Help me brainstorm! My brain doesn't want to think "outside the box[turtle]"

[Mmathis]

I hope you guys don't get tired of my turtle bog..... Please don't get tired of my turtle bog...... I am "mechanically challenged" and really could use as many in-the-box and out-of-the-box [sort of pun intended....since they are BOX turtles ] suggestions as possible. Now, I will say, that I have certain criteria for this project, and whatever I end up doing HAS to fit that criteria......within reason.....I will explore every suggestion, and maybe even end up combining ideas!

Hopefully, my drawings and pictures will help explain. I'm a "visual" person.

I NEED TO MAKE A RAMP IN THE TURTLE BOG! Box turtles aren't aquatic. If they try to climb out on a poor surface, they could flip over [or "turtle"] and would not be able to right themselves in water like they could on land.

• The turtle bog is approx. 6' x 3' x10". In that space I have to accomodate a "watering hole" for the turtles [2 sides, one for girl, one for boys] AND gravel for planting the bog part. [see picture]
• Turtles have to be able to safely enter and exit their "watering hole."
• One side of the "watering hole," will be "bog" and there will be an area of built-up rocks to hold back the gravel and form a "beach" area.
• The other side will be.....vertical wall [this is a design change from the original]
• MY CHALLENGE: I need to come up with a "ramp" that will run the length of the vertical wall [see the GREEN area I have outlined in the pic].

The ramp needs to be:

1. Something I can easily build -- I am challenged, there, remember
2. .....with not TOO MUCH work or brain power involved
3. About 8' long [see drawing]
4. Will need to extend into the bog along the vertical wall about, oh, 6" [see drawing]
5. It will need to slant [see drawing]
6. It will need to have a top-side anchor point [to hold it in place] [see drawing]
7. It will be partially submerged and in contact with the liner, so no wood or metals [see drawing]
8. Since this will be the surface the turtles will use to climb out of the water, surface needs to be something they can easily grip
9. Needs to be durable enough to last a few years
10. Would be nice if it was aesthetically pleasing....but my higher priority is for functionality

THINGS I HAVE CONSIDERED:

• Expandable foam -- like waterfall foam
• I found a paint can grid [you put in the can to run brush on] that was the PERFECT "idea," that got me started thinking about layering over a PVC pipe frame....
• Thought about using concrete to form the ramp......
• .....and that's the extent of what I can come up with....

"Green" area = proposed ramp; "blue" area = watering hole

THE CHALLENGE!

Paint can "grid" and plastic gutter guard -- this is what gave me the idea below, but surely there's an easier, simpler solution out there!



That's a LOT of PVC to make an 8' long ramp!

 

[Mmathis]

LOL, I should call it my "Turtle Bog Blog"

 

[sissy]

How many turtles and how big are they now and how big do they grow .I can understand it a little because I have a friend with ducks .But he confuses the daylights out of me when he explains his home made filters ,but it does seem to work .Water does not seem to smell and looks clean .

 

[sissy]

Oh and for his ramp he uses something like rubber and it is ribbed .He told me he got it at auction and it was a miners slush .It is about 4 feet wide and not sure how long .But he did tell me if you google miners stuff you can find supplies online .He paid 10 dollars at auction because no one knew what it was .

 

[Jhn]

Egg crate aka light diffuser, comes in 2'x4' sheets and can be cut to length and width easily. Use as the core and spray some sort of minimal expanding pond foam on the eggcrate to cover it. While foam is still tacky, cast sand and pea gravel over top of it to provide a non skid like surface for the turtles. You can zip tie the lower end of the egg crate to bricks or something heavy, buried in the gravel to keep it from trying to float. Could probably get moss to grow on it where it says wet/damp, to try and give it a more natural look.

I have a pair of box turtles in my pond enclosure, I built in multiple entry and exit points from the pond for them, mostly just shallow sloping areas out of small river rock and pea gravel.

 

[Nyboy]

Why not do what mother nature does. A log with bark on ? They have nails right? I have a fallen tree in middle of pond always favorite spot for turtles to bask.

 

[Nyboy]

If you know someone with fireplace or wood stove should have choice of different size logs.

 

[Mmathis]

Why not do what mother nature does. A log with bark on ? They have nails right? I have a fallen tree in middle of pond always favorite spot for turtles to bask.

Great idea, but am in the process of eliminating all wood from the habitat . Have a terrible carpenter ant problem. I have been recreating "nature" using PVC and GREAT STUFF foam to make hides for them that look like wood and/or rocks. Except that I've gotten negative feedback on using the expanding foam under water, I could make a faux log....

@Jhn Sounds doable. So, the light diffuser would be like an internal support frame?. @sissy I have 7 box turtles: 6 boys and 1 girl. They're all siblings. They're about 4"-6" in diameter, probably on the small side, around 10 yrs old and probably won't get much bigger.

 

[j.w]

Here is a clipping I took from another site: These are too deep for the turtles to enter and exit directly, so I make ramps out of plastic eggcrate (the plastic grid used in fluorescent light fixtures) covered with Astroturf. The Astroturf is held on with plastic cable ties, and the sections of the ramps are held together by similar ties.

 

[IPA]

how about a cinderblock cap or any type of large thick paving stone sunk at an angle into the gravel at the bottom and at the top add fine gravel in the "V" between the wall and stone?

 

[j.w]

This person used a rubber ribbed car/door mat for traction which you could attach to hard plastic:

 

[Mmathis]

Oh and for his ramp he uses something like rubber and it is ribbed .He told me he got it at auction and it was a miners slush .It is about 4 feet wide and not sure how long .But he did tell me if you google miners stuff you can find supplies online .He paid 10 dollars at auction because no one knew what it was .

Tried looking it up -- it's "sluice" mat. Looks interesting.

 

[brokensword]

you can 'dress' up any anchored platform with cork bark (sheet, as in what orchid growers use to mount some orchids) to give it a more natural look. I ended up gluing pieces side by side (on a flat piece of expanded styrofoam) to make a wider platform for my painteds.

 

[mgmine]

Hardware cloth is strong and doesn't give under weight,

 

[IPA]

I was at lowes and someone checking out had a textured rubber door mat.