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I am pretty new to RES and just got one that is 1 year old and has never been in water deeper than an inch just enough to cover her shell will she know how to swim on her own or do I have to some how have to teach her also she has never had live food but seems ok with crickets and hasent touched the guppy yet is all this normal and any pointers on how to get this little girl swimming so she can go in a larger tank with my 2 baby's one is a florida painted and the other is a RES

When res are in the wild the mother does not teach them to swim. They know how when they hit the water. Now; since the turtle has only been shallow water for a long time I would put in about 4 inches, then 8 and so on. They are great swimmers and as soon at your res realizes that it can go the bottom and hide he will do so.

Live food is not necessary, it's more of a treat. Check out this link for some good feeding guidelines: http://www.redearslider.com/index_nutrition.html

I agree with mikee, just increase the water depth a little bit at a time and before you knw it she'll be swimming around like a turtle should!

Also, if you plan on introducing her to your two babies, 1) if she is larger than the babies or if you do not have enough gallonage, you will have aggression and she will likely kill or injure the babies, and 2) you need to quarantine the babies from her for at least 90 days to ensure they aren't ill and will infect her. RES do not like friends, though, and you need to have a tank ready and waiting for when aggression starts.

thanks for the great input thats kind of what I thought, adding the water gradually, for the first year she has been in a 10 gallon tank the 55 will be sweet for her we are planning on introducing her slowly to the other 2 as they are only about 2 inches each and she is more like 4. maybe putting her in a few minutes a day durring the outside time. also when I do add the depth she sits on the bottom and dosent move for air how long should I wait before picking her out to make sure she dosent drown. she has only been on the bottom so she can reach her head above the water. the other 2 on the other hand have a ball ind think the deeper the better lol I just want to do what is right,also if need be I have 2 extra tanks ready to roll! I am a little over protective. just need one more lamp tomarrow

Animals are pretty self reliant in that they often understand the basics of their habitat to survive. Just keep a good eye on her and she will be fine. Gradually add your water and see how she does. I will warn you now to go ahead and get the tanks you need to keep them seperate. I foolishly bought three turtles and have had serious aggression issues to the point where if I did not take the female away from the two males, one of the males would probably be dead by now. I am looking to give one away so that I can just have two, one in each tank. It sucks cuz they look really cool together until one has bite marks on its neck, toes, tail and such. GOOD LUCK!!!!!

If you have the three turtles together, 4 + 2 + 2 = 8 x 10 gallons = 80 gallons. Without at least 80 gallons, aggression is even more likely to occur. A 55 gallon tank is barely big enough for your adult RES. Eventually, you WILL need around 300 gallons, assuming they can be kept together.

Just add enough water so that she cannot just stretch her head out of the water to breath, like 4 inches. Wait until she starts figuring out she has to paddle up to breathe. Then add an additional inch every few days. She shouldn't drown, so don't worry about grabbing her. That will just freak her out. Turtles can store a good number of minutes worth of air, so you may think she's out of air when she isn't. I did essentially the same thing, except that (I didn't read about it on here first) I dropped my turtle into like 10 inches of water after he'd been in like 3 inches for awhile. At first, he dropped like a rock. Then he sat on the bottom. Then he started stretching his neck as far as it could to get air. Then he had a panic attack and started freaking out and paddled as hard as he could to get air. He got to the surface, took a big breath, dropped to the bottom again, and started the whole process again. After about an hour, though, he was a swimming pro. They adapt well.

lol thats lind of what I did with her yesterdat except when she panicked so did I and grabbed her out of the tanks and I didnet respond right away because we were changeing tanks around here yet again with 6 different ones it can get crazy but they range from 10-55 and I am picking up a 110 today that I found for 40 bucks so I am excited it may be on a big folding table for now but it is going to be sweet!

Swimming is instinctive for aquatic turtles. Raise the water level gradually if you're concerned about your turtle's ability to swim. Have fake/plastic plants floating in the water when the water level's deeper so your RES has places to rest on.

I also have a goofy question I know they probably eat these all the time in the wild but since mine are not, we had a few flies in the house from kids leaving doors open(on going battle) but it some got got in the tank and the turtle ate it it wont hurt him will it?