Turtle requirements?

[TheFishGuy]

hello all! as you may know I am greatly expanding the size of my pond, and was wondering if it would be possible to include a couple turtles? I have zero experience with them, and dont know If I am just being completely oblivious and they need much more than I could provide for them. the pond will be about 1700-2000 gallons, with two koi, and eventually possibly some goldfish, filtration will be a bog/wetland filter. I can provide a fence if that is whats needed to contain them, but cannot provide a covering or anything like that.

 

[Jhn]

hello all! as you may know I am greatly expanding the size of my pond, and was wondering if it would be possible to include a couple turtles? I have zero experience with them, and dont know If I am just being completely oblivious and they need much more than I could provide for them. the pond will be about 1700-2000 gallons, with two koi, and eventually possibly some goldfish, filtration will be a bog/wetland filter. I can provide a fence if that is whats needed to contain them, but cannot provide a covering or anything like that.

What type of turtles, some species are omnivores and will eat/shred up plants. You will definitely need a fence otherwise they will leave.

 

[TheFishGuy]

What type of turtles, some species are omnivores and will eat/shred up plants. You will definitely need a fence otherwise they will leave.

Probably red ear or yellow belly sliders, I will deffinitly make sure to add a fence if I do end up getting them.

 

[Jhn]

I’ve never kept red ear sliders, had some yellow bellies, you would be taking a chance with either one I imagine eating plants. Had them years ago with some eastern painted turtles they all kind of destroyed any plants in there pond. All the turtles I kept ignored my fish granted they where in large ponds, with the fish.
I believe @Stephen Noble has red ear sliders and can speak to there diet better than I.

 

[JRS]

The sliders will decimate most plants in a small area. I have them in tubs without plants but throw in pond plants for them at times. They like lily leaves which are gone quickly. I tried cattails in a pot once in their tub and they took chunks out of the leaves, not tough enough. On the plus side they will eat filamentous algae. When hungry which is usually the case, they will also sample uncovered foam prefilters. Plant matter and low protein turtle pellets for adults.

 

[TheFishGuy]

The sliders will decimate most plants in a small area. I have them in tubs without plants but throw in pond plants for them at times. They like lily leaves which are gone quickly. I tried cattails in a pot once in their tub and they took chunks out of the leaves, not tough enough. On the plus side they will eat filamentous algae. When hungry which is usually the case, they will also sample uncovered foam prefilters. Plant matter and low protein turtle pellets for adults.

they honestly sound like a bit more trouble than they are worth, so I think the decision may be that I should stick to fish

 

[brokensword]

they honestly sound like a bit more trouble than they are worth, so I think the decision may be that I should stick to fish

I'll weigh in as I've had turtles for 10 years now (midland painteds) and they have done a little damage to such as parrot's feather (when I had it in the pond proper) but the gf gnawed on it too. I've had lilies the whole time and they hardly bothered them. I've never noticed any issues with water lettuce, creeping jenny (it overhangs into the water), forgetmeknots (again, whatever hangs over), or pickerel rush. They did however, decimate my water hawthorn so I put it in its own tributary where the turtles dare not tread. I think if you have a lot of plants and feed the turtles regularly, you'll probably be okay, imo.

 

[Lisak1]

but the gf gnawed on it too

I read that "gf" as "girlfriend" and thought "huh. That's a first. I didn't know you could eat parrots feather..." Haha! I think it may be time for me to stop thinking!

 

[Mmathis]

@TheFishGuy I have box turtles. Box turtles are non-aquatic — they are land turtles that require a source of water to survive — they are the reason I built a pond in the first place! I love my babies, but turtles are a lot of work and aren’t a good choice for someone with no experience caring for them. In that respect, land turtles and aquatic turtles are a lot alike. They have specific environmental requirements, food requirements, and they are messy, messy — not great if you are trying to maintain good water quality for koi. I say, maybe wait a few years until you can do more research and for now, just focus on a successful POND build, and keeping your koi happy and healthy.

 

[TheFishGuy]

@TheFishGuy I have box turtles. Box turtles are non-aquatic — they are land turtles that require a source of water to survive — they are the reason I built a pond in the first place! I love my babies, but turtles are a lot of work and aren’t a good choice for someone with no experience caring for them. In that respect, land turtles and aquatic turtles are a lot alike. They have specific environmental requirements, food requirements, and they are messy, messy — not great if you are trying to maintain good water quality for koi. I say, maybe wait a few years until you can do more research and for now, just focus on a successful POND build, and keeping your koi happy and healthy.

yup, sorta my thinking too, I am really not ready to commit to another big thing, and they do seem like for example, me buying koi and now puting all of my extra time into making a big enough pond for them. ( but that pond is also for me )

I mostly asked the question because I was like, huh, mabye you could just plop some turtles and they hang out and eat some plants for food, but sounds like they are very different than that

 

[TheFishGuy]

I'll weigh in as I've had turtles for 10 years now (midland painteds) and they have done a little damage to such as parrot's feather (when I had it in the pond proper) but the gf gnawed on it too. I've had lilies the whole time and they hardly bothered them. I've never noticed any issues with water lettuce, creeping jenny (it overhangs into the water), forgetmeknots (again, whatever hangs over), or pickerel rush. They did however, decimate my water hawthorn so I put it in its own tributary where the turtles dare not tread. I think if you have a lot of plants and feed the turtles regularly, you'll probably be okay, imo.

I will definitely think about them in the future, but for now I dont think I am ready for another big commitment.

 

[brokensword]

I will definitely think about them in the future, but for now I dont think I am ready for another big commitment.

understood; just didn't want you to think it was impossible or really, that much of an issue. The largest problem I've had is closing up holes I didn't know I had in my fencing that allowed a couple to disappear on me. That, and making the rock work also turtle proof as they can get stuck if you don't plan for this. Had it happen a couple of times. I tend to always be 'counting' my turtles, just to make sure they're safe. I have a lot of areas now they can hide and I like to know their habits as I tend to start thinking of pulling them into the house for the winter. Lost a couple to winter, too, and learned that when they're small, they're more vulnerable. I recommend you start with small ones as they'll be far less of a threat to your fish and will grow up on what pellets you feed them, leaving the fish and plants alone. At least, that's my thinking.

And if you have a decent size pond with adequate filtration (I have a bog), I seriously don't see the mess others seem to have. Maybe I'm just lucky but turtles have been pretty easy on the system, if not on my nerves! The koi will be far and away more of an issue if they begin to approach 2' lengths.

 

[Jhn]

I will definitely think about them in the future, but for now I dont think I am ready for another big commitment.

Agree with brokensword, they really aren’t that big of a deal to take care of. I no longer have any eastern painted turtles or yellow bellied sliders, which stayed outside year round, gave them away when we moved years ago.

Currently, have 14(one ornate and 13 northern/concentrics) Diamondback terrapins, the only one I bring inside is the ornate dbt as it is found in the south. All the others stay outside year round, have 7 older ones in my main 10,000 gallon pond and 7 1.5-4 year olds in a 1800 gallon pond, don’t do anything special with them. Although my ponds were designed with them in mind, with caves and sunken logs for them to brumate under/in. Upside these guys are strictly carnivores, so they ignore the plants and ignore the fish, as well.

 

[TheFishGuy]

Bringing this thread back, so I evaluated a bit more, and of course they aren’t a good choice for the main pond, but I do have a metal horse trough ( 160 gallons ) that is right now a holding tank for the koi and all the plants, but will be empty soon, would that be to small? I would drain it to about halfway and do some rock structures with a basking lamp If I need to.

 

[Mmathis]

@TheFishGuy What would you do with them during the winter?