Well that was unexpected.

[CJR]

Somehow, I ended up with a red-eared slider (RES) turtle. My friends A and B live together in an apartment with two other people, C and D. C has a friend, E. In the beginning of the semester, E brought a 10 gallon tank with two baby RES in it. E then promptly never came back. A fed the RES, and C disappeared. No one cleaned the tank for a month and a half, until a mutual friend, F, cleaned it. The littlest turtle died. Another month and a half later, I decided to clean it. Then I bought a bunch of stuff for the turtle.

Then I decided the turtle should be mine.

So now I have a 3" RES with her pleco friend (a pleco is a black spotted algae eater). I've pimped the tank out pretty well, she has a nice floating turtle dock, a proper basking lamp, a water heater, some river rocks I had about the house. She seems to be much happier. I gave her two minnows today as live food... she doesn't know what to do with them yet, but she'll figure it out.

So... yeah. Turtles. Oh, and I named her Cooter!

 

[Ash]

If you only have the 10gal tank, you're going to need a MUCH larger tank, and quick. RES grow and they grow fast. My sister got one about two years ago, the size of a quarter (our idiot neighbors got it from a local flea market). It is now about 12" across the shell. 125+ gallons is going to be my suggestion, plecos also get fairly large. You're also going to need a good filter. Pond filters work best, but a good canister filter will do as well. Good luck, and read up a lot on them. They're fun, very personable and develop neat personalities.

 

[Jenn]

I had a res for a day that my hubby brought home when someone had to give him up at the border. I put him outside in a container to get some sun, and one of my stray cats got him. I honestly didn't think any animal would have any interest in him being he was so small and didn't attract attention to himself. I lesson I'm still upset about!

I have a 50 gallon fishtank that used to be filled with cichlids, but now only has a jack demsey and a pengaseus shark left in it. As soon as they die off, I'm off to get another turtle. This time I will be very careful with him and keep him safe!

 

[3CsMommy]

Try here: http://www.tortoisetrust.org/articles/res.html I think there's also a pretty good herp/reptile rescue in Pittsburgh if it turns out to be too much.

 

[CJR]

If you only have the 10gal tank, you're going to need a MUCH larger tank, and quick. RES grow and they grow fast. My sister got one about two years ago, the size of a quarter (our idiot neighbors got it from a local flea market). It is now about 12" across the shell. 125+ gallons is going to be my suggestion, plecos also get fairly large. You're also going to need a good filter. Pond filters work best, but a good canister filter will do as well. Good luck, and read up a lot on them. They're fun, very personable and develop neat personalities.

Yeah, I already knew about that. My friend is a hardcore herpetologist and takes care of 100+ turtles, about a dozen tortoises, countless fish (saltwater and fresh), crabs, a bunch of inverts, around 50 (adult, not counting babies) snakes, and a whole bunch of other reptiles. He has been teaching me. I'm planning on getting an enormous trash can or other heavy-duty plastic thing to put her in. Thank you though!!