General Care Discussion :: turtle keep pushing filter out of water area, why?

[TXGUY]

hello all, as new memeber of this awesome website, have a lot of questions, but what really catch my attention is this:

my turtle (DONATELLO) keep pushing the water filter out of the water with his shell, he push push till has the filter out or as much he can , WHY??
i think he has plenty room,to swim
DONATELLO IS ABOUT 2 YEARS OLD, 5-6 INCH SHELL SIZE IN 20 GAL TANK,

hope to hear from you guys and girls

[octpusgirl8]

Turtles are jerks about that kind of thing sometimes. They like to squeeze into things and rearrange things. My turtle is always oulling the water oump off of it's suction cups. one time he did it and it was splashing water out of the tank. That was kinda annoying.

[TXGUY]

thanks girl gives me alittle bit of relax

[Jessy Loves Torti!]

uhm, actually no offense, but youre boy doesnt have enough swimming room! you need a bigger tank, most definantly.
the general rule is 10 gallons for every inch of shell, so you need a 50 to 60 gallon tank, bigger is prefered.
www.craiglist.com has good, cheap, used tanks in your area. good luck!

[SpotsMama]

I think Jessy has a good point. A 5" or 6" turtle will feel really squeezed in a 20 gallon tank, especially if an internal filter is taking up more space. He may be trying to push the filter out to make more space for himself. He should be in a 50 to 60 gallon tank at least. If your budget doesn't allow you to get a glass aquarium that's that big, why don't you look into a big rubbermaid tub or stock tank. They make excellent turtle habitats and are quite inexpensive.

A big benefit of a bigger tank is that it will be much much easier to keep clean.

[RunninWideOpen]

Welcome to the forum TXguy. Love the turtle name. I named one of mine Donny.

Ditto to what everyone else said, no reason to repeat it. I got a 135 gallon tank on craigslist with an expensive filtering system for only $275. rubbermaids are great too tho.

[TXGUY]

thanks all, for your comments, i will try to get bigger tanks as soon i'm able to spend some money and have a good place for it

God bless ALL

[marisa]

By chance is your turtle starting to shed scutes? If so, he could be rubbing his shell against the filter, making it rise. Or, there could be some debris trapped under the filter which your turtle is trying to get at.

Along with a bigger tank, get a better filter--- a canister, one that sits outside the tank. It will allow your turtle maximum room and he won't have the filter to push around.

[TXGUY]

no he is not sheding , yes,I been thinking on the outside filter, thanks for the comment

[TXGUY]

no he is not sheding , yes,I been thinking on the outside filter, thanks for the comment