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Everywhere it is stated that "Younger RES are generally carnivorous. As they grow larger and older, they become increasingly herbivorous".

But the question is until what age is a RES young; in other words when do we consider a RES large and getting older.

Thats a really good question actually. I have been wondering that myself for a while.

Like how old, for instance, would a 4 inch RES be?

Hmm...

I would start introducing vegetables as early as possible, my turtles ate them at 5 months, and love all their veggies now (8 months)

Size depends on how much they are fed, and the conditions they live in. But a one year old turtle should be about 4 inches if fed and maintained properly.

Well, my big adult RES LOVES meat. LOVES LOVES LOVES it. I have given her cooked salmon & chicken in the past as a treat and I have to feed her with a spoon because she gets extremely excited about it. She gets so excited & she bites down so hard on the spoon that I can lift her out of the water (!).

My turtle is over 18 yrs old and I can tell you that she just loves food, period.

My kids were eating greens, carrots, etc. from day one. They were about three weeks to a month old when I got them. If you just give them pellets, they will become attracted to it much more than greens. It's best to get them started on veggies early.....

Mine started eating veggies as soon as I offered them too. I usually put some leaves in their tank to eat and then feed them pellets in a seperate dish.

I consider hatchlings to be from 1- nearly 4 inches. Once they hit 4'' they should be sexually mature so I consider them young adults, and once they reach a few years and 5-6 inches and up I consider them full on adults.
My turtle is currently a little over 4'' but I haven't really seen her preferences change food-wise. Of course she's always had veggies so perhaps if she had her way she would have had more protein than greens but I certainly haven't seen her ever deny any kind of food

I'd think of turts as young'uns until sexually mature - about 4". Honestly though I think offering veggies from day one is the best idea so they don't have as much of a chance to develop preferences that need to be changed. My son's hatchling gets veggies daily & I've seen him nibbling. My older 2 don't like their veggies (unless it's water lily or hyacinth roots...)

my guy only likes lettuce. ive tried carrots and even some fruits like mango but he likes his lettuce and pellets

My turtle is 5 years old. He loves shrimp and tuna and has from day one. He gets very excited about it. He also loves his pellets (as long as they are either Reptomin or Mazuri) and has from day one. What's changed is his willingness to eat things from the plant kingdom. When he was little, nothing would entice him to eat lettuce or carrots or blueberries. After a couple of years, he started eating some and now he eats it every day.