our new additions to our family :)

[oO SKIPPY Oo]

my wife wouldnt let me get anymore fish tanks - sooooo i went out and built a pond - heres some pics of the turtles i got yesterday and 1 of thier new home (finished last night at about 9.30pm - still have to put some pebbles and plants etc around the outside but im really happy with how its turned out so far....

i still need to get the beach / basking area sorted out cause i dont think the RES are using it (hard to say since i was at work all day) so we let them run loose for about 30 mins on the deck - what a handful - it was like looking after a baby thats started pulling himself up on shevles and stopping everything from falling off

the smallest one i noticed has a really white shell when its dry - is this normal ? this ones a boy and the other 2 are girls. been told that the boy and small girl are about 5 and the other girl is 7

[bdspider]

Does it look like the one in this thread? http://www.fnzas.org.nz/fishroom/viewtopic.php?f=40&t=42936 Doesn't look normal to me.

Donna has seen many an unhealthy turtle so maybe pm her just in case she misses this thread?

[phoenix44]

if they haven't been in the water for ages they go white on the shell.

but keep an eye out for known deficiency diseases. yours look pretty happy.

[oO SKIPPY Oo]

hmmm - i might take some closeup pics tomorrow of him when hes just come out of the water and when hes dry just to compare - thankfully he doesnt have those spots all over him....

Does it look like the one in this thread? http://www.fnzas.org.nz/fishroom/viewtopic.php?f=40&t=42936 Doesn't look normal to me.

Donna has seen many an unhealthy turtle so maybe pm her just in case she misses this thread?

[oO SKIPPY Oo]

if they haven't been in the water for ages they go white on the shell.

but keep an eye out for known deficiency diseases. yours look pretty happy.

they all came down via the petbus yesteday so he looked like that as soon as i got him - but that picture was taken this arvo - he had only been out the water for about 20 mins

[Insect Direct]

Nice pond well done. I cant make out the basking area but as long as they can get out of water to sun themselves and dry out then should be all good.

The white shell'd one doesnt look perfect but not bad, will come rite in a setup like that providing it gets good sunlight.

Healthy turtles dont get white shells period. EDIT maybe slightly prior to shedding, but once shed there shouldnt be any white.

[oO SKIPPY Oo]

Nice pond well done

Thanks - its taken long enough...!!!

will come rite in a setup like that providing it gets good sunlight.

thats good to hear - i was hoping it wasnt anything major - that area of the garden gets full sun in summer till about 3pm then its in shade for the rest of the afternoon... in winter it should get full sun till about 2pm (i think i need to cut some of my tree down else there would be more)

im wondering if it is actually in the process of shedding as i found a bit of shed shell on the deck while we were watching them run loose on the deck - mind you it could have come from one of the other 2 i just dont know for sure.

the basking area is going to be were that log is in the middle - i have 2 black plastic planter boxes in there at the mo but they are a bit hard to see - im guessing the turtles cant get up and onto the log at the mo but im not 100% sure on that. they look up at it but i havent seen them on it and neither has my wife who was home for 1/2 the - so im going to do something about it tomorrow after work

my plan is to raise the boxes up a little, raise the water level a bit, then get some of that fake grass stuff and lay that over the top of the planters so they can climb up it hopefully, then put some sand in the middle of all that for egg laying maybe. then between the 2 planters i was planning on building a flat bridge that the turtles can use to bask on and slide off without banging into anything.

[alanmin4304]

That white shell on the boy should come right with a good basking area and natural light but it might take a while and good diet.

[livingart]

nice set up, well done

is the timber around the top edge tanalised?

you are right the basking area could be bigger

and if it gets cold over winter is there an area for them to hibernate in if they need to?

[repto]

nice set up, well done

is the timber around the top edge tanalised?

you are right the basking area could be bigger

and if it gets cold over winter is there an area for them to hibernate in if they need to?

when they need to!!

[livingart]

yes, sorry repto, when

[oO SKIPPY Oo]

nice set up, well done

Cheers

is the timber around the top edge tanalised?

i think the timber is h4 treated - is that an issue being around the pond ? we are planning on painting it or staining it but i dont know which yet. as we have stained our deck but painted our fence - what a dilemma

you are right the basking area could be bigger

yeah thats why i was going to look at building a couple of "sand pits" and a bridge.

and if it gets cold over winter is there an area for them to hibernate in if they need to?

I was planning on putting the hundreds of leaves that fall from our camellia tree into the bottom of the pond so that they can hibernate in that - do you think that will be enough ?

