redearslider.com

Hi, everyone! I recently moved into a rental home with a smallish (probably 800 gal, not completely sure) pond in the back yard. Naturally, as a reptile hobbyist, my first inclination is to make it a turtle pond. Nothing major, just a couple RES and some goldfish... Probably no more than 2-3 turtles, as I intend to overwinter them indoors.

The dimensions are 12 ft long, 5.5 ft average width (7 at the widest; 3-4 at the narrowest), and depth is largely unknown, but at least 18" in a few spots. There's a small waterfall feature at one end of the pond, where I'll be installing a DIY bio-filter. There may already be goldfish in the pond, but there's no way to tell right now because the water is so dark (for various reasons, mostly ice and a 10" thick layer of decaying plant matter.. not a well maintained pond).

I've been getting some good advice over at The Pond Forum on how to restore the pond and how to build the aforementioned bio-filter, but I got to wondering whether I'll need to do anything special/specific, that I wouldn't otherwise do, to make it habitable for turtles (aside from basking areas and a fence around the area, of course).

If anyone here could clear up whether there's anything else I'll need to do, and what that "anything else" is, I would appreciate it!

Also, what's best to use for floating basking areas in the pond? And does anyone know some pond plants that would be healthy and safe for the turtles (and fish) to munch on?

Thanks in advance!!!

And pictures... These were all taken when we moved in, a week and a half ago. The pond itself:


The waterfall is to the right, coming down from the center of a 2' high raised flower bed:


I'm planning to use a 100 gallon stock tank for the filter, so that'll be sunk into the ground to the left of the water fall (top of this picture), as it's the only area of the flower bed that will accommodate the dimensions:

looks like it has great potential to make some turtles very happy!

also with turtles you need to watch out for hawks, so make sure some fishing wire is tied across the top in a grid pattern so to say to make sure they are protected

Thanks!! I didn't even think about predators, lol! I'll be sure to rig up some sort of lid, then, over the pond.

doesnt need to be a lid, fishing wire will do! that way they get caught in that and give up

Predators are a big issue... raccoons and birds can cause a lot of trouble, so a good lid might not be a bad idea. You also want to make sure they can't climb out or dig under any fencing you have (or need to have).

When you inspect the pond, make sure there's nothing they can get trapped under either or if it's something they might try to get at.

Fall, I was thinking a lid so that I can still get in and out without getting tangled up in the fishing wire... As well, there are other, more land-based predators to worry about (like Steve mentioned--raccoons), and two dogs that share the yard, so I figure a full-on lid wouldn't be a bad idea. I'll be looking into easy ways to go about it, since 10x15 ft is a lot to build a lid for... It shouldn't need to be stronger than enough to hold off a 25 lb dog, anyway.

Steve, will do! There are some large rocks in the pond right now, which I fully intend to remove completely when I go to clean the pond this spring. That's the only thing I can see right now that would pose a trap risk to the turtles. Also, how deep would I need to dig in the fencing before there's no longer a dig-out risk?

If i were you I would hit up home depot and buy some of that really thin large pieces of wood and just make a long box like top for the whole pond and cut some holes in the top and sides maybe where you want the basking spots to be and put like plexi glass or something in those spots or even cut holes and just nail some chicken wire over the holes..that would work great.

just a idea