General Care Discussion :: Turtle Proofing

[myrtle1123]

What should you avoid having in your tank to defeat the risk of your turtle drowning. I read these stories and it breaks my heart. What are some thing that you can do to "turtle proof" the tank?

[Safdar]

Have alot of rests spots

I have floating plastic plants

and also plants that reach all the way to the top

[myrtle1123]

okay how do most turtles drown? Out of exhaustion or getting stuck somewhere. I have a few big rocks in my aqaurium and I am afraid that she might get her head stuck. Will she?

[Safdar]

Lmao
thats what i really dont know haha

i just think its safe to put something they can drawl up on to reach the top to get air

wait till somone more educatd comes
Sorry

[grey goose]

The main reason turts will drown is if they get stuck somewhere and they can't get out. For some reason, turtles like to wedge themselves into tight spaces. If you have a young turtle, keep the decorations to a minimum until he gets older, and even then avoid anything that would be a tight fit for him to get into......
Also, if you use a canister filter, make sure the strainer is on tightly! A turtle could get stuck in the intake and drown.

[Safdar]

oo i see
Thanxs

[SpotsMama]

If you use a zoo med Turtle Dock (which are great basking platforms, by the way), be sure to turn the plastic frame upside down so the horizontal bar is at the top, then remove the suckers from the prongs at the bottom, the ones under water. This will make the dock more flexible so if the turtle gets stuck between it and the wall of the tank, he can get loose.

Be careful of decorations, like Goose said. My turtle had a little plaster alligator in his tank that he loved - it was his favorite thing. He was always fooling around with it. There was a hole in the bottom of it, and one day I heard a clank and looked over and Spot had wedged his head and front feet in the hole and was stuck tight as could be. If I hadn't seen it he would have drowned right then and there. I couldn't get him loose and thought we'd lost him, but my husband used a screwdriver and hammer to try to break the alligator open and he finally popped out.

The moral of that story is - anything that a turtle can get stuck in, he probably will.