All Turtles Message Board

novemberangels · Guest Joined: 16 Jun 2009 Posts: 1

Hi. I'm looking for a land turtle or box turtle. Right now I have 2 small red ears and since I work night while I'm home during the day if the weather is nice I take the tank to the yard for some sun. I love turtles , don't know much about them but I want to extend my turtle family.

davnangkelly · Level 2 Joined: 02 Apr 2009 Posts: 41

You have 2 RES and you live in queens NY. I see a problem brewing there. It would seem that you will always HAVE to keep these turtles in an aquarium environment. Although that may not seem to awfully bad, these guys can outlive you. And the minimum amount of water for these two equates to 10 gallons of water per 1 inch of shell length. So when your two Res grow to full size of 10 to 12 inches you will need 200 to 240 gallons of water. Some folks will tell you more. If you're really into turtles you have to accept that it's pretty much a life time thing. Box turtles have been recorded living well over a hundred years in captivity. Just be sure that this is something you really want to do because you love turtles. And I hope you do. They are fascinating creatures. Good luck.

Just my two cents.