Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello fellow RES owners, I have a very odd question about the swimming nature of RES!

For all of my RES' life, 2 1/2 years, she has been in mostly 7 inches of water. In a month or so I'm going to fill up her tank to about 20 inches of water or so. My question is if she will pick up the whole swimming thing pronto? I know she's a turtle, and her nature is swimming, but she's never been in swimmable water that deep. So I'm worried if she'll struggle too much to swim.

Another question not regarding swimming is- I wanna get her a buddy too. Should I get her another female? Or a male hunk? I'm not sure how big she is off hand but she weighs 521 grams. She is very aggresize to me, and another other human, but thats a given considering how she was treated as a wee quarter sized baby ( Was a rescue from someone who kept her in an inch of water with no basking area in a plastic kritter krawler). Will she be aggresize to another turtle because hs is aggresize to me? I don't even know if she remembers what another turtle is!

Also- Are parasites common in RES? Reason I ask is because I own a bearded dragon and he has coccidia right now, and I know it's in most if not all BD's in low amounts. Is there something like that in turtles?

Thanks for your help whoever can answer these questions

Regarding swimming:

Your 7 inches of water should be deep enough that the turtle can't just breathe without touching his feet/tail on the ground right? If it is, and she is floating/swimming then she should be fine. She should know how to swim enough and the extra 20 inches of swimming room will be great, she'll absolutely love it. I recently put my 2 RES in a new tank and the water was from 8-10 inches to 15-16 inches and a lot more feet length wise. They now have room to do laps and all that fun stuff They had no problems at all getting used to it

Regarding her companion:

I'm no pro at this but from what I've heard on these boards and on websites, is that some males and females don't get along. Probably has to do with mating and stuff that makes the male aggressive and might get into fights with the female. I don't know how female-female companionship works, I'm not sure if they get into fights like male-male's do. I personally own 2 male RES and they fight sometimes but not enough to cause much harm or for me to split them up - however I've had both of them together since they were born. I really don't know how RES acts when another one is introduced to them... maybe its like invasion of territory and they get aggressive but I don't know for sure

For all that diseases and stuff, make sure you get another turtle that is healthy (if you know the owner and stuff). Be sure the eyes are nice and open/bright.. I'm no pro at diseases and can't spot it well but chances are if your getting the RES from captivity it should be ok. If your getting it shipped on a plane then be a little more cautious

To make sure the companion doesn`t have anything to give to your turtle, you should quarantine it (90 days is often suggested). It would also be good to have the new one checked by a herp vet. You won`t know if they`ll get along until they`ve been together for a while. Don`t have a big difference in sizes, and make sure your tank is big enough to accommodate two of them.

Swimming:
I second the comment on swimming. They should learn to love it. My second RES was "rescued" from poor conditions. Not terrible but low water, no basking, etc. Initially he seemed to flounder a bit but now he is a swimming champ! If you are concerned, make sure you have a ramp or some cave/box that your turt can rest on and breathe. I am sure your RES will quickly learn to adapt.

Buddy:
Turts can definitely fight and be forced to be separated permanently. Mine and young and seem to tolerate each other but unsure how it is if they are introduced so late. My general understanding is that you don't have to get your turtle a buddy. They are not really social creatures like dogs. They can interact, ignore or even fight with another turtle but its more that owners project feelings of loneliness onto the turtle. ("She looks so lonely, let's get her a best friend".
If you want a second turtle, of course consider getting one but do it because you want to, not because you think the turt needs one. Its more work and you'll need larger tanks to support them as they get older. And finally, they may not like each other. Good luck.