General Care Discussion :: How much water?

[zeek]

Hi there guys,
I was watching some videos on YouTube today and saw that people had a lot of water in thier tanks. How much water can I have in the tank?

[SpotsMama]

Fill your tank up as full as you can....EXCEPT make sure it's not so full that the turtle can reach the edge and escape. Turtles are very strong and athletic. If they can, for instance, stand on their basking platform and get their front paws on the edge, they can probably lift themselves all the way out.

RES in the wild live in lakes and ponds where they love to swim and dive. They will be happier with deep water. If they aren't used to deep water, you'd probably better introduce them to it slowly. For example, add an inch every few days until you reach the level you want.

[zeek]

ok, question, what about when they want to rest. Do they not need to be on dry land, apart from the basking dock?

[megcornell]

RES are mostly aquatic turtles, so they are fine with just a basking area. The only time they need access to land is if you have a gravid female who needs to lay her eggs. Other than that, they can and will maintain a perfectly healthy shell by being able to dry off completely on a basking area. Just make sure that they can completely dry off and that the turtle can comfortably fit on it. You don't want them to be cramped.

[1981camaroz28]

I agree my tank is a 120 gallon and I have about 100 gallons in there I keep about 8in from the top and I have floating landing pads for them I have 2 large pads. They love to swim if you see a tank with very little water feel bad for that turtle.