Turtle People...Help me decide

[MonteQ's]

I'm sooo glad to find there's a few turtle people on the forums!!

My girl needs a new home, and I can't decide what to do. She started sinking her float, and really needs a new land mass/bigger tank. I can't decide whether to put her in my pond, and put the money I've saved into making a land platform. Or get her a 100+ gallon tank like this:
http://www.glasscages.com/?sAction=ViewCat&lCatID=55

She's been in my room, and now in my studio since she was the size of a silver dollar. So it's hard for me to put her into the pond even though it might be what's best.

Please help me decide!:main_thumbsup:

Here's my girl

Her soon to be old home

The pond (Land would be built off the pond by the file cabinet)

 

[leolover2]

I voted pond but im no expert on turtle husbandry.

 

[MonteQ's]

Thanks. I'm sort of leaning that way too. It'll just be tough not having her with me all day.

 

[Ccrashca069]

I would go the pond route. I am getting a reptile room built this sumar so I might be putting my water turtles in one of those medium or large waterland tubs.

 

[StinaKSU]

Is that a screen on top of the pond?....would you still have one? If you put her in the pond you will need to find a way to set it up with a UVB bulb not shining through the screen as the screen will block most of the UVB.

Have you checked out www.turtletimes.com at all?....AWESOME website! Right now its down b/c something happened....hopefully it will be up in a few days though. The forum there is filled with really great people...I haven't had turtles for years but I still use the forum. It's like being here but for turtles with lots of extremely knowledgeable people who've kept/bred turtles for years...even a herpetologist (that specializes in chelonia) or two are on there. Its a really great place to get ideas and opinions for this kind of thing

 

[MonteQ's]

Thanks guys. I actually already ordered a new liner. Should be here in a couple of days. I think I figured out a good way to make the land accessable too. I'll try to update this as I redo things. I might "dress up" the framing a little too.

Good luck with the reptile room John! That should be fun.

Christina, thanks for the info. I am planning on taking the whole top off, so no screen. My dog was a little too interested in the pair I had in there years ago. She's not allowed down there anymore. I'll definitely check out those forums. Just reading over a couple sites the last week or so, I'm surprised how much has changed since I originally got her. I could definitely use the update.

Either of you have any suggestions on how to clean the pumps? Or would I be safer just replacing them? They've been sitting dry for a couple years.

 

[Ccrashca069]

I think it might be better to replace them and then after you get the pond going take the old pumps apart and cleaning them up and keeping them as backup.

 

[MonteQ's]

Thanks John. Probably the safest idea.

 

[MonteQ's]

Here's a quick update. I removed the old liner, framed out the land, insulated...There's still a lot left to do. But I hope to pull the liner sometime this week.

The heater and pumps should be here in a few days. I can't wait to get water in there and start ironing out the details.

Here's the over all view, I was test fitting the rocks

With the insulation in, you can see the land a bit better in this one. I'm going to add one more layer of the timber and angle down the frame from the land to make it a bit more escape proof.

Any suggestions would be great!

 

[Ccrashca069]

It looks awesome!!!!!!!! great job so far. I would definately make it more escape proof lol.

 

[MonteQ's]

Lol Thanks John! Btw- Those holes on the right side will be covered ;o)

More updates soon!

 

[LadyGecko]

That is an awesome new home for your turtle !!

:main_thumbsup:

I have a Box turtle that stays inside in the winter and spends the entire late spring/summer/fall outdoors

 

[techgirl]

Wow, that looks great!! That is going to be one happy turtle!

 

[MonteQ's]

Almost Home!! Thanks for all the nice comments!!

There's still a few details left to iron out, but it's almost there. Here's a couple updated pics.

Still have to work out more permanent lighting and wrap the framing on the land side with plywood.

The length of the pond. I'll probably end up using pvc to rerout the pump and remove the fountain. There's really not much current at the moment. But the heater is doing a surprisingly great job!

And finally the land. I hoped the river rocks would cover the excess rubber a little better. I'll probably end up trying to fashion a wall out of tile to cover it instead. I also hope to give her some sort of box she can hide and dig in.

I'll try to update again when it's all done.

As always, any suggestions would be great!

 

[Ccrashca069]

It is looking very nice. Your turtles will love it there.

 

[MonteQ's]

Thanks John. I can't wait to put her in! Though I am starting to get a little uneasy about moving her. I think I'll feel like I lost my watch...

I was thinking about adding a few plants, anyone have any suggestions? Did a little research and from what I "hear" Anacharis and Cabomba are safe and part of their suggested diet. Anyone have any experience with these?

 

[Ccrashca069]

I have keep Anacharis in my tank before. They do eat it. It wasn't that much to buy either. It used to always get in my filter so I stopped buying it. When I can upgrade my turtle tak and use a pond filter so a canister filter, I will try it again.

 

[Cheaton]

Thanks for posting this. That's an awesome enclosure. I really look forward to seeing the finished product and your turtle post move. I suspect she'll be a happy terp.

 

[MonteQ's]

Well, I finally put her in today! She's still looking a bit stressed, but she did come up to say hello for a minute. I'll be keeping a close eye on her today to see how she adjusts before I keep her in over night. She's been pretty tweaky, but I did manage to get a couple decent pics.

I thought she'd be curious to explore, but she just sat there and sat there...:main_huh:

The first couple of times I checked on her, my nephew was down there, and she wasn't moving for anybody. I went down to check on her a little later, and she finally came up to say hi.

John- Thanks for the info, I checked the store, and the anacharis they had was pretty shabby, so I'll probably hold off a bit on the plants. Knowing her, she'll probably make a mess with them anyway.

I really wanted to get one of the canister filters too. I was scared to with the height of the pond (about 20"), didn't want to loose too much GPH. I might add a small one later depending on how things work.

Cheaton- No problem:main_thumbsup: I was hoping to learn a thing or two in the process.

I'll try to update if there are any big changes, and once everything is finally finished...

 

[nrich]

How's the turtle girl doing? I'm curious because I would love to build a pond like this out on my patio for my little red eared slider and my three giant goldfish.

Approx. how many gallons of water did it turn out to be?