Habitat - Indoor :: How low must the water be?

[flaring afro]

I'm building a plywood tank for 2 female res and a female eastern painted. Their last habitat had a dock in the front with acrylic along it, but this time I want to have no acrylic or glass in the front and just have the platforms and sandbox in the back. I'm not sure how high that wall would have to be, how high can a female adult res reach? I've seen numbers for water depth but not this. Thanks

[steve]

I'm not sure I understand what you're describing, but female RES can be pretty tall and I think 12-14" should be a minimum.

[flaring afro]

Sorry, I mean that if the turtles are in the water, how high can they reach? I'm guessing a fully grown res doesn't have front feet longer than 4-5 inches but am not sure. So they won't be standing on anything, just swimming against a wall.

[steve]

They might climb over each other and give one an indirect boost. Can you give the top edge a lip?

[flaring afro]

A lip probably would be a good idea. I might even put waterproof LED strips under the lip to also help light the water a bit.

[steve]

Sounds good!