Adding turtles question

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I have a smallish water garden with goldfish. I have always wanted to add a turtle. I’m in TN so I guess the only turtle I could add would be a box turtle because of the winter. Do you all think it’s a good idea? I know nothing about turtles ‍♀️
 

Jagsfan

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I have a smallish water garden with goldfish. I have always wanted to add a turtle. I’m in TN so I guess the only turtle I could add would be a box turtle because of the winter. Do you all think it’s a good idea? I know nothing about turtles ‍♀
If you know nothing about turtles, i would suggest doing a little research on the animal to decide if you can provide the care needed and have a suitable habitat. I dont know a lot about turtles either, but i dont think box turtles are aquatic turtles. You would be looking for something like a red eared slider or painted turtle. I considered getting a turtle for my newly finished pond because my 5 yr old really wanted one and i also thought it would be cool. Upon doing a little research, i found that they can eat or tear up your plants. In a large pond thats not really an issue, but my pond is only 5x9. Im also starting with a lot of smaller plants that arent really established yet, so adding something that can hurt them would be unproductive in my main goal of having a healthy ecosystem for my fish and plants. Maybe down the line, when the plants have grown in and are established i can revisit having a turtle.
 

Jhn

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You could add a box turtle or the types @Criscar mentioned. Either way you need to create a pen around the pond to keep them from escaping as they will leave and are quite adept at escaping enclosures. The box turtle would need land area around the pond as they aren’t semi aquatic turtles like the painteds and red ear sliders. Also, if you get a hatchling they are very prone to predation by just about everything except your fish. Even adults can get eaten by birds of prey.
F2CF162A-184C-45CE-8564-317DA584F719.jpeg Shot of one of the dark skinned dbts I keep

I keep diamondback terrapins in my ponds year round except fir the ornate dbt it comes inside for the winter. The rest Brumate in the ponds, under logs and large rocks, some even hang out in the net in the skimmer for the winter. I designed my ponds with them in mind though so they would have plenty of spots to winter over.
 
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Thank you all for your feedback! Alas, I think my dreams of seeing them sun themselves are over :( Right now I have a healthy pond with healthy fish so I should be content. Every year I get the itch to add something lol
 

Mmathis

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Box turtles need water to survive, but they are not water turtles. Turtles (all kinds) are expert escape artists! Any enclosure would need to be secure enough that they can’t dig out and can’t climb out — it will happen!
 

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