Who has turtles in their ponds?

[AnthonyRibis]

I was wondering who had turtles in their ponds?

 

[Lisak1]

We've had visits from roaming turtles, but none that stick around for more than a week or so. We're on a migratory path between one marshy area and a group of ponds, so every year we have snappers and box turtles that wander through our yard. I've heard turtles can be tough to keep in a pond - they are little escape artists, so you have to turtle proof if you want them to stay.

There are people here with turtles - I'm sure they will chime in!

 

[addy1]

We get land turtles in the pond now and then. One drowned in the stock tank, now have escape paths for them.

 

[adavisus]

Box turtles, Eastern painted turtles, Yellow Bellied, Snapping, Spotted and mud turtles

Ponds, aka salad snack bar

http://www.pinterest.com/adavisus/pondering/
http://swglist.wordpress.com/

 

[Tula]

I love turtles, but gave up on my dream of having them after some research. I don't have enough "muck" for them to over winter in, hubby didn't want them inside, and I worried my fencing wouldn't be sufficient to keep them in area around pond and our dogs would get them

Each year about this time, I look longingly into the turtle tanks at our fish hatchery.

 

[Big Lou]

Had two really mean snapping turtles over the years.

 

[Priscilla]

Would love a turtle, but in Cayman they are not allowed to import the turtles that stay small. We have some wild ones here, which I found one stranded on the side of the road and brought him and felt it was a direct message from God to build a pond (LOL). BUT after having him for a two days, I took him to natural pond and let him go - he was yucky! Gave off a bunch of slime or something ..... gross.

I do have a friend that has two of the so called 'mini' turtles, but they are growing bigger and bigger. Here's the thing, she heard that they grow to match their environment, so she has them confined to a glass bowl, with some rocks in the middle. Personally I think its animal cruelty because the space is so small and they must be so bored. I just couldn't do that, but she talks about them being her babies .....

is that true about the environment? Or are they just stunted on the outside but inside they are growing?

 

[j.w]

A friend up the road has about 10 of the I believe maybe called red eared sliders but could be another variety similar to them. They are rescued turtles from people that bought them and then decided they didn't want them anymore. She keeps them in a big swim pool in the Summer w/ floating logs that they climb up on and sun bath on and brings them indoors in the winter to her spare bath tub w/ lights set up above. She's in the process of making an addition to her pond w/ a stream and pool where the turtles can reside. Not sure if she will be able to leave them out there in the winter still tho.

 

[AnthonyRibis]

I was really interested in if anyone kept them, how exactly they kept them from getting out of the pond. My son has 2 in an aquarium in his bed room, though it would be nice for them to get out in the pond once and a while just to get some natural sun light. Problem is I wouldn't want to have to sit there and watch them all day to make sure they didn't get out.

 

[j.w]

You need to hear from Mmathis on this forum. She has box turtles outdoors in a fantastic setup where she keeps them from escaping. Here is a bunch of turtle info she posted about: https://www.gardenpondforum.com/search/56063/?page=9&q=Turtles&o=date&c[user][0]=3238

 

[adavisus]

For a year I had the one turtle, a bright little yellow belly turtle competing with koi for nibblies. The look of despair on his face when the fish pinched his treats was just too much, so I moved him out of sight, 200ft to another pond where he could dine without interruption.

A distance with plenty of long grass, obstacles to keep him away

The next day 'radar' was baaaaack...

Regards, andy
https://www.gardenpondforum.com/media/albums/adavisus.438/

 

[j.w]

Radar............that's cute and he knew where he wanted to be and nothing was gonna stop him. They are like little tanks that can go through anything

 

[brokensword]

Anthony;

I keep turtles and have since I built the pond. Actually, I had them from almost quarter-size and one of my motivations was to get them a larger environment, aka the pond. They grew up together (two females) and rarely showed any aggression but were outgrowing their 50 gallon aquarium. I too was worried when I eventually put them in the pond and did my research. Here's the skinny:

you have to have some sort of fencing if you plan on keeping them there. Since my pond design already included a porch/enclosure with window screening--to keep out the mosquitoes--the turtle's ability to wander was nipped in the bud. I had read that turtles WILL wander, esp in the spring when mating calls.

