redearslider.com

Hi everyone,

First of all I would like to say hello to the forum. I recently rescued two baby r.e.s. from the flea market. Unfortunately one passed away recently and the other one is out growing his 12 gallon fish tank so I've been thinking about putting a pond in the back yard. Here is a chart from wikipedia of the average climate of the city I live in: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Antonio#Climate . Would it be okay to leave him in there year round? How big should the pond be? Lastly, I'm going to college in two years and I don't want my parents to have a big burden on there back so will a pond require a lot of maintenance?

Yea it would be fine to leave him out year round, but you'd have to put him outside now so he can acclimate.

Also there is always a risk of hibernating turtles in captivity.

If you are looking for ideas:
viewtopic.php?f=7&t=32548

Ok, I'll probably using pond liner and make it about 2 feet deep. Does that sound about right?

2 feet min. for hibernation. You want the water to be able to cool down lower even when its a hot day, so the deeper the better.

Also its highly recommended not to hibernate a turtle until its reaches about 4inches in shell length.