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I've been thinking of a way to protect the live plants and some of the fish in my turtles tank. Right now I have a basking platform w/ ramp that's made out of pvc pipe legs hot glued to a piece of eggcrate. I already tried attaching some pothos plants to the eggcrate using plastic trash bag ties and letting the roots dangle in the water. Well the turtles didn't bother the plant's leaves but they've completely trimmed the roots that were in the water.

Sooo...I'm thinking I could hot glue some more eggcrate material to the pvc legs to form a protected area under the basking platform. Then the plant's roots could grow undisturbed in this protected "cage within a cage". I was also thinking that now I could add some aquatic plants to the cage where they could grow unhindered, absorbing the nutrients from the turtle's waste (I always like to try to replicate natural ecosystems). Plus, it would provide a safe area for any fish in the tank, even giving them a place to breed (of course most of the fish may eventually get eaten, but at least the smart ones will have a better chance).

A cage like this could be constructed for any turtle enclosure by just glueing 6 eggcrate panels together, perhaps leaving one panel unglued for access and using plastic ties to keep it secure. You could even attach some fake plants or decoration to the eggcrate to hide it from view.

Just thought I'd share this with anyone who would also like to keep live plants and fish with their turtles.

I've been told pothos vines are deadly poisonous...

Could you post a photo of your enclosure?

Hmm, I've heard that pothos can be a mild irritant for some humans, but that they are safe for reptiles. I and others have fed them to our bearded dragons with no ill effects.

As far as pics, I will post some soon.

Here's where I got the info. I have seen that people have fed their reptiles the plant with no visable ill affects, but I think it's probably safer not to.
http://www.vet.purdue.edu/depts/addl/toxic/plant03.htm

scripta_elegans wrote:Here's where I got the info. I have seen that people have fed their reptiles the plant with no visable ill affects, but I think it's probably safer not to.
http://www.vet.purdue.edu/depts/addl/toxic/plant03.htm

Thanks for the link! Thankfully I've only given a couple of leaves to my dragons a long time ago. I'll make sure not to do that again, though. I will also pull them out of the turtle's tank until I get the "cage" built. Then I'll put them in again as long as they leave it alone. They do a great job of filtering the water.

SpotsMama wrote:Could you post a photo of your enclosure?

Here's some pics of my setup. Mind you, this is only temporary housing while I build my indoor pond.

Finished with the "cage" today. Added some some live plants (can't get anacharis here in NH ) inside the "cage" and some plastic plants glued to the outside to hide some of the plastic. I also picked up a crayfish at Petco for free and a dozen Rosy Red Minnows. It was hilarious watching the turtles trying to catch the minnows! I think they may have caught a couple, but the smart ones have hidden in the "cage".

Here's some pics...

I hate to tell you but there are probably some real tough times ahead for the crayfish. Maybe for the turtles are well. Check this out:

http://www.redearslider.com/forum/viewt ... t=crayfish

The best thing would be to remove the crayfish from the turtle tank and let them play happily with their minnows.

SpotsMama wrote:I hate to tell you but there are probably some real tough times ahead for the crayfish. Maybe for the turtles are well. Check this out:

http://www.redearslider.com/forum/viewt ... t=crayfish

The best thing would be to remove the crayfish from the turtle tank and let them play happily with their minnows.

I was hoping once the crayfish found a safe spot in the cage that they would leave eachother alone. I have nowhere else to put him at the moment. I think the turtles stand a better chance with him than the frogs do. He's only about 2" long.

where did you get your egg crate cage material? I have been looking for something like that but I haven't been able to find it anywhere

I got it at Lowe's in the aisle with the ceiling panels. It's in the same section as the light diffuser panels. It's really easy to work with too.