Habitat - Outdoor :: Need advice for winter home

[Wyrmslair]

My RES has spent every winter inside in a 20 gallon tank. The last two summers, he was in a small outside pond. He is now way too big for the tank (about 6 inches across), but I live in WV and it is too cold to leave him outside. Besides, I wouldn't want to risk him trying to hibernate for the first time. Space is at a premium inside. Any ideas?

[untsmurf]

He needs a bigger tank. Unfortunately you need to make room for it if you want your turt to be healthy. A lot of people use rubbermaid tubs, try and find one that has the dimensions you want and the ones he needs.

[steve]

I agree. The best thing about a rubbermaid is that you can put it anywhere... so if you don't have much room, so can find some corner on the floor to put it. I think someone even had it in their closet.

[marisa]

If he's 6 inches across, what's his shell length (measure down the back from behind the head to above the tail and don't include the curve of the shell)?

He sounds rather large, and if you use a plain Rubbermaid storage container, it sounds like you're going to have to fill it up a fair amount, in which case the sides are going to have to be supported (and beware of the bottom cracking from the weight of the water).

If you can find one, I'd get a 70-gallon Rubbermaid stock tank, which is meant to hold water. It's deeper than the 50-gallon but doesn't take up as much room as the 100-gallon.