Photo Gallery :: old boat transformed into turtle summer pond

[AllTheCandies]

This set up is beautiful!!

[Karawr]

Wow, amazing idea! Hyvä!

And the fridge thing... I would have been so scared to do that! Kudos to you for being able to do it!

[viivi]

Update: I've put them in the fridge for two winters, but this winter I'm keeping them awake and eating. One of them escaped in May into the Finnish forest. She was returned to me in mid-August from several kilometers away! A miracle, especially in a sparsely populated country. Anyway, I believe that she had buried herself to conserve moisture during the largely dry period and then come out again during a week of heavy rains. Whatever went on during those months, I'm sure she didn't eat that well. Also, the others do not have such beautiful shells any more. I therefore think now that the fridge system is ok in an emergency, or for only six weeks maximum, for example, but long-term not so good. I'll post some photos of my indoor winter setup, which is working quite well. Reduced space means I shall feed them individually in a bowl, to help keep the water clean.

Basking island is a big plastic bin with a hole cut in for the lamp. It is screwed firmly to a wooden 'bridge' that rests securely over the water, giving the turtles a place to hide underneath it. The pond is a 150cm long preformed thing that I found on the internet.

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I used the pond filter (with UV). It's really powerful so I switch everything off at night to leave them some dark silence to rest in.

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I'm quite pleased with it because it's a good winter habitat for the turtles and it looks good. It's restful to sit watching them. There is astroturf on the basking area, which should help in drying off the underneath of shells when they sunbathe.

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[steve]

Wow, that's some update. How many are in your group?

[viivi]

I have seven; five females and two males. Three years ago my biggest one died but the vet said he thought it was because she was so old - she was over 30.

[Touche the Turtle]

I really like this set up! Up-cycling old stuff is totally awesome.

[austinl01]

Hey, that's cool. Neat concept.

[viivi]

Discovered something new! After so many years! The turtles were really nervous back indoors (too much activity; dogs and cats and general movement and sounds), and forever jumping back in the water. I found a synthetic turtle who looks really placid and put it on the basking island last week. It seems to give them a lot of confidence and they are much less jumpy. I'll try to load a photo.
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[steve]

Heh, that's pretty funny!

[viivi]

Zen turtles!