Posted: Sun Jul 22, 2018 3:44 am Re: Outdoor habitat
In mid April I saw a large RES crossing a very busy road in an area where a new, very large housing development was under construction. I brought her home to my back yard, where I had a 30 gallon pond with waterfall built into my garden. She seemed to settle in and liked to nestle herself into a large geranium bush that was approximately 4 feet in diameter. It wasn't long before she explored the rest of my yard and traveled to the cover of my built in pool and waded about in small water puddles on the cover that were rich in pollen, leaves and insects. She would bask there by day then seek the cover of the geranium bush later in the day. Well, in May the pool cover came off and she just took over the pool-40,000 gallons to swim about in. Concerned that the chlorine might affect her, I'd scoop her out and re-orient her to the pond and geranium bush. No sooner than I do that, she scoots back to the pool. She is so happy just gliding on top of the pool, head up, not a care in the world it seems. So I added cinder blocks and large pieces of shale so she has a platform to climb out and bask on. Where I live, it gets pretty hot- this week it has been 100 degrees every day. The pool water temps 3 feet down is 85 degrees. On days I super chlorinate I put her into a large dog crate with a cat litter box full of water for at least 48 hours (she is not happy). This week I noticed she dropped 10 eggs all over the bottom of the deep end of my pool. Since she has been in my yard just over 3 months, I don't think they are fertile. (I took one out, cracked the shell, and there was yellow liquid yolk but there was a solid yellow chunk as well). I have no idea if she had been living in the wild for a long or short time before I found her, so I am not sure how I need to prepare her for the winter. I will put my pool cover back on in September or October- do I leave her outside in my garden where the temps generally go down to 40s at night (sometimes cooler) or create some sort of indoor pen in my spare garage with a heat lamp and mini pond. Feedback appreciated.