That white shell on the boy should come right with a good basking area and natural light but it might take a while and good diet.

i have bought some turtle food from animates - got some pellets, and some of that hot house turtle food, i plan on starting a worm farm to cultivate some garden worms to feed, i was going to get some oxygen weed and then feeding vege peelings, but im a little unsure of what veges they can eat... maybe someone can give me some pointers there

[Insect Direct]

Need to be careful with treated timber.

Do you have an overflow for when it rains hard?

I use duckweed and azolla (large duckweed) for the greens. I grow it in baths or troughs i have for livefood.

Turtles love it, and it sucks up unwanted nutrients whilst waiting to be eaten. Also gives them a bit of cover which i think they appreciate.

Another forum member uses plastic mesh for the ramps to the basking area. I just use driftwood. :lol:

[oO SKIPPY Oo]

yep - the top bit you can see is actually 2 layers of timber on top of each other with the pond liner sandwiched in between them - and the overflow is a section i cut out of the bottom plank but left the liner there so in theory it shouldnt come in contact with the pond water - i also have another pipe i can use to pump water straight out of the pond without needing to get wet

[Insect Direct]

Your onto it, good stuff

[oO SKIPPY Oo]

I use duckweed and azolla (large duckweed) for the greens. I grow it in baths or troughs i have for livefood.

Turtles love it, and it sucks up unwanted nutrients whilst waiting to be eaten. Also gives them a bit of cover which i think they appreciate.

Another forum member uses plastic mesh for the ramps to the basking area. I just use driftwood. :lol:

oops -didnt read all of your post hehe - do your turtles eat everything that you put in your pond or does the duckweed get out of hand ? i would hate to start feeding them that and then it go so crazy i cant see whats in the pond :lol:

i have 3 goldfish in the pond now 1 small and 2 quite big - I was planning on getting a few more big ones to give the pond some color - they should be ok in there aye - i have noticed the 2 big ones swim right up to the turtles and dont seem to be too scared of them - however the little one seems to be hiding from the turts under a rock

[livingart]

if you can take the top layer of timber off and paint all over it would stop any chance of leachate

[oO SKIPPY Oo]

if you can take the top layer of timber off and paint all over it would stop any chance of leachate

DOH - the amount of nails i stuck in that layer of wood is going to make it near on impossible to remove the wood intact would running a bead of silicon between the wood and plastic be a good idea ? or is that just a waste

[Insect Direct]

My red ears clean up the duckweed within a few days. I suppose theres a chance if your turtles are fed well/too much on other foods and conditions are good the duckweed could get out of hand.

I use to have about 10 adults in my pond and they would go through half a 10litre bucket of duckweed every other day. Now I have just 3 and I dont add nearly as much, generally a large fish net full and thats seems to disappear over about 3/4days.

Gold fish will likely get eatin in time. I seem to have one in my pond thats beaten the odds....so far

[Insect Direct]

Duckweed will probably cover the pond once turtles slow down for winter to..Come spring i use it as my indicator as to when to start feeding. As soon as the duckweed starts disappearing i start feeding again.

I guess it insulates the pond to.

[oO SKIPPY Oo]

that's a good idea leaving the duckweed in the pond - where is the best place to get duckweed from

was having dead leaves from the nearest tree in the bottom of the pond a good idea for the turtles hibernation ?

also how many turtles do you think i could get away with in that pond ? its 2m x 3m and about 350mm deep at that level - if i bring up to the overflow its about 450mm deep

i was thinking of either getting more or trying to breed some and keep some of the babies and sell the rest - but i think that may be an issue with not having an indoor tank for the babies to grow up in.

[alanmin4304]

The babies will not have enough condition on them to hibernate for probably 3 years. You will need to incubate the eggs and raise the babies seperately.

[oO SKIPPY Oo]

if they ever had babies maybe they can live with my severums etc in my 200L tank with lots of water changes

[DonnaM]

You can get a bale of barley straw for hibernation. It breaks down and keeps algae at bay and they can burrow into and under it for warmth. I'm thinking the type of leaves you have may take awhile to break down and not really give much warmth for hibernation? My maple leaves were good last year, but I'm going with the barley straw this year.

[oO SKIPPY Oo]

thanks donna - is that the type of straw they sell at animates for use in rabbit hutches et ?

You can get a bale of barley straw for hibernation. It breaks down and keeps algae at bay and they can burrow into and under it for warmth. I'm thinking the type of leaves you have may take awhile to break down and not really give much warmth for hibernation? My maple leaves were good last year, but I'm going with the barley straw this year.