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Hi

My baby RES (hatch date unknown) is fairly small 1inch. I am not sure how much water to put in his tank, can anyone help? While under water, for how long can a baby RES hold their breath for?

Also is it common for them to bury themselve beneath rocks as my RES is very timid and will always attempt to do this.

Thank you

Chris

To allow maxium swimming room, you should fill the water just enough from the top so they can't climb out. I don't know how long they can hold their breath for. Make sure once you have filled the aquarium to buy somekind of dock, so your RES can get on and dry off.

I've never seen turtles bury themselves under rocks, they could end up drowning themselves so that may be a problem. What kind of tank and setup do you have?

If he's very tiny, you need to make sure there's somethings (plants etc.) for them to float on so they don't tire themselves out going to the top for air. You may want to start out with a few inches of water and keep increasing it slowly until its use to the depth.

My turtles will dig at the bottom trying to hide. Just make sure that the "rocks" aren't the typical gravel used in fish tanks, as the turtle grows its possible for them to eat it and cause problems.

How long have you had him? If you just got him, he's probably shy and needs to adjust.

What are the water and basking area temps?

Turtles can stay underwater for about 15 minutes when awake, and 2 or 3 hours when sleeping .

safe way to get out of the water, plant here and there to rest on and a pond filled is a happy turtle so go deep! no little rocks on the bottom.