Habitat - Outdoor :: Your opinions courteously requested

[declutterbug]

I previously had a 4" male RES who lived very happily in the bathtub of our second bathroom. I have since had to move and no longer had that option, nor was I able to provide alternate housing arrangements indoors. Because winter was coming and I could not provide adequate housing I found a new home for the turtle.

Because this was my son's turtle, I would like to plan for and create a new environment outside and replace the turtle.

My favorite part of keeping the turtle in the bathtub was the abililty to easily drain the water, clean the tub, and add fresh water. This was a whole lot easier (not to mention cheaper) than trying to provide adequate filtration.

My local lumber yard has surplus "garden" style bathtubs available for $20. I would like to install one of these on a platform of concrete blocks so that I can drain the water when I need to do so. I have hardware cloth already available (left over from building a cage to contain the cats as they were introduced to their new home and the already resident cats) which I can use to build a secure enclosure for protection from the local 'coons and 'possums.

The area in the yard I am considering is partly shady/partly sunny (depending on time of day). Ambient air temperature is warming up nicely. Soon it will be lows 60s to 70s with highs 70s to upper 90s mid summer. An aquarium heater is easily obtainable.

Further embelishments I was unable to provide indoors but would love to include outdoors would be plenty of aquatic plants for dietary supplement/shade availability. I don't mind stopping at PetSmart every other week for additional anachris, feeder fish, and free snails for dietary supplementation.

When autumn/winter return I was thinking I could cover the hardware-cloth enclosure with visqueen (semi-transparent heavy plastic) and install a space heater to keep the ambient air temperature up, as well as an infrared spotlight and UVA/B lamp over the basking area.

I would like to ask for your opinions on the estimated feasibility of this plan before I proceed any further.

Thank you kindly

Declutterbug

[missibsu]

I think what you have in mind is a possibility. I would start by making sure you have done all of your research. It sounds like you are off to a good start.

I don't know how the cover will work for ambient heat. How cold does it actually get where you are located? There are several people here who have outdoor set ups. To my knowledge most of them also keep temporary indoor setups as well. Is it possible to have a place inside that he can use for a couple of months?

[steve]

What are your winters like? What is a "garden" style bathtub? What is it made of, how much do they cost and what are the general dimensions? There are stock tanks that have drains built-in and might have other advantages over a garden style bathtub.

[declutterbug]

A 'garden style' tub is the oval tub you sometimes find in the master bedroom of new houses. The water-containing portion is approximately 3 feet x 4 feet with a depth of 24 inches. The total water volume is a bit more than the standard style bathtub. The ones I have access to are made of fiberglass and will only cost me $20, which is why I am looking at these instead of a stock tank.

Minimum temperature will be 20 degrees F at night for a total of about 6 days per winter. Average lows 40s to 50s with about one-third of the winter having lows in the low 60s.

Maybe I could bring the entire setup into the spare bedroom, but I cannot count on doing so. Right now it is completely filled as a catch-all storage space and most of that stuff is my dad's: I cannot be certain of clearing it out, though it may be possible.

[steve]

It sounds very doable. If you are willing to spend the time and effort, I think you can create a very interesting setup.

[declutterbug]

Thanks Steve