Can you keep terrapins in a pond

The best type is aquatic, as they will rapidly acclimate themselves to the pond environment. Terrapins require a large space to call home, because of their lifestyle and future growth. At night they sleep underwater, usually resting on the bottom or floating on the surface, using their inflated throat as a flotation aid. Mr Bowes said some can even bite off the finger of an adult. The fact is that turtles will be totally fine on their own. By consuming sick and already deceased fish, turtles help clean ponds and reduce risk of infection by toxins from rotting flesh.

With very few exceptions e. Pond water temperatures remain quite stable over the winter and an ectotherm sitting in that water will have a similarly stable body temperature. There is some debate whether aquatic water turtles will eat the goldfish in their pond or not. The short answer is yes — and no. Many goldfish pond keepers and goldfish tank owners that have introduced pond turtles and goldfish as tank mates tell stories that describe a varying degree of success.

Fresh food should be provided daily to juveniles, and every days to adults, ideally no more than can be consumed in minutes.

Feeding in a separate tank will help keep the water clean, but frequent handling may stress some terrapins, so may not be appropriate in every case. You need to clean your tank on a regular basis to keep your terrapin healthy. Drinking water should be changed out every day to prevent bacteria from building up.

A good water filtration system should prevent you from having to change out swimming water on a daily basis. Although only get one as they are solitary. Turtles can eat bananas and in fact, most owners found them to be quite a favorite. The most common way to determine gender in a turtle is to look at the length of its tail.

By ensuring that they have a tank of adequate size, clean water, proper temperatures, plants and decorations, a basking spot, and a healthy diet, your turtle should thrive. Providing him with items to keep him mentally stimulated such as toys and live food can also make for a very happy turtle. Yes, sea turtles can drown as they have lungs just like other reptiles and similar to our own lungs. Sea turtles cannot breathe underwater, however they can hold their breath for long periods of time.

We leave him out in the spring when the water is 65 and bring him in to the tank in the winter again when the water goes down t 65 or We are in middle of Texas. I feed him aquatic turtle food as he wont eat live food… we tried and he makes friends with them. My question is the tank get so nasty and even though I have 4 under water filters two with uv lights and wondered if he could stay in the pond all winter… I have no idea what kind of turtle he is.

When he was small we thought he was a red eared slider but now he is older is is just a dark turtle no color expect on his underside which is not much… Im worried about leaving him out but he goes a little crazy when he goes from the pond to the tank and wondered if maybe it would be better or ok for him to stay in the pond… so much more room for him to swim and get natural sunlight when he sits on his rocks in the middle of the pond… Could you give me some advice on what is best for him.

Im afraid to just release him in a lake since he has been had fed for over 20 years really closer to 25 years and comes up to his feeder when I go out there which is once a day… I dont want to kill the poor guy but he is growing and Im worried… what do you do with a trutle that has been in a tank for 6 months and in a small pond 6 months out of the year..? First of all, congrats on having a turtle that old!

Can you describe him to me any further? You can also upload a picture of the turtle to postimages. In terms of keeping the turtle outdoors, I can certainly understand that! However, safely keeping turtles outdoors does depend somewhat on the species, so if I can identify what kind of turtle he is I can give you more specific information.

Generally, though, most turtles are able to overwinter by burrowing in mud and will do this instinctually. If you decide to do this, certainly keep an eye on him, especially at first, to make sure he adjusts alright when temperatures start to decline. Is there a turtle that adapts and can stay in the pond throughout the winter here? I have a gal pond with goldfish and lilies Thank you. Since your pond is outdoors, we very very highly recommend getting a turtle species that is native to New York.

Please do not try to capture any of these species from the wild. Species with more stable populations may be available for sale. I have 3 red sliders in my pond I am trying to also grow plants in the pond but they clip the stalks or lie on top of them and kill the plants. Are there ways to keep the turtles off of the plants? They have plenty of space to bask in the sun and an island to sit on top of. Apologies for such a late response! I would suggest placing protective plant baskets or non-sharp fencing that completely encase the plants and go over the top of them.

And we got the pond about 8 months ago so the koi are still small. I was wondering if you could give us An idea of which species to pick. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. View Full Version : Keeping terrapins in a koi pond.

Terapins do like to sunbathe and will want to be able to climb out, I use to have these and fed them shrimps etc i guess they could possibly have a go at your fish depending on size? They will survive british weather you will need to look into our winter though, i know they use to be in crystal palace park a few years ago I think if im right they carry salmonella disease again look into this whether this would arm the fish i dont know, do not handle these with finegrs by mouth they will have a crack at you lol I had the red eared terrapins.

Some are available to purchase - but - they eat fish - they can grow huge dependant upon which species and some are extremely rare and costly to buy - if you can find them!

Not very nice at all. PM Redtail - he probably knows a lot about them!