Habitat - Indoor :: Do turtles need/want toys?

[creaturegirl]

OK, that probably sounds like a really crazy question, but I think Mrytle is bored! She will swim around restlessly in her tank and knock her filter and basking dock off the side. I do let her run around the house a little here and there. Any suggestions?
Thanks!

[sanoske312]

you could also drop a ping pong ball in there they float and ive heard of turtles pushing them around trying to chase them

[briannashea]

ping pong balls are a possibility, some turtles will push them around the surface of the water. my turtle's tank is bare-bottom (no substrate) except for a few decorative rocks and he likes to push them around all the time to make noise, plus he sometimes even makes little designs out of them. it's cute to watch. other folks have an air stone (basically a bubble-maker, used in aquariums) that their turtles seem to be entertained by the bubbles. that's all I can think of, hope it helps

[Arisu]

I heard the ping pong ball idea doesn't work, that most turtles ignore em. air stones are okay, and most turtles do enjoy playing in them. I think a live or two fish to chase once a month wont be so bad

[Daniel3507]

i tried the ping pong ball thing and it was a no go. he would push it around every now and then but not too often. i put a good size bubble disk in my tank though and he always plays with the bubbles. and it helps prevent an oily film on the surface

[christu]

Since I bought this Tetra Whisper water filter, its "waterfall" creates bubbles. In the same area as the bubbles is her log with a small stick at the top she likes to sit on. I find her taking a "bubble bath" at times. Sometimes its full body, other times just her head sticks out where the bubbles are.

Also, she has large river rocks on the bottom of her tank.

[creaturegirl]

I just got the Whisper in-tank filter last week. She does like the water fall but she knocks the filter off the side of the tank! She is so full of spunk and personality.

[laurapa]

Oliver loves to struggle. He likes to swim under the water/bubbles coming down from his filter. The pressure pushes him down and he has to struggle to the top. He does this over and over again. Sometimes I see him working to balance himself so he is swimming just hard enough under the waterfall to keep from hitting the bottom. I think he uses it like a treadmill.

I am currently trying to come up with a good way to make him think he is escaping his tank. He loves trying to escape and I think it uses a part of his brain that doesn't normally get much exercise. But I can't think of any good ideas.

Anyway, yeah, it seems like turtles are smart enough to enjoy playing. I know Oliver seems happier when there's something to do!

[moldygrape]

i have plants live and plastic and my turtle loves to move it around that takes her like an hour its funny ill fix the plants were i want them all perfict and in the morning ill feed her go about my madness and i look at her and shes all crazy moving alll the plants ....... bubbles also work and a rosy red minnow or two a month will do..... i feel like my turt is like in prison sometimes ........ sorry but i do but i know i give it a great life...... so i think its ok....

[brady2180]

i tried the ping pong ball, but Brady did not care much for it until i poked two small holes and had the ball submerge. at first he was somewhat alarmed to have the ball in the tank with him, but he eventually got over it and every now and then he just pushes it around.

[rockyntrixi]

My two turtles play alot too. They love the bubbler, especially the 5 inch round one. They will swim against the bubbles and then sit in the middle of the round bubbler and let their body get pushed up by the bubbles.

One of my turtles begs every night to be played with. Trixi likes it when I balance her body with one finger placed underneath her shell and uses her feet and arms to stay steady. She likes to climb up onto my hand and then I kinda drop her into the water on her side. When I am cleaning the tank my two turtles will "bug" me until I play a game I call turtle bowling. I hold both sides of their shells and I toss them to the other side of the tank. The only problem with that is they won't stop bugging me while I'm cleaning the tank and will want me to do it over and over and over again. They also like me to 'itch' their back sometimes while they are 'sunning'.

Also, I periodically take an old "turtle dock" that's too small into the tank and my two turtles like to take turns knocking each other off and/or just trying to get up on a randomly floating turtle dock in the tank.

I also put a shelf into the tank that they climb all over. The very top part it is slightly out of the water and they like trying to get up on that top shelf because it is a challenge for them to do so.

[Impulse Shopper]

Since I bought this Tetra Whisper water filter, its "waterfall" creates bubbles.

I can't wait to pick one of these up!

George is very playful this weekend! I'm so relieved! He's up on a high surface by the window and likes to observe. This morning he's going crazy crawling on his fake plant, fake rock, back between his mirror tub, falling and splashing... He's loving the sunlight. He's so cute!

[steve]

You might want to consider a separate air pump for decorations or aeration.

[VeipaCray]

Golf ball if you want something that sinks and not destroyable by

[Natetrogdog8]

I noticed, funny thing, when my girlfriend didnt want to clean the tank for me she bought a discount filter. The Tetrafauna viqaurium which is suppose to be fairly hogh powered however i feel the design for the filter itself is flawed, i noticed after a week that farcus and trogdor my river cooter and RES love playing on it and removing the unglued peices to root around in the exposed holes and grab the filter out so i just leave it submerged and replace the cartridge every so often (i have a perfectly fine filter doing its job) and they just enjoy the heck out of it!