my turtle pond and future bluey enclousure

[Whitey560]

hi everyone just thought id share some pics of my turtle pond i built
it still needs some landscaping done and escape proofing cos i want to keep my blue tongues down there 2
so here they are:

still need to fix the waterfall might remove the big rock and put a small resivour because i anit getting much flow.
tell me what you think

 

[Chris1]

that looks awesome!!!

cute turtle too!! is there just the one?

 

[Whitey560]

yer only the one atm but i will be getting more once all the landscaping is done
and ive just convinced my parents to let me extend the area so its now basically
5.5 m x 2.5m and the pond is about 2.5m longways and 1.5 m across

how many blues would fit comfortably in that area also how many turtles??

 

[Chris1]

wow, thats huge!

i dont keep bluies or turtles, but from what i've read and seen i'd say u could easily whack another 2 turts in and about 6 bluies?

but let someone else answer that,...i'm really not that sure.

 

[lil_ben]

awsome looking pond, turtles will love it.

 

[peterjohnson64]

Great stuff mate. How does that box tortoise go with all that water? Anyway, what filtration are you running?

As for blueys, take your pick. You could get a few in there but dont mix them up or you will have hybrids.

And dont forget that turtles are amazing climbers. I had one climb up onto a bed once. Just remember that when making the cage ezcape proof.

And where are you by the way?

 

[herptrader]

It looks great!

Our pond set up is not too dissimilar.

We have some bluies sharing the environment and they are all happy together.... well one of the turtles thinks she is a blue tongue but that is her problem.

One issue I think you will face is that of abrasion against the turtles shells. We had a brick path down the middle of out enclosure (a fully enclosed court yard). I ended up covering the path in 100mm of mulch which solved the problem for us. You may need a different solution, perhaps wooden sleepers at the beaching surface?? Our pond exit ramp is a red cedar ramp covered in shade cloth with one end floating below the water line.

 

[Whitey560]

box tortoise?? ive only got one long neck?

i have had long necks for a couple of years now and know exactly what you mean by excellent climbers ive had them climb up a fence squeeze through an impossible gap make there way across the yard up the side of the house under the gate out on to the nature strip and off down the road only to be stopped by some neighbors lol

i will only have eastern blueys down there as i alredy have two and i have seen plenty in the area so they should cope with the climate. oh im in melb by the way not to far from the herp shop (you guys are great by the way).

for filtration i have the two pumps(fountain and waterfall) which have a block of some sorta filtration sponge attached which is going ok for the moment but i will prob look into making a bio filter or something (any ideas??)

as for the abrasion i have some railway sleepers that i might use see how it goes.

thanx for the replies.

 

[peterjohnson64]

The box tortoise comment relates to the statue you have

As for filtration, yes you should do some sort of bio filter and also a UV filter. You wont need too much if you are only keeping two turts in there. I also have guppies in my pond and the turts basically live on them.

 

[Whitey560]

ive got some goldfish but he/she didn't seem interested in them and now they have grown to big for him/her.
i feed it
frozen blocks from the pet shop and roaches, crix an worms occasional yabby
should i bee feeding some sort of greens??

 

[warren63]

Thats a nice setup, you will have some happy turtles and bluies in there

 

[Tatelina]

Looks good! Wish I could do that at my place.

 

[kandi]

that is beautiful it would be a pleasure to sit and watch the activity

 

[Whitey560]

does anybody have a link or instructions for a good diy filter??

 

[mrdestiny]

Nice set up you have. I'd keep an eye on the turtle's plastron in case of injury when it slides over the rocks into the pond. The smooth rocks you have there are less likely to cause problems.
There are many ways and means to filter a pond. See my website at http://turtletownsydney.com/ specifically the page on filtration. I use a 220 litre drum, for a smaller pond like yours you could use a smaller drum and partly bury it in the ground. Or for about $170 on ebay you can get a Jebao PF-20 2,500 lph pressurised Bio Filter with UVC.
Allan

 

[Whitey560]

nice setups mrdestiny certainly given me a few ideas.
i will probly have a go at making that barrel filter looks a sinch also dads a plumber so that should help.
he dosnt seem to enter over the slate unless he gets startled and just sits there to bask.
also i live in melb what other turtles would do well in the same enclosure or should they be seperated??

 

[mrdestiny]

A Murray River turtle could co-exist happily with your long neck.