how big of a plastic tote should I buy for my RES turtle?

March 6, 2010 - 9:31 pm

and if you own one can you post pics of it and i’s enclosure?

Mines a female, around 6-7inches long. I have her in a tote right now (wasn’t planning on getting it, neighbor was going to chuck her outside). I want to get a bigger tote to put her in but I’m not sure how big I should get. Do they get much larger?
I’m going to get a tote big enough for her, many people house them safely in totes…

The usual bare minimum is 10 gallons per inch of shell. However, you can "cheat" a bit if you have a very low, broad tank, like a wading pool. They’re cheap, too. Anything over 4′ diameter should do for now but get the largest one you have room for to avoid having to replace it.

3 Responses to “how big of a plastic tote should I buy for my RES turtle?”

  1. Mercury Says:

    Ok so first off all a female RES will get to be about 12 to 10 inches long. A good rule of thumb would be 10 gallons of water per inch of turtle. So a plastic tote will NOT work, please do not keep her in one because that is incredibly cruel. RES are VERY active, they need lots of room and clean water. I have two in a mediumsized kiddie pool with duckweed, a water filter, waterlilies, snails, goldfish and a huge plecostomas. I can e-mail pictures if you’d like but if you can’t take care of her then sell her to a petstore where she can find a safe and loving home. I hope the I have helped!
    References :
    I have my own reptile zoo with turtles, snakes, fire belly toads and newts, geckos and a baby veiled chameleon!

  2. Steven Says:

    This site tells you how to make good less expensive enclosures. http://redearslider.com/index.html
    References :

  3. oikos Says:

    The usual bare minimum is 10 gallons per inch of shell. However, you can "cheat" a bit if you have a very low, broad tank, like a wading pool. They’re cheap, too. Anything over 4′ diameter should do for now but get the largest one you have room for to avoid having to replace it.
    References :

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