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Hello everyone, I'm new to the forum. I was once a RES owner when I was a child, but they died because of what I later found out to be inadequate food, tank set-up, etc... However, I've been researching more about them, and I'm looking into purchasing a couple RES. I was wondering how I can tell which turtles are the healthiest at the pet store. I don't want to buy a sick turtle thats going to die soon after I get it home. Are there any specifics that I should look for when picking out my turtle? Thanks for your help!

i think that to search for a healthy turtle u must watch if the turtle is active or not and look at the turtles shell if it's scar or has signs of damage the point is to look for a heathly sheel =D hope this helps

First of all, take a long hard look at where you plan to buy a turtle. Don't buy any pets at a pet store where the setup is bad: If the turtles are in dirty water with no lighting, no way to get out of the water to dry off, & no heater, don't buy, period, no matter "how good the turtles look". Do not buy from places like flea markets or in Chinatown where they sell turtles for food.

There are plenty of RES's that need adoption. See if you can hook up with someone on this board who has an RES to give away. Where do you live? There were a few recent posts from several people who needed to adopt out healthy RES's for various good reasons (not enough money to care for them, etc.). This could be a good way to pick up a turtle "for free" & you will get their past history! Or there are many herp rescue societies that you can contact to pick up a turtle. These bigger-than-hatchling babies need good homes too!

Also, there were 2 guys in Philadelphia area who found almost 200 hatchling babies in a very cold river because some careless jerky breeder dumped them there to die. The guys who are caring for these babies have been successfully adopting them out over the last month (I adopted one of these babies & it's doing great!). Maybe this is an option for you too.

Also, I highly suggest you read the basic care areas of this website so that you can become very familiar with what a GOOD basic set up looks like. That will help you in your choice of turtle too since you will already know if the turtle isn't getting proper care based on how the set up looks.

Usually healthy turts can upright themselves if their on there backs..

active, they can upright themselves, BRIGHT green and BRIGHT, COLORFUL red ears.

But not all healthy RES have red ears...

industrial_girl_2000 wrote:First of all, take a long hard look at where you plan to buy a turtle. Don't buy any pets at a pet store where the setup is bad: If the turtles are in dirty water with no lighting, no way to get out of the water to dry off, & no heater, don't buy, period, no matter "how good the turtles look". Do not buy from places like flea markets or in Chinatown where they sell turtles for food.

um, i got mine at the flea market. i'll admit i didn't do the proper research; i asked the lady who was selling them about turtle care and she said gravel, ½" of water and feed them everyday, it was another 3 months before i even got any. i've been working hard to keep them healthy, though. they seem to be thriving. very fast very strong. they came from a 1L container. . . are you telling me my babies could've been food?!?

sorry to hijack, but that is just horrid!

Hey pumpkinsherbet....glad you got a healthy baby. You were very lucky though. There are many people coming to the RES board that talk about some of the horrid conditions that their turtles were kept in before they got them (filthy cold water with overcrowded conditions) & many of these babies die quickly after their owners get them because of some pre-existing illness they picked up from the store or flea market. It's just sad to watch someone go and spend $200 on a basic setup for their new adorable baby, only to watch in horror as it dies 2-3 weeks after they bought it (!).

Believe it or not, some cultures eat turtles (so "turtle soup" isn't just a myth, it is very real in some places like China!). Not picking on the Chinese here since every place in the world is different & heck we eat animals here in North America too. It's just a different culture to us, that's all I am saying. I personally can't imagine making turtle soup out of Sheba.....it would be like eating my young!!!!!!!

i either lucked out or did something right cuz i did pull them from bad conditions. it was cold outside when i bought them, plus the first two weeks i had them saw a lot of water heater problems.

You prolly bought them *right after* the flea market got them so maybe they weren't in the horrible conditions for too long (a day or so). I'm glad to hear that yours are healthy.