General Care Discussion :: play pen!!

[ch12ag]

Right guys i was wondering if anyone has or is thinking of building a play pen out of tank to let our lil guys explore. I want to make one or get one any ideas??

[LorJ]

I've been considering making one for outside. With the dogs, it is difficult to do.

[Raphulk]

I don't know if river cooters behave the same way RES do, but I could give it a shot. Note that I don't have my own playpen, but this is just coming from my logic.


I know that you aren't supposed to leave a semi-aquatic turtle outside of water too long, 15 minutes tops. Especially with the sun out, they can get really dry. So for a play pen I'd suggest having a water bowl somewhere. The area doesn't have to be that big, scale it to the size of your turtle. And it just needs to be enclosed properly. If cooters are like RES, then they can dig well.

So in a nutshell, the goal is to make a turtle safe playpen that he/she cannot escape from.

[TheComputerGremlin]

Can you buy one of those plastic kiddie pools that are like $10 all over the place here in the States? You could use that as a playpen and put sand or dirt in it, even put a little pool in! Just a thought. Otherwise, good luck with your designs!

[ch12ag]

I went into a place called Pets at Home today in the UK. And I bought terrance a hamster cage which has a 2 level grill with sloping ladder to the ground, so i filled water up to an inch of the plastic bottom and hey presto ideal for the summer days outdoors, he has his swimming area and a basking area he seems to like it . Another great thing I got is a giant hamster ball its about 30cm in diameter little put my little terrance in it and he just roams around the house happily in his ball now . I also bought today a small animals play pen just some small metal fencing that links up to form a 36" diameter barrier where he can roam around outdoors during summer, will have to get some kind of grill top though before I use it because of the birds but shouldnt be hard finding one, hope this gives u guys some ideas to play around with they certainly work for me and terrance

[theartbook35]

That's not a bad idea. I guess maybe like a plastic tub, with rocks in it, plants or maybe even those jingling cat balls, some people use those as toys for turtles from what I've heard.

There are small, fresh air terrariums that I've seen on many websites, that have a mesh wall, and some artificial plants built in. Their kind of pretty, too.

[steve]

My turtles seem to quickly get tired of their dry dock area or their outdoor basking area... both are fairly large, they just don't like it in an enclosed area.