General Care Discussion :: question about docks

[sx2r]

I bought the large zoo-med dock for shelly, but she barley fits on it, she has a hard time getting on, and when she does it sinks abit that half of her is still submerssed in water. My husband is afraid to fill the tank any more since its not a tank ment for water (we are keeping an eye out for a proper tank) but in the mean time I kind of want to make a bigger dock, that can support my almost full grown res. Any ideas on how I can make a dock? I've heard to use cork bark but I can't find any in town and I don't know if that would support a adult res? I've heard about using reg foam but wouldn't that release chemicals in to her water? Idk. Kinda mad her dock isn't working for her but I can always give it to my smaller guys. But she needs something too.

[mantis]

you can use pvc and tile pretty much anything that wont leach anything back in the water. i had one of those docks they are not that great for bigger turtles. i now use mine as a ramp to my atba. but a lot of people use egg crate and differnt plastics. they all should chime in and help.

[steve]

What kind of tank do you have? If it's not meant to hold water, then it's not safe for you or the turtle. I would first address that, so you don't have to do things twice. Anyway, for a temporary fix, you can look into a resin platform, though they're not big enough for a full-sized adult.

[sx2r]

I have a zilla tank that's 36" x 18". I read online that should not be filled to the top because the glass is thin and there's no structure to hold it from bowing. When I took her in this is the tank they had her in since she was a hatchling. She's 10" now. I can't afford to go and buy a better tank new, so I'm keeping my eye open online. Nothing has come up yet unfortuniatly. I'm hoping to do something that she won't sink but doesn't take up a lot of room like stacking rocks would.

I'm also having problems keeping filtration going in there. She came with an partial submerisable filter but she kept pushing it out of the water, so I bought a fluval fully submerssiable filter and it just wasn't cutting it, so my husband added a small sump to the set up but as we speak she's trying to push the pick up pipe out.
She may be cute but she's a pain! Lol, my other ones are so easy right now!.

[ataraxiamb]

It sounds like your tank is WAY too small for your turtle. Probably half the size of the minimum size tank she needs. You might start with even a larger plastic storage container, which is a lot cheaper than a bigger tank until you can afford a the tank upgrade.