Habitat - Indoor

So winter is coming, and, having learned a lot from this forum, I realized I had to house the turtles inside or risk a serious loss of turtles. The pool-pond was too big (and costly) to heat, and it doesn't get quite cold enough to warrant a safe hibernation (which terrified me anyway), so they'd be in the danger zone temperature for, you know, three or four months.

I laid out this huge plan to build my own indoor pond setup in my garage, but then priced everything out and determined a 300 gallon Rubbermaid stock tank and a 250 gallon pond someone had built themselves and was selling on Craigslist would be far cheaper and easier to set up.

So that's where we are.

I've lined up the ponds, side by side. The idea is to have the basking lamp and basking area right in the middle, so that both ponds will share the space. I haven't decided on quite how I'm going to do this, whether by placing a large wooden panel over the sides of both ponds where they touch (secure, of course), or by creating my own floating docks that match up with the sides, or using shelves that reach up high enough. I will have a fence or some barrier between the two basking areas so the turtles can't leave their own pond. And I know that I will need fencing - I found that my old closet shelves did the trick nicely. They're tall enough and easy to attach and don't look like they'll be climbable. (picture shows a rough draft layout but without the door / basking panel) (and I know I need more fencing around the wooden pond - I ran out of closets)

There is a GFI outlet behind the Rubbermaid tank, and I have a GFI super-duper industrial strength magic power strip of doom that I've been using for the outdoor pond pumps that I'm going to attach to the wall right next to the outlet. I plan to have pumps in both ponds, with filters, and - do tell me if this is ridiculous / dangerous / messy / stupid - I'm hoping to pump water from one pond (with the biofilter) to the other, and then from that pond back again. The point of cycling water like that is because I was also thinking of sticking a tub in the middle of this pumping that has suspended heaters in it. So it would go Big Pond -> Heating Tub -> Smaller Pond -> Big Pond. I'd place the pumps on opposite corners of the output to try and distribute the warmed water more evenly. One pump is a 560gph with fountain that would be fountaining and pushing water through the biofilter and to the heating tank, and the other one is just a 300gph(?) pump with a regular filter built in.

Thanks to advice by ViepaCray, I created my own big carbon filter. My helper in boots wanted to test the strength. It's made from a old folding mesh hamper, a container of aquarium charcoal, and a folded air vent filter (not the fiberglass ones). And it's held together with two regular wire shelves. I rinsed it and put it under the stream of water as it was flowing into the big pond.

The hose didn't reach to the second pond so I set up a pump in pond 1 to fill pond 2. Only after two hours of waterworks did I realize a flaw in my layout: the plug for the pump was across the pond and not accessible unless I was in the pond itself. There was a lot of sighing and getting wet and then I put the pump into the small pond and pumped all the water back out again so I could scoot it a foot away from the wall. Now I have access to the plugs and everything in the back and it also gives me more room to put stuff, like an external filter or support beams for the basking area, so it was worth it.

I've run out of pond budget so I have to make this work with just what I have now.
I want to make an external shelf along the side of the round pond to make the end match up with the wooden pond for two reasons: 1, because it would give the larger turtles more living space and 2, I plan to put up a fence to keep my kids out and having flat, straight pieces is easier and cheaper than trying to work it into the curves or gaps. The fence is so the kids don't fall in and the turtles don't fall out. Safety all around. Oh, and having an extra shelf would be neat because I could put in some fake grass or some decoration for them to hang out in. Or real grass.

This is such a long first post. I'm kind of documenting everything for my own benefit down the road so I can see what I can do better next year.

Things to address:
proper barriers along the shelves
basking area setup
water heating
outside fence
webcams
???
profit

I already have half of an underwater webcam system built for the aquarium inside. I just need to adapt it for the bigger ponds and see what kind of pressure the box would need to withstand and where to stick the laptop running the show.

This is all your fault, Mr Timmy Turtle. It's ok, you're cute.

Very nice looking so far. What kind of UVB lamp are you planning to use? I think those wire shelves might be prone to rust after a short while.

I'm not sure of the light yet; I have to see how I am going to be able to mount it first.

Fencing problem: possibly solved! I found a roll of reed fencing that is 6ft (H) by 15ft (L) on sale at $homeimprovementstore's website. On sale!!
I bought two. Turtles are more important than the cable bill right now.

I have the wood from a previous project to build an outer support structure to stick this reed fencing to. It'll look nice, hide the pond from gawkers, give the turtles some privacy, and it'll also keep my kids out unless they barrel through it and shred it to pieces, but they're good kids and know that it makes me sad when they break my stuff. Plus they love the turtles. And we have a chain lock on the garage door to prevent unsupervised turtle visits.

Wow that's an awesome indoor setup, can't wait to see it all finished

About to start draining some of the water out of the big pond. I'll admit, I'm a little scared. I'm going to drain about half it to limit the area the turtles will be in so I can collect them easier, but I'm concerned because I don't want them to freak out. I also have the two plecos to worry about (and catch), and I know the water temperature will be lower the lower the water level is tonight.

... maybe I should start draining it tomorrow.

How did it go? Do you plan on filling it up later on?

Thanks for keeping up on my progress, Steve.

I did drain a few inches off yesterday, and this morning I was out early starting it again. I removed everything from the pond and today I am going to have some help catching all my four-legged pond pals. Betty and Chewy have been poking their heads up through the now-bare pond surface to just look at me. It's almost as if they're asking where their stuff is.

I am off to the store to pick up the UVB lights and hoods and get the basking lights ready. Since all the turtles will be drydocked while I check their shells and make sure everyone is ok, I have some time to get the lights installed. It'll be natural sunlight (with a shade area) until tonight and then I should have the lights installed by tomorrow. I've got plans for separate UVB lamps and separate basking lamps for each side until I can get the combined basking area worked out. My fence should be here by Tuesday but I'm planning a photo update post tomorrow with pictures of all the turtles.

