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Oh how cute! I love them too!

When I get My house clean I want to have lots of Fish and Turtles

CrissAngleLover>>You can your brother that his turtle is a BOY! I can tell just by looking at those 'manly' nails. One thing I would like to suggest is to get rid of that gravel. They sometimes swallow the gravel and it can be a serious impaction risk. ZooMed and other companies sell a floating style doc for an alternative to the basking area make of gravel, with the added benefit of allowing for even more swimming room. These guys need as much room as we can give them!

I've always been afraid of those floating logs. D: Do they roll over..? We have two adult musk turtles in a 40g and we were thinking about getting a log cause they do NOT use the docks. xD

Cardina>>lMusks are bottom dwellers and notorious for not basking, so I wouldn't worry too much about them not basking as much as say a slider or cooter. Do you know your water & basking temps? If you can get the temp on the basking platform 10f to 15F warmer than the water it may help stimulate them to bask a little more. I had a log too and if it is the same one I am thinking of it won't roll over, they are weighted to stay upright, but the will move, and they will sink if your turtle is heavy. I gave up on the log when Pickle started to tip it into the water. I have also HEARD (not personally seen) the logs can pose a risk of the turtle getting trapped in the hole as he/she grows larger. personally I'd stick with the floating doc.

Crissangellover>> Heh yeah, it might seem like a girl should have the lovely long nails, but it's the boys that do. He has nails like my Pickle and I know for SURE Pickles a male (he 'fanned' his boy part at me) In my opinion, there are definite advantages to having a MALE turtle, they don't get quite as big (you can keep a slightly smaller enclosure) and best of all NO EGGS and no risk of egg binding. That's great the Turtle got an upgrade, I'd love to see his set up, I'm absolutely crazy about turtles and they are my favorite to chit chat about. Always like to see what other keeper are doing. I'm curious, I had a log but had issues with it sinking. Is your brothers turtle able to get all the way out of the water to bask? Maybe it's a different log than the one I'm thinking of. I'm pretty sure Zoo Med made the one I used to have. Hehe I know you didn't ask, but just in case your interested, this is Pickle's set up :

I don't use the clamp on that lamp either. Some of my lamps I do, but that bulb is a Mercury vapor bulb (both heat & UVB) and with those it's important that they are a specific distance from the basking platform, and as with other UVB lamps, they are best positioned straight up and down, not at an angle. I used a plant hanger ( like the ones that you use for hanging plants and get at a home and garden store) screwed into the wall to suspend the lamp.

I Love my slider, and I think it's a great idea for you to look for a male too! If you want to know what sex your turtle is when you pick him out, he should be 4 inches in shell length already. By this age they are beginning show sex characteristics, and you can look for the tell tale long fingernails. Don't get me wrong, females can make wonderful pets as well, but I personally prefer not to deal with eggs. It's actually very easy to find older turtles who's sex can be determined as RES are one of the number one reptiles in rescues! Which ever sex you decided to get I highly recommend you check out rescues and shelters as there is a huge RES overpopulation problem!