Photo Gallery :: Dry Area

[industrial_girl_2000]

I had a basking dock on top of Sheba's old 55gal tank. My dad made it out of some scrap pieces of plexiglas that he had lying around his shop. Sorry the picture got a little cut-off; you can see some of the box on top of the tank. The box even had a hinged lid (but you can't see it in the picture). Hopefully it will help give you some ideas though.

[Hoooneylynn]

Does anyone have pics of a dry area extending from their tank? I am going to prepare for eggs, and I wish I could somehow build a dry area extending from the tank... I have seen some people block off an area of the tank by putting in an extra piece of glass.. thats not what I want.. I don't want to take away space.. I dont want her to escape either.. The tank is about three-four feet off the ground so I have to build something that high that is easy for her to walk from the tank to the dry land. I like this idea (link below)... instead of a basking area it can be the extension to the other side.. I just want to see if it has been done. Thanks!

http://www.redearslider.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1218

[Hoooneylynn]

isnt it hard to clean the tank? it seems like a good idea for basking, but I don't think it would be a good idea to put all that weight on top... I clean the tank about every 5-7 days, and I think the sand/ dirt mixture I had was about 50 pounds... I have to consider it being deep and warm enough, and not too warm. See what I mean? It will be difficult...

[cam722]

hoooneylynn: What size is your turtle and how old is it??

Here is a site with regards to the requirements for a nesting area for aquatic turtles.

http://www.tortoisetrust.org/articles/Nestsites.htm

[Hoooneylynn]

I don't know how old she is, she is 5 inches... Heres some pics of my baby:

http://www.redearslider.com/forum/viewt ... ght=#51956

Thanks for the site

[industrial_girl_2000]

isnt it hard to clean the tank? it seems like a good idea for basking, but I don't think it would be a good idea to put all that weight on top... I clean the tank about every 5-7 days, and I think the sand/ dirt mixture I had was about 50 pounds... I have to consider it being deep and warm enough, and not too warm. See what I mean? It will be difficult...

Actually the basking dock was not heavy at all. Plexiglas is lighter than real glass. When I had to clean under the dock, I would just slide it to the other end of the tank (it slides back and forth). It wasn't a big deal. It probably helps that I didn't have any sand/dirt in the tank either. With my turtle's size (11 inches), having any dirt/sand in the tank is not a good idea.

I should mention also that the wood tank stand that I had for that tank was extremely solid, heavy & sturdy (my dad being crafty in his wood shop again) so anything I put on top of the tank (weight-wise) wasn't a big deal.