And you need the pond to have some sort of 'muck' at the bottom if you're going to overwinter, plus the pond should be at least 3' deep, imo, to properly provide for turtles 'in the wild'. My biggest fear was that they'd go after my fish and so for a year, I had a divider/screen that separated my pond into halves; one side for the 17 gf and one side for the two female painted turtles.

Eventually, the fish had babies and some slipped past the screen and grew into actual sustainable fish ON the turtle side. I doubt I'd have so many fish now (~90) if the adult fish had been able to get at the fry. I have no idea if/how many fry the turtles ate but didn't see much 'chasing' until the fish got larger. And the turtles did try and catch them but I never saw even one get taken, though a few tails looked like they'd been bitten. All that said, I knew some day I'd have to lift the screen and see what would happen. When one of the two females began to harass the other, I knew it was time to relocate that one. When the remaining female found a way to get to the 'other side', it was time too to lift the screen and observe the interaction. Didn't seem that there was much more abuse/chasing than before so everything seemed fine. Then the next spring came. That's when the remaining female was daily outside the pond and looking avidly for a way to escape, no doubt feeling the mating call and the nearness of the 'large pond down the road' where other turtles were located. Eventually, when I THOUGHT one of my largest and favorite gf was a turtle victim, and since the female was so anxiously trying to 'get out', I figured it was time to relocate her as well. Found out a few days later that I erred in that my fav gf was just fine but it was too late now to fetch the female turtle back. So I then went and got two more small ones to raise up (again), but this time in my pond.

So to recap, you WILL need secure fencing--I heard it should be vertical, small opening mesh, about 18" high at least. Some reported their turtles climbing so angling the fencing inward at the top would help as then, gravity would assist you. To over winter, they need something to burrow into while they brumate (hibernate), and I'd feed them turtle pellets and the like to keep them from looking too closely at your fish, though that's always a risk you take with turtles. Since mine were raised sans fish for almost 6 years, I figure they were used to the pellets and didn't need to 'chase' after their food, so maybe I was lucky. Still, be aware that putting turtles with fish means you might lose a fish someday. I think having some underwater pond plants helps this too as aquatic turtles are mainly herbivores when they get older, preferring more protein when they're still growing.

Anyway, that's my experience and I do love to have the mix of turtles and fish (and frogs and snails and dragonflies!) to go along with the plants and the whole pond experience.

Michael

 

[Mucky_Waters]

It's quite true that turtles can and will wander away from a pond if not fenced in somehow, especially if the pond is particularly small, or they feel threatened by a larger more dominant turtle. However, turtles don't necessarily need muck on the bottom of a pond to brumate (hibernate). I've overwintered turtle many years now in my pond without any muck in the bottom of my pond. Also I've seen turtles at the bottom of a natural pond, under the ice in the middle of the winter, and they were just lying around, or moving slowly, on top of the soil on the bottom, not buried in the mud. And this would make perfect sense to, since turtle absorb oxygen through their skin when hibernating, and oxygen levels in the open water would be much higher then in the mud.
Turtle can and will swim to the bottom and bury themselves in the mud to escape predators, but they eventually will come up out of the mud when they feel the danger has past.

my turtle pond

 

[davepratt]

i have a yellow bellied slider in my pond keep him in there all summer but bring him in once temp starts dropping in the fall
i have had him for 2 yrs now he wandered off once and a neighbor 2 doors down brought him back. he didnt seem as happy the first summer when i didnt have hyacinths and lettuce in the pond but i put it in last yr and he seemed happy as a pig in sh_ _ i dont have any type of fence around mine so i guess he just likes it in there. Maybe im just lucky who knows