General Care Discussion

if you're talking about the line down the center of it's back that looks like a slight crease it's at least 6 inches long. My daughter will be excited to know that the turtle is a girl. She's been bugging me to find out how to tell since we brought her home.

Look on Craigslist for a tank. There is almost always tanks on there for cheap and a lot of times they will throw in filters and heaters too. I got mine from a guy who tried to keep a 150 gal salt water tank and killed all of his fish and he didnt want the giant tank in his tiny house anymore lol. This guy literally gave me thousands of dollars worth of equipment (not to mention the 150 gallon tank and oak stand!) for $375! You don't need a tank that big by any means (I have to full grown females) but you can find a 50-75 gallon for cheap! Sometimes even free! Just because unused tanks take up space and people want rid of them. I just looked on my local CL and there is a 55 gallon for $20! Of course, make sure it has no cracks or anything. If for some reason there is a leak, you can fix those pretty easily.

For the basking area, you can make one for next to nothing. Look at this thread for ideas viewtopic.php?f=6&t=15260

Good luck!

Oooo Craigslist! Good idea.

I found this:

39 gallon tall fish tank with stand, filter,powerhead, heater 30 pounds of live rock and more. Moving and not takin tank with me.

"live rock" Isn't that an oxymoron?

Is 39 gallons big enough. If I purchase this I will keep it here and get us a male so he won't get as big.

haha not sure what you are going to do with the live rock! Maybe you can sell it to a local petstore

. My tank came with all kinds of crap I will never use!

Its definitely better than what you have. You will not be able to get a baby since you cannot sex them until they are older (unless you want to get a baby and plan for a tank upgrade in 5 or so years). There are A TON of RES that need homes. They use to sell them at the beach as a novelty item and once people realized how big they got and how much they cost, they get rid of them. You should contact a rescue since they are all over loaded

. Then, you could get a small male at least

I highly recommend building an above tank basking area so the turtle can have the maximum room. If I were you, I'd go ahead and get that one. And sell the live rock for extra cash

Oh, or you could get a different kind of turtle after the summer that wont get as big

I always see great deals on tanks on Craigslist, I always have to pass them up cause I don't have any room in my house for a large tank. 75 gallons for 40 bucks!

Not to say Craigslist is bad but, I have never had luck with tanks on that site. It might be because I'm in Connecticut. I always end up buying brand new.

I am this close to, and I mean THIS *holds up fingers* close to just getting custom cut pieces of plexiglass, a huge tube of aquarium sealant, and just making my own tank, at the dimensions I want, in my apartment, so I don't have to haul a giant heavy-arse tank up two flights of stairs. *end rant*

BTW, I have a female adult RES who's shell is only 8 inches long, and she is about between 10 and 20 years old, according to the vet we recently saw. If you give a turtle the right diet, regardless of gender, they grow slowly. Still, no matter which gender you get, turtles don't necessarily stop growing, it's barely noticeable by us, but, this is why reptiles shed throughout their whole lives (humans shed too, just, not in such large quantities). The sizes provided on this website's care sheet is just an approximation. Please understand that no matter what your turtle is a commitment, and you need to be willing to house an animal which can grow to be a foot long and live for over 30 years if cared for well.

theartbook35 wrote: The sizes provided on this website's care sheet is just an approximation. Please understand that no matter what your turtle is a commitment, and you need to be willing to house an animal which can grow to be a foot long and live for over 30 years if cared for well.

I completely understand. That's why I came here.

I figure if we know how to take care of this turtle we can all decide if we really want one of our own when it's time to take her back. I actually think we've all grown attached to this turtle. Never did I think we'd get attached to a turtle for goodness sakes.

Right now I'm going to focus on getting this turtle a bigger tank to go back to school in. After she goes back we'll reassess and see if we want a turtle of our own.

theartbook35, you haven't had luck finding the tanks or havent had luck finding tanks that are in good shape on CL? I don't blame you for wanting to build a tank! I like the acrylic tanks better than the glass ones. I think they look better.

FunFrugalMom, any luck with the new tank? You are definitely doing this right

. That turtle is going to be so much happier in the bigger tank! As for after the summer..I think you are officially one of us "turtle people" haha. Even if you decide not to get one..I think if you see a baby turtle in the petstore..you will not be able to resist! Lol! Baby turtles are so flippin cute!!

@theartbook35:when I first got this latest tank from a friend "for free", I dragged it on to the back porch, filled it with water and kept an eye on it for a couple days to make sure there were no leaks...I have nightmares about things like that! Used tanks scare me.

Leaks should be easy to fix, cracks on the other hand...

General Care Discussion :: Please Help. Turtlesitting for the summer.

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