Page 1 of 2

How long can RES's stay underwater?

PostPosted: Mon May 28, 2007 2:36 am
by Crazy Girl Turtle
Hi! We just got a baby RES and I am paranoid she is going to drown! The water level is 1.5 inches, which is fine during the day. But at night she seems to be sleeping underwater. I know turtles can do that, but thought I heard that babies cannot stay under very long.

So how long can a baby RES stay underwater?

Thank you!

PostPosted: Mon May 28, 2007 3:03 am
by iac637
they will come up when they need air.... as long have there is nothing blocking her from reaching the surface

PostPosted: Mon May 28, 2007 10:21 am
by Crazy Girl Turtle
Thank you for your response. So just to confirm, she will wake herself up if she is low on oxygen?

PostPosted: Mon May 28, 2007 10:40 am
by jenaero
RES love to swim! Fill the tank up! Fill it as much as you can without giving the turt room to escape.

And yes, she'll wake up when she needs air

PostPosted: Mon May 28, 2007 11:20 am
by RunninWideOpen
Yep, they know when to come up for air! Don't worry about her. Like Janaero said, give her as much water as you can without giving her the ability to escape. These turtles naturally live in lakes and ponds where they have TONS of water to swim. I read a thread on here a few months ago of someone seeing them at 15-20 feet deep in a lake. How big of a tank do you have for her now?

Welcome to the forum!

PostPosted: Mon May 28, 2007 11:29 am
by DavidY
What's really interesting is that most aquatic turtles (if not all) will hibernate at the bottom of the pond through the entire winter. I guess they must be able to absorb enough oxygen from the water to make it through the winter?

PostPosted: Mon May 28, 2007 12:16 pm
by alexis_906
I was really scared the first day I got my baby turtle, I watched his tank for a a couple hours that night. I would freak out and think he was in trouble but he always seemed to figure it out. And After I realized he was fine I added more water and now my tank is 2/3 full. And he does just fine.

PostPosted: Mon May 28, 2007 12:20 pm
by DavidY
he he, I remember when we brought our first son home from the hospital after he was born. We kept the crib in the bedroom with us and the first night we barely slept. Any time that we couldn't hear his tiny breaths we'd jump up and make sure he was okay. Man, were we nervous parents back then! :lol: It was all good though. :D

PostPosted: Mon May 28, 2007 6:30 pm
by Crazy Girl Turtle
Thanks everyone for the feedback. We feel much better.

She is about 1.25 inches and we have her in a 10 gallon tank with about 2.0 inches of water. We have a 70 gallon tank "waiting in the wings" to put her in when she is a little bigger. A friend with an RES said to keep her in the 10 gallon until September.

So, do you really think we should give her more water?

Thanks!!!!

PostPosted: Mon May 28, 2007 7:20 pm
by RunninWideOpen
Absolutely!! If you're concerned at all about her swimming ability, raise the water an inch or two a day until you get it to the full point. If she seems to be swimming very well, you can raise it up faster.

PostPosted: Tue May 29, 2007 2:02 am
by alexis_906
I think mine is well was about the same size as your and he is in a 10gal tank with 2/3 full of water like I said and he loves it. He has had that much water in there since the second day I had him and he was a tiny little green guy then. Here is a link to one of my videos, it is a few weeks old, but you can see about how much water I had in the tank for him and how he likes it. His tank is set up differently now but has about the same amount of water if now more.

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fusea ... 2025411129
(PS I just love showing off my little Cheerios)

PostPosted: Tue May 29, 2007 1:04 pm
by steve
You can always gradually increase the water levels. You'd want to make sure there are resting areas so it would be easy for her to hang onto something. Fake plants, a second basking area are examples of those things.

PostPosted: Tue May 29, 2007 10:45 pm
by Crazy Girl Turtle
Thank you so much guys and thank you for the video. I think we will add more water this weekend, paranoid mama that I am I want to be able to watch her for her first two days in the deep! :) I will also get some more resting spots for her, she has rocks now (plus the dock she has not gone on yet), but she can rest on the rocks and keep her head above water now.

Thanks!!!

PostPosted: Tue May 29, 2007 11:00 pm
by grey goose
DavidY wrote:What's really interesting is that most aquatic turtles (if not all) will hibernate at the bottom of the pond through the entire winter. I guess they must be able to absorb enough oxygen from the water to make it through the winter?


It's been told to me that when turts hibernate they breathe thru their butts! Don't ask me about the biology on that (I don't want to know). :)

PostPosted: Tue May 29, 2007 11:09 pm
by DavidY
Ha ha :lol:, ya I read something similar. Sounds strange to me too seeing as how that's the opposite end of where they usually breathe from. :?