And yes, I sure do plan to fill it back up so I can make it better over the winter. Plus my fish are still in it so I have to make sure they all survive the winter too.

IT IS DONE AND
OH MY GOSH DO I HAVE PICTURES

OOoohhh Lets see!!!

It sure was an adventure today. I'll just start with pictures.

Getting the pond ready:

The Turtle Herding Team:

OH CRAP OH CRAP OH CRAP OW OW OW STOP:

Caught some:

Scrubbing Party:

Looking better:

All the turtles are accounted for and in their respective ponds. There is still a little setup on the ponds needed but for tonight it can wait because everybody probably needs to calm down. They all had hard water residue on their shells but we used a mixture of white vinegar and water and toothbrushes to get most of it off. I took pictures of every one of them with their measurements and possible medical issues but I'll have to post those later tonight when I get home from bowling with my mom.

Yeah, my mom's pretty rad.

And that was my arm that got bitten. My own fault. I was trying to shelter Chewy from being scared and he didn't like my arm coming that close to his head. He held on and adjusted his grip several times, even when I put him under the water. It swelled up but no skin is broken.

More updates later for sure. I might need some help with some of the turtle shells. Betty looks to be in possibly bad shape.

OH, AND I GOT TO MEET sweety10189110! It was nice to have another adult there that knew how to handle turtles. And to watch the kids so they didn't get bitten.
Ok, off to bowling.

Wow that is a lot of turtles. You turned your pool into a pond? That is awesome.

cutepanda86 wrote:Wow that is a lot of turtles. You turned your pool into a pond? That is awesome.

Yyyyyeah. It is a lot. I have two more incoming from a friend but only after I make sure all these guys are free and clear of badness / illness / whatever and then I AM DONE.

... I say that now. Watch what'll happen when the local animal rescue center finally responds to my email.

Ok, so - here are some more pictures and things.

First, because of the SAFETY FIRST thread, I went out and got these along with my fluorescent light fixtures:

I have a GFI outlet in my garage, but I only have ONE of them, and I needed to plug in multiple lights. In multiple places. So I have TWO GFI extension adapter thingies, and TWO GFI outlet adapters that turn a regular outlet into one with a GFI. Which is cool. Because I am clumsy. Anyway, more pictures.

A couple of my turts are in bad shape, it looks like. I have hard water, so of course everyone's got white calcification all over them, but some of them (this is Shelly) look like this:

I don't recall Shelly having this chip in her shell when I got her, which makes me feel awful:

And her underside:

And her toes:

I had my water tested just about weekly (and anytime I did anything with it that was more than a few gallons) and the pH was fine, the alkalinity was fine, ammonia, everything was within the "normal" and "ok" limits. We do get a ring around the tanks inside, though, so I know we do have hard water. It looks like the nails on her back feet are worn down, which may be because of the plaster. I will feel so bad if the plaster has hurt her because I didn't think to buy a pond liner (which, by the way, will cost me about $1000 to completely cover the pool bottom) in the beginning.

And then there's Betty.
Her shell was a little raggedy to start with, and I don't think she had *quite* the proper environment to bask and shed often enough, but now... even with basking for HOURS, EVERY DAY, her shell still looks worse. I don't like the looks of that pockmark.

And on her underside, I think I can see that she hasn't shed in a while, unless this is normal:

But the good news is, everyone handled well and I was the only one bitten. A few of the turtles even seemed to like being handled and kept coming back when the Scrubbing Team was done with them and put them down. They stretched their necks out as if to say, "pick me up again!"

There's the hard water residue on his head, here, and a bit of a chipped shell. I think this is Original Timmy.

My mom works at a vet's office so I know I can get whatever I need to take care of these guys. There was only one shell scrape (it was a very thin red line that I will be monitoring) but no major damage to anybody. Nobody smelled bad or had soft shells, and everyone's eyes were clear. Shelly even looks like she has eyelashes with her markings, though I think with those toenail claws, Shelly might be a Sherman. With eyelash markings.

The hard water residue concerns me, as do the retained shell bits. Only one turtle was shedding but he's been shedding for two weeks now so I think he's fine.

Tomorrow morning is going to be a grand, glorious feast for the turtles, because now THE FISH CAN'T EAT ALL THEIR FOOD. I will be keeping a food chart daily about what I feed them and what gets eaten by whom if I see it, and hopefully now I can establish a healthier diet for them that is all theirs. I'll figure out what I'm doing about the fish later. I may have a Turtles Only part of the pond sectioned off when I redo everything.

And now for fun pictures.
The markings on this one are just great:

HEY GUYS, HOW'S IT GOIN'?

Sup.

Next post should be the Who's Who of my pond with measurements. It's late and I'm tired, though, so that might be tomorrow.

The turtles in order of smallest to largest. I do need to a better male / female check on those that are question-marked but at the time I was taking these pictures I just wanted to get them out of the range of little "helper" hands and into their new ponds to just chill out for a while. I'll figure out who's who once everybody is settled.

Mindy, 4.5inch shell, female

Shelly, 5inch shell, male with eyelash markings (those nails...)

Mork, 5.5inch shell, male (?) (his nails are short but supposedly they've been chewed and are growing back)

Frack, 6.5inch shell, female (?)

Timmy, 7inch shell, male

Chewy, 7inch shell, male (note: he may not be a RES but I am really unsure as to what else he could be)

Frick, 9inch shell, female (?)

Betty, 9inch shell, female

Habitat - Indoor :: The Winter Pond for Timmy (not all are Timmy now) (PICS)

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