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Well I was wondering if the big lagoons,or swaps are ok for my baby turtles for now... thats what I have them in!!! Don't chew me out, ok but I clean thier water every other day!! Well I have four baby turtles in the lagoon. it's called The Tom Mangrove Swamp it's like a Kidney-Shaped Tank. The size is about (16 1/2" - 10 1/2" - 4 1/2") Mangrove tree snaps in the middle as a decoration and it also comes with the Repti-Clean Filter installing receptacle. Also in the middle it has a staircase island with feeding station.The laggon has a anti-escape barricade keeps my turtles inside the swap.

Well, I'm a new owner too, so I can't really reply to that, but I just thought it was interesting that one of your RES was named Zoey. That is my puppies name! We thought it was really unique when we picked it but now that we have I see it around a lot. Still love the name though because it means 'life', and we adopted our baby from the pound after they pulled her out from underneath some porch with about a dozen other abused animals.

Your lagoon will be big enough for four turtles for about four weeks! I hope someone told you what you were getting into when you get four turtles. They will grow and you will quickly need larger quarters and filters and lights etc. The general rule is ten gallons of tank for each horizontal inch of turtle length. Four turtles an inch long each = 40 gallon tank. Check out the sticky posts in the forum for more info on everything. Feel free to ask questions after reading these.

Definetly read all the care info on this site. We turtle keepers refer to those lagoons as "death bowls". They'd be lucky to last 4 weeks in that thing. Please get a big tank asap and read all the 'sticky's here.

You definitely need to get a bigger tank. I was tricked into getting the Lagoon as well. They told me that the turtles wouldn't grow any bigger. However, I went on this website and found out otherwise! After about two weeks I noticed my two turtles getting depressed and I moved them right away! Now that they have room to swim they are very happy

What exactly is a lagoon? I've read the stickies, but havent found one mentioned thus far...

I use the "death bowl" as a seprate container for feeding... Shady bearly fits in it...LOL
This is a lagoon ("death bowl") exept kidney shaped-

http://www.petluvers.com/media/lees-ova ... on-n24.jpg

How could a lagoon possibly be deep enough to give the RES enough room to swim? Plus, how could you set up a place for it to bask when it so shallow? I do like though how they threw in the palm tree to entice the buyer, its like they are saying location location location.

in the middle of the lagoon, their is a platform about 1.5" high and little staircases leading to that. You attach the palm tree on the platform...what a rip off!!
P.S: it still make a good feeding container!

So the water isnt even deep enough for them to swim

That's right! In the 50s and 60s turtles were really popular pets. You could get them just about anywhere, and they were sold with little plastic lagoons. I think that's why people started believing that they wouldn't outgrow their container because they didn't live long enough in those things and they pretty much stayed the same size because the container was so small, and the food was pretty bad. My mother had a res back then and it came with a lagoon and a can of dried flies for food. Nobody really knew then that they needed special lighting, heat, a large tank and a varied diet. My mother kept her turtle in the death bowl for 10 years. I think that's the exeption. Most don't get past the first year in those things. She was quite sad about it when I told her why he didn't grow, and that he was probably miserable for most of his life. Knowing what we know now, there is no excuse not to give them everything they deserve.

I bought my res not knowing what they needed or the expense involved. I quickly found out and was able to provide them with what they need to thrive. They're outgrowing their 50 gal tank now, but it'll be ok until we move later this year.

I'm surprised that they still sell those lagoons tho, and I hope that the people who buy these animals on impulse (like I did) will do the research and give them what they need.

<stepping down from the podium now>
Jen

While I was working on the fence surrounding my outside pond, I put my full grown Eastern Painted Turtle on the grass inside the enclosure. I again got busy with what I was doing and kinda forgot about the turt and forgot that one section of the fence was opened. Well, the turtle escaped and was never found because all around our acre lot was uncleared land which I had kept that way for the deer that would come to our feeders which were very close to our house and pond. Anyway, I got on the internet and ordered three RESs from www.artsofnature.com and when the turts came, they came with a kidney shaped lagoon. Well, being me, I knew that that wouldn't work as a good habitat so as it was fairly warm in central Wisconsin at that time of the year, I fixed up a 4 foot kids wading pool with flat sandstone rocks as a basking spot and a cave for hiding in. I would put about a 3/4 inch of warm water in the lagoon and that is where they got fed. They ate like little pigs from the first day because I did not hang around to watch them eat. The lagoon was on a table on our deck and I would go in the house and spy on them from the bathroom window while standing in the bathtub and watch them eat. I hadn't found the original RES forum at that time so I fed the little guys what wild hatchlings would eat---crickets that I caught in the yard and squeezed the heads of so they wouldn't be too active and scare the turts, ant eggs, from a big nest of Carpenter Ants in our yard, small Leafworms and small minnows and Waxworms that I bought at the bait shop. They ate every thing.
Just thought I'd add my experience with a 'Death bowl" that I never used as a habitat but as a feeding area. George

Well , for now i'll have them there, but soon they'll have good home for them and it pro. be good idea to use the lagoon to feed them. Also i know there very good eaters.

Even getting some Rubbermaid storage containers to keep them in would be better than those lagoons...