my DIY indoor turtle pond

[latazyo]

here are some pics of the turtle pond made in my parent's living room

overall shot:
http://bitz.net/~latazyo/Pics/turtles%20004.jpg

left pool:
http://bitz.net/~latazyo/Pics/turtles%20006.jpg

right pool:
http://bitz.net/~latazyo/Pics/turtles%20005.jpg

the pools are not linked together by water, the turtles simply crawl out of them by little slate ramps and go between the two of them, they also like to bask on the "deck" here is a picture of my turtles kicking it out of the water
the large one is a male I've had for over ten years, the smaller ones are females that are recently acquired
http://bitz.net/~latazyo/Pics/turtles%20003.jpg

feel free to ask questions and give feedback, be it positive or negative, I can handle it

[andruboz]

hey thats pretty neat.

but i was wondering, is there an humidity problem in the room due to evaporation?

and do the turtles ever launch them selves off the edge and end up on the living room floor?

[latazyo]

1) we haven't noticed any humidity problems yet, but I can see how that is possible...

2) the turtles can not climb out of the bins, they can only climb out where the two meet, and they can't get to the floor thanks to that tacky looking plant that sits right on the corner :D learned that one the hard way a few times

they've tried to climb out of the bins, but they just cant, not even my strong 10 year old can climb up it, so Im' confident the others can't either

[mickey]

COOL SETUP, IV'E NENER SEEN ANYTHING LIKE IT

[125gJoe]

WOW! I like that!

But, the turtles do need some very bright light from time to time, as well as shade --- right? Looks like shade is no problem, but you could have a Metal Halide on a timer....

I'm no turtle expert, I think a certain amount of sunlight (or similar) is needed for those guys. Maybe the light is there, but not in the picture..(?)

Excellent project! Thanks for posting it!
:)

[kveeti]

Originally posted by latazyo
thanks to that tacky looking plant that sits right on the corner

That cracked me up!

Anyhow, I know nothing about turtles but the setup looks awesome. How did the old turtle react when he suddenly got 2 new friends, and females to boot?

[latazyo]

the old turtle didn't really react badly at all, he had no problems, and since they all moved in at the same time, there weren't any territory disputes or anything like that

and they have a small light suspended above them, he's gone almost 11 years without any special ligthing, so they should be set