General Care Discussion :: Kiddie Pool

[TNTurtles]

So i bought a $7 kiddie pool from petsmart and the turtles love it. Ill go out there and sit with them for a couple hours and they bask almost the whole time. The only problem is the water gets warm really fast. I add cold water every hour or so to try to keep it cool but they dont seem to mind too much.

But, heres my question. The first day i did this and i brought them back inside...the next morning one of them was swimming just a little lopsided. Could this be from the temperature change from the hot outside to the cooler inside? Kind of like humans get a cold during temp changes?

[steve]

Do you know what the temps are? Mine have been in conditions where the water was warmer or colder but that didn't seem to phase them. If he is swimming properly now, then I wouldn't worry about it too much, though you may want to change the way you are adding water.

[TNTurtles]

well the water was rising to about 84 maybe hotter and the outside temp could have gone about 90 maybe higher/lower. This just started yesterday so its still the same but ill keep an eye on it. Do you think me adding cold water could do something? I only add enough to bring the water down to about 80

[steve]

Could you add some every 30 minutes or so before there is a big difference in temps?

[TNTurtles]

yes i could =)! thanks alot steve

[KellyP]

Could you put the pool partly in the shade? That might help with the water temp.

[TNTurtles]

yea as soon as it stops raining im gonna start having half of the pool in the shade so to keep the pool water staying cooler

[marisa]

When I used a kiddie pool, I would put a board over a portion of it to keep it shaded. Adding some plants like water hyacinth would also give your turtle something to burrow under in the heat.

[sarah]

I saw someone mention the kiddie pool in a diff. post and was planning on going out and getting one as soon as I could...
I'm not so sure now..if it can affect their health?!

[marisa]

If you take care to give them shade and don't allow the temps to get too high, a kiddie pool can be fine for smaller turtles. Also protecting them from predators by putting a cover over the pool with a mesh like hardware cloth (you can buy at hardware stores, home centers, etc.) would be good. If you're really worried, supervise them while they're in it.

[fishandcandy]

If possible put part of the kiddie pool in the shade of the house or fence or tree. That'll be a little cooler than just puttting a board over it.

[marisa]

The pool was exposed to direct light for a relatively short time before the area it was in became shaded. It was during that time the I used a board. And, the temp was being monitored and partial water changes were taking place...