedgt02]

Hey Scott, if you are looking for a bigger tank there is few of them on craigslist.com in boston for a very reasonable price, look it up. I have been checking every few days as I am looking for a 120G tank.

[Scott St Pierre]

Hey Scott, if you are looking for a bigger tank there is few of them on craigslist.com in boston for a very reasonable price, look it up. I have been checking every few days as I am looking for a 120G tank.

damn 120G's is huge!

[sonyj]

lol... yes a 120 gallon tank is huge... but not if you stop to think about the size an adult RES will get. Ten gallons per inch a shell is the general guideline to follow when purchasing a tank. An adult male can grow to 7-9 inches, and a female can be between 10-12 inches as an adult. Now 120 gallons doesn't look so big if it's for 1 full grown female. (and just think everything doubles if you have 2... or more.)

[ellman605]

i got my 50 gal on there for $50, someone was selling a 220 gallon, i asked them, they said $2000, so i told them i'll save up $200 and get a 300 gallon stock tank, and figure out somewhere to put it . I have no life, so i end up checking craigslist every 50 minutes, and it does take a while, you just have to wait for the right thing to show up, my craiglist rule is, over $500, dont even consider it, $300, ok, $100, check

[Scott St Pierre]

I read somewhere they'll only grow as big as their environment. any truth to that?

[cam722]

LOL .. the biggest lie told by petstores is the one you asked. No it's not true. What it will do is make for one unhappy and sick turtle. There was a story I read about a person keeping their turtle in a glass bowl the turtle got too big for the bowl and ended up dying. Bigger is better.. 10 gallons of water for every inch of shell is the rule of thumb.

[TinySlider2]

Welcome to Turtle Talk...

[marisa]

Welcome. At least you have an idea of what they need to live a good life. In a pinch, you could start them out in a Rubbermaid or similar storage container. That way they'd have some space while you look for a tank, if that's what you want.

[buddys_my_turtle]

Yup thats what I did when I first got my RES from Florida!I can't believe he survived the 8 hour trip home in a tiny little critter cage LOL!so he will do find in a rubber maid container until you find a tank!I got my 10 gallon tank from a pet store for 10 dollars.But I would go with that website that ellman605 keeps going to because he has no life!