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Hi all!

We just got our first RES and I cannot believe how much I like her. She was the smallest of a group at the pet store - the others (the same age as her) were 2x's the size of her, however because she was small (6") we fell for her.

She's only been in our house for about 3 days, and have noticed she is somewhat shy. When you walk by the tank she ducks into her shell. She also hasn't been basking as much as I thought she would, I'm guessing she is going through an adjustment period so will be a little patient before becoming alarmed.

Sometimes when I talk to her she will stick her head out and look in my direction, she must be curious about who this crazy woman is talking to her. No, but seriously - are they intelligent enough to recognize voices or faces?

I do have several questions but before I bombard you all, I'll start reading up on all the strings.

Yes they can reconize our faces and voices. Turtles are VERY smart. they can see very well. And there hearing isnt all that bad. your turtle should soon ajust to her suroundings.

BTW wat kind of setup do you have?

Well - being a first timer we jumped into this thinking this would be a great little pet for my 6 yr old, not.... I now see she will take as much care as our dogs. But am looking forward to it, cause she is so darn cute.

Anyway as far as setup I am looking for a larger tank, she is currently in a 10 gallon, which I was told was fine for her size, again not... I have a heat lamp over her basking spot, which she only uses at night when she is climbing the tank walls. I keep the tank 1/3 of the way full so she has some room to swim, but definately looking hard for something more comfortable for her.

If your turtle is 6 inches then you should have a 60 gallon tank. You will need a UVB light and a filter too. Well good luck i am glad you found this site so your turtle isnt all couped up in that 10 gallon. *yikes*

I just got off the phone with a lady who has a 60 gallon tank for sale for only $50 - so am going after work today to take a look and see if it will work for our newest member of the family.

crossing my fingers as I feel guilty for the little thing now.

I do have the UVB light and and a filter already for her - sorry forgot to mention it.

make sure the water is deeper than the length of her shell! if she is 6" long, her water should be at least 7" deep in case she flips over.

Wow a 60 gallon tank for only $50! thats an awsome deal! A 60 gallon tank around here costs close to $150! And if you look in the classifieds they only sell like 100 gallon tanks with everything in it including salt water fish! Those run around $300-$800. This town is so expensive!

hi sassygirl and welcome
was very glad to hear you were reading the strings here, this forum is very helpful. as far as it being a good pet for your child well it is really, they are sooooo cute and interesting my 4 year old has his very first pet I got it for his b-day and man he loves Jacob and calls me every night to tell me how he is. he draws him rocks that mommy puts on the out side of his tank and feeds him. but you are right an adult has to HELP. my daughter now keeps calling him "my turtle" ha ha even her hubby loves it, so bottom line they kinda crawl into every heart involved hey and there are alot of jobs a child can become responsible for too. oh a shy turtle new is not anything new my little RES is only about 1.5 inches and everyone said does it ever bask? well the answer is yes,but as you get near the tank she slides off so slow and hangs on the edge of her rock you didnt see her on top. now she is use to the place and mostly will stay put so she gets "caught" alot more often

We just got Urtle (our new little RES) situated in her new aquarium. We ended up getting her a 55 gallon for a great deal, $50. It is alot roomier than the 10 gallon she was in and now she is actually starting to venture out when it is quiet in the room and check out the new surroundings. One weird thing I noticed is she was laying in the corner under the water heater? When she is spooked by noise or people coming up to her tank, she swims to the back corner and hides under the heater? Is that strange or common when they spook- hide away?

She hasn't basked yet, but I'm assuming she will probably feel alot more at ease tomorrow and start.

She looks so much happier in this tank - thanks for the great site!

sounds normal turtles feel safer in the water and better yet hidden.some will become use to you and stop running,others always run and then check things out . each turtle is diffrent some are shy some are not. make sure she cant get hung behind her hiding spots and drown or break the glass heater by hitting em too hard, read here a pvc pipe with holes drilled in it makes a gr8 glass protector?

Thank you all for the info. I was very unknowledgeable about turtles and now this site has opened a whole new world of info to me.

Urtle - our RES is now getting closer and closer to basking. She has gone 1/2 way up the platform, still staying in the water partly. But what a difference in her since we moved her to the new tank!

We measured her last night and she is 5"long. Now we can watch her growth in the many years to come.

Thanks again for your help!
Oh here is a link to a few of her pics from last night.
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/sassygirl ... /my_photos

Welcome. She's a beauty. Do you have a bubble wand in the tank?
Don't forget a UVB light in addition to the basking light if she can't get outside regularly for a few hours at a time.

She's gorgeous, my turtles are about 4" already, so they are almost as big as yours.

What are the temps of the water and basking area?

Her water temp is a steady 76 degrees, her basking area, I actually haven't checked it.

But....last night I came home from an evening out and as I walked in saw her basking! Yeah! Of course as soon as I got a few steps away from her tank, she dove in the water.