I still don’t know what a side winder aquatic turtle is, I am pretty sure that’s not really what it is called.
You should handle her as little as possible, but she should have space to swim around. A very, very crude rule of thumb is 10 gallons of water per inch of turtle, but it seriously just depends on the species and their age.
Most turtles need to have their water heated (depending on the air temperature around the enclosure of course), not just the basking spot.
If you could give me the actual name of your turtle’s species (common or latin name, either is fine) or failing that, share a picture of your turtle, I could give you more detailed info. I mean, turtles live in almost all climates- some hibernate under frozen ponds in the winter, some live in the desert and almost never encounter water, some climb trees. I really can’t advise you based on ‘it’s a turtle’.
EDIT: Here is a turtle dealer site that has lots of pictures of common pet species from around the world. If you could find your turtle in this directory, that would be fine too. theturtlesource.com/p.asp?id … 9&main=333