General Care Discussion :: How the heck....?!

[TNTurtles]

I don't see how this is possible and thought i would maybe ask you guys to see what you say. One of my teammates has a red ear slider. One girl in our dorm last year had 2 RES in a small hermit crab cage with a bunch of small rocks and about 1 inch of water. She didn't want them anymore so she gave them to my friend. Those 2 turtles stayed in that cage until i told her that it wasn't healthy and one of them even died. Her friend gave her an old 25 gallon tank and she put the last one in there. She has small pebbles stacked up to one side and about 3-4" of water on the other side. I don't see a lamp so I don't think it has heat. But here's the kicker. The turtle is healthy!!! Its eyes are clear and open. It is able to swim fine, submerge fine, and is very active and alert. BUT, i got my RES after her and mine are 2 1/2 " while hers has not grown AT ALL!!! It is still only about an inch.

Someone explain this phenomenom to me.......

[grey goose]

It may appear to be healthy but that won't last. Perhaps you should let her know about this forum?

[TNTurtles]

Shes had it like that for almost a year now.....she won't listen to me. She said its worked her way so far.

[missibsu]

Appearing healthy and being healthy are two very different things. The fact that the turtle as not grown is a good reason to believe unhealthy. Instead of constantly talking to her about the turtles, print off a care sheet and just leave it lay for her to find. You could even highlight some important parts.

Maybe you could pull up some pictures here from the photo gallery and show her some neat set ups. Approach the situation like she just has to see it and not in a manner that suggests that you are forcing that kind of set up on her.

[kikicool]

I rescued my first RES without knowing it. My ex-boyfriend's sister had a huge tank in the basement with two turts. It had no water (but to drink) just sand. She had them for three years--and both were purchased in Chinatown. This was years ago, and I was younger and didn't know about these things. So after the first one died, she said I could have the other because it was so boring. Same thing--it was still about an inch across, and she'd had it for THREE YEARS. So I took it home. Found out it was aquatic. I got him a nice tank (small though, I admit), some good lighting, and water. Got him a floating lilypad... and suddenly, he started to grow and thrive. Finally, I gave him to my mom--she's an elementary science teacher with a lab. I was in college and knew I couldn't afford to take the best care of him, especially with roommates and lights on and off all hours etc.

But I often wonder how he made it too!

[marisa]

Just shows how resilient they can be.