Habitat - Outdoor :: turtles mia

[cbrydolf]

I have an outdoor pond in my new house that came with a resident red-eared slider. We didn't see Simon at all for the first few winter months and figured he was hibernating in the mud. Once he woke up, we noticed that Simon frequently roamed: into the garage, into the alley, enroute to the street. He'd been living in this habitat safely for years, but we worried: couldn't he get lost? We bought two new turtles and all three seemed happy. Then they all disappeared. It's been 3 weeks. We found one in the garage, returned her to the pond. She's stayed put. But the other two are MIA. We put posters out in the neighborhood but no results yet. Do we need to fence the pond? Why would turtles leave a safe environment? They did seem to get nervous when we cleaned out the pond. The water got clear and we took the mud off the bottom. Was this a mistake? Do they need a muddy bottom? We are giving them hiding places to compensate for the clear water. I love these turtles and hate to think of them lost or starving somewhere......

[jenaero]

I think a fence is definetly in order. Keep an eye out for the missing ones. They tend to pop up when you least expect it. A fence will keep them in, and keep predators out. I think he's lucky he lasted as long as he did without protection.

Good luck on finding your guys.

Also, welcome to the forum!

Jen

[steve]

Hi Carol.. this needed to be its own topic. Turts can usually find their way around and mine love to explore. Its possible they got lost or something happened to them in such a wide-open area. So I would probably put a small barrier to make sure they don't wander off. If you don't have alot of close personal contact with them, then they might get more scared than usual. I don't know about the muddy bottom... but they like their hiding places.

Hope you find them,
Steve

[cbrydolf]

Thanks for the prompt reply. Do you know why turtles would wander away from water to inhospitable places? And why wouldn't they come back to water? Thanks again for listening. I will send photos of our beautiful turtle and her habitat soon.

[pkneeyahx]

usually the only turtles you'll find "wandering" from their water holes and surrounding areas are females. they'll tend to get out and look for nesting spots to lay their eggs.. and then get back to the water afterwards. but as you know.. turtles are slow and take their time.. They do however have a keen sense of direction. if you ever come across a turtle crossing a road and want to help it, you should always set it down on the side of the road int he direction it was going.

Most of the turtles that get hit by cars are female.. and hatchlings exiting their nests and heading for the water or swampland.

But I guess within a close proximity to watr you'll find males too.. in search of the primo basking spot.

[jenaero]

Don't give up hope! I've heard of people losing their turts and finding them a year later in their back yard!

The only reason I know of for them taking off like that would be to find a bigger pond or a nesting site. Maybe having so many in there freaked him out after being alone so long? As far as why they don't come back to the water...um..either they found a different body of water or they got lost.

The muddy bottom is necessary for hibernation but not much else. Turtles generally do not react well to change. Leave it be for a while. They'll get used to it eventually. If you plan on letting them hibernate this winter, make sure you get that mud back in there, and plenty of it.

Again, good luck. I hope they come back to you.

[steve]

my male and female love to explore. they love to climb everything. they sometimes like to look for a nice shade or sometimes they bury themselves and take nap. good luck searching!

[RES Tampa]

Our two turtles are great climbers! They have already gotten out of the outside enclosure we are in process of building. Anything with some texture to it will allow their claws to grab. Any fence you build will have to be relatively smooth.

[cbrydolf]

Thanks for all the insights and support. I will make changes slowly and deliberately and put up a smooth enclosure around our pond in stages: so those errant wanderers can make it back if they so choose. There are some bodies of water within a mile or two of our backyard; so it's possible they've found a good home elsewhere. I love this site, and thanks again. Turtles are truly magical; it's nice to know I am not the only one who thinks so....
Appreciatively,

[Oldturtle72]

I've always had preformed ponds and when it got close to hibernation time, I put a large plastic dishpan filled with river mud in the pond bottom and Speedy (male EPT) either used it or went under the dormant pump and hose that fed the watercourse . Saw him once during the winter when there was 8 inches of snow on the ground but the air temp was in the 50s. He soon went under again and I didn't see him again until mid-March and he went under again and finally came up for good a few weeks later. Sliders and Painted turts in the wild will most always bury themselves in the mud when scared off their basking spot and will bury themselves at night also. So mud in the bottom of large ponds (you didn't say how large yours was) is almost a necessity for aquatic turtles even if they are captive bred, if they are to be hibernated. Blood suckers also live in most natural pond bottoms so you would have to give your turts frequent exams for those parasites.
Also used a 1500 watt stock tank heater at the opposite end of the pond in relation to the hibernation area so the pond didn't freeze solid and kept a small pump (250GPH) going for water circulation as the filter was shut down. Fish don't eat nor do turts when the water temp drops to 50 so no fish or turt waste to foul the water. Plants die back but as long as the gases from decaying plant matter can escape to the air, that's no problem either. Black Trapdoor Snails are cold water snails and don't have a snorkel to breath air. They can live under the ice and will continue to munch on bottom debris all winter long and will help keep the algae in check. They eat the algae like you would mow your lawn if you were blind. I have 30 in my 265 gallon outdoor pond and will soon have more.
Keep 'em muddy and happy and I hope your lost ones are found.
George