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My gf and I went to the Vancouver Aquarium yesterday, and to my suprise, had a pair of male RES. THEY WERE HUGE!!! One was well over 11 inches (but I think was male as the nails were very long). I was wondering if they were so much bigger because they weren't bred for captivity? (I don't know if this was the case, but the only reason I can see why they are so huge). My res hasn't grown over his 4-5 inches yet, but these things were absolutley massive. Are captive bred res generally smaller?

According to a website that I've read about wild RES, it says that males generally range from 7-9 inches when fully grown. And that occasionally a female (10-12in) can be found larger than this. But it doesn't say that males can be found larger. This is really interesting. I'm wonder why they were so large if they were males? Did you take any pics of them? I'd love to have seen them.

I didn't take pictures, didnt have my camera... I was so shocked at how big they were though... Granted, they were probably very old, their shell was very dull brown as opposed to green. They looked like they could swallow my res whole.

I thought I read that turtles in captivity grow larger than they would in the wild because of their diet. Which is the reason we are so careful with how/what we feed them.

In general, I think captive animals become larger than their wild counterparts. I've seen a huge female RES at a Petco once... she was fearless and very impressive.

grow larger in captivity? now I wonder if I'm starving mine. I highly doubt I am... I do the 'food size of head' deal... plus a little extra cause I'm a softy... He seems healthy and active enough

Growing larger in captivity isn't a positive thing. If your turtle is healthy and you're giving him a balanced diet, he should be fine.