Turtle pond

[Stanzzzz7]

That's a fat pigeon!
Love the turtles and pond!
What do you do in winter........or is there not a real winter where you are?

Thanks.
The turtles stay out all year. They brumate in the winter. Lots of turtles are extremely cold tolerant. Cold is not really the issue. Its oxygen that is most important.
They will need well oxygenated water through the winter as they will spend most of their time under water then.
They will also require easy access out of the pond in early spring. Lots of turtles can do well in the uk and they are starting to breed in the wild here now. People have been dumping them and they are not such a rare sight in rivers and lakes over here any more.

 

[Ogertron3000]

Looks like a nice spot to kick back and relax in at the end of the day.
Aren't you guys having a record heatwave at the moment? How are the turtles handling the high temps?

 

[twentyleagues]

Thanks.
The turtles stay out all year. They brumate in the winter. Lots of turtles are extremely cold tolerant. Cold is not really the issue. Its oxygen that is most important.
They will need well oxygenated water through the winter as they will spend most of their time under water then.
They will also require easy access out of the pond in early spring. Lots of turtles can do well in the uk and they are starting to breed in the wild here now. People have been dumping them and they are not such a rare sight in rivers and lakes over here any more.

I knew that about turtles in general I just thought the pond looked as though it may freeze solid. I have no idea other then the pic just how big it is though. Where I'm at from the looks of it it would freeze solid. Glad to hear the turtles are finding a spot in the wild hope they dont become a neusence.

 

[Stanzzzz7]

Looks like a nice spot to kick back and relax in at the end of the day.
Aren't you guys having a record heatwave at the moment? How are the turtles handling the high temps?

We were having a heatwave until today. Its poured with rain all day.
The turtles are fine with the heat and spend a lot of thier time basking in the sun.
They cope with it much better than I do. I prefer it a little cooler.

 

[Stanzzzz7]

I knew that about turtles in general I just thought the pond looked as though it may freeze solid. I have no idea other then the pic just how big it is though. Where I'm at from the looks of it it would freeze solid. Glad to hear the turtles are finding a spot in the wild hope they dont become a neusence.

The pond is 4 foot deep 10 feet wide and around 15 feet long.
The pump will be lifted off the bottom to a higher shelf in the pond for winter. Doing this keeps filter bacteria alive, keeps the oxygen content high, and allows warmer water to stay at the bottom where the turtles are.
The pond never gets to freeze.

 

[MrsE88]

Gorgeous pond and turtles! Your little visitor is adorable!

 

[twentyleagues]

The pond is 4 foot deep 10 feet wide and around 15 feet long.
The pump will be lifted off the bottom to a higher shelf in the pond for winter. Doing this keeps filter bacteria alive, keeps the oxygen content high, and allows warmer water to stay at the bottom where the turtles are.
The pond never gets to freeze.

Wow! Didnt look that big! Do you have a build thread?

 

[Stanzzzz7]

Gorgeous pond and turtles! Your little visitor is adorable!

Thank you MrsE88. He certainly is. He's 11 years old and his former keeper felt he deserved a better life.
He made a 3,5 hour car journey to bring little Donnie to my house.
The guy really wanted the best for his turtle and looked genuinely sad to be handing him over. After owning this turtle fir a while I can see why. He act like a puppy.

 

[Stanzzzz7]

Wow! Didnt look that big! Do you have a build thread?

No I don't have a build thread I'm afraid.i dug the main pond years ago. I recently added the water falls.
This was in preparation for keeping the turtles.
The water falls are connected by two small but quite deep pools that are full of gravel and lava rock for added filtration. I have also added marginal plants like arum lily to one of these ponds to aid as vegetable filtration.
The rest of the filter is hidden, partially buried behind the waterfall and is fed by a 20000 lph pump.
I also had to make more shelves in the pond so the turtles can climb out easily in the spring.

 

[Ogertron3000]

We were having a heatwave until today. Its poured with rain all day.
The turtles are fine with the heat and spend a lot of thier time basking in the sun.
They cope with it much better than I do. I prefer it a little cooler.

That's surprising, I thought the turtles would have rode out the heat underneath the water, guess they took advantage of the sun.
I made the mistake of showing the pictures to my 4 year old with the inevitable result, if I hear her ask for a turtle one more time today I will explode!