Turtle Pond Part II

I moved our red slider turtles outdoors back in the spring.  Everything was going well.  The turtles enjoyed their new home, even though the weather was cool then warm and back to cool.  We added twelve feeder goldfish to the pond to eat excess turtle food and serve as a food source for the turtles, if needed.  With the continuous rain the pond stayed full.  A severe algal bloom caused a soupy green appearance for a week.  I purchased a fish safe algaecide and  the water cleared in three days.  All was going well after the algal bloom.

The kids and I went on a road trip mid-July.  I called Hubby to remind him to feed the turtles.  He did and text me that the water in the pond was low.  He added more water and everything was fine.  He left on his business trip with the pond full of water.  The kids and I returned three days, after his departure, and found a near empty pond.  The poor turtles and fish had about three inches of water in the pond!  I immediately filled the pond and sighed a breath of relief that the filter had not fried itself.

I have checked the pond around the sides for signs of where the leak may be.  I haven't found anything to denote a leak.  I have been filling the pond twice a day to keep the filter submerged.  This has become quite a chore and I do not want to leave it to my neighbor to take care of when we go on vacation.  She always takes care of the animals when we leave to go on trips.  We in turn take care of hers.

Today the children and I went to our local home improvement store and bought a new preformed pond for the turtles.  I hated having to spend the money ($100) on a new turtle pond, but I really had no choice. (Have I mentioned how expensive these turtles have become?)

I created a deeper end and shallow end for the new pond.

Fitting the 125 gallon pond into the KIA was a challenge.  I had to put down the second row seats and wedge it into the back.  Then I realized that Little Man needed to sit in the car to get back home.  So, I made enough room to get him in a seat and buckled.  Thank goodness I didn't have three kids with me!

We got the pond home and I needed to find a spot for it.  I liked where I had the other pond, but I really wanted to be able to see the turtles better.  I placed the new pond near the sidewalk and pool path.  I can look out my dining room window and see the bubbling fountain.

Ozzy is chilling in his new pond.  

The turtles were easy to move to the new pond.  I was very surprised.  No hissing or thrashing as I placed them in a bowl for transport.  The fish were more of a challenge.  We are down to just three.  The turtles have evidently enjoyed fresh fish over the past three months.

The orange objects are the fish.  They decided to stick close together.

Now, hopefully, the pond holds water and won't spring a leak!

Turtle Pond

The turtles have finally out grown their indoor tank!  Harriet and Franklin have grown so much, that I cannot pick them up without using both hands.  They hate being moved and hiss loudly in disapproval.  I don't want to be bitten and quite frankly, I am tired of cleaning the filter on a daily basis.  So, I began making preparations for their outdoor facility a few weeks ago.

The three amigos when we first brought them home.

Harriet has definitely outgrown the floating dock.

Franklin, Ozzy and Harriet.

When we moved into our home nine years ago, the previous owner had left a molded outdoor pond.  I have always wanted to use it, but just couldn't decide where to put it.  So, it has sat.  That is until three weeks ago.  I cleaned it up and found the perfect place to put it.

Once I had it in place, I began taking inventory of the items I would need to create a turtle pond.  A durable filter was a must.  I scoured the internet and found many homemade filters and I began to seriously think about building one.  Then, I went to Lowes and found a filter and pump.  The pump was rated at 300 gallons per hour and the filter had all the components the homemade filters recommended.  It wasn't cheap, but it was convenient.

I filled the pond with water.  Added some quartz rocks we have dug up a few years ago, so the turtles could climb on the ledges of the pond.  I then placed the pump/filter in the pond and let it run for twenty-four hours.

The turtles love digging in the rocks of the the aquarium and I didn't have rocks covering the bottom of the pond.  So, another trip to Lowes solved that problem.  While there, I purchased plastic hardware cloth to cover the pond.  I figure I needed to try and keep any animals out of the pond and the turtles in it.  I don't really think the turtles would be able to escape, but you never know.

I also stopped by PetsMart and purchased a dozen feeder goldfish for the pond.  Turtles are such messy eaters and I thought the fish would be perfect to eat the remaining bits of food.  Little Man was excited to get fish for the pond.

Once home, we floated the fish in the pond.  I washed the newly purchased rock and added it to the pond.  The rocks were the perfect size for the turtles to dig in.  Little Man helped me with the hardware cloth and I secured it with screws.  Everything was finally ready for the turtles.

Harriet and Franklin were not fond of being uprooted out of the aquarium.  A few hisses of disapproval were emitted.  Each one was transported to the pond.  Both turtles seemed to like their new surroundings.

Harriet immediately shoved the filter/pump and turned it on its side.  Then, Franklin decided to help her.  I had to reposition it.  As soon as I turned the pump back on, they did it again.  Ugh!  I decided to add rocks to the filter and hoped it would be too heavy for them to move.  Luckily, that worked.

They still wanted something to hide under and weren't thrilled with the flower pot I had placed in the pond.  I took an old swimming kick board and put it in the pond.  That did the trick.  Both turtles swam under it and began digging in the rocks.

Poor little Ozzy was left in the aquarium.   I had planned on leaving him there for a month and try to get him fattened up.  However, he wouldn't eat.  I think he missed his two friends.  So, out went Ozzy a couple days later.  He is definitely happy in the pond.

Hopefully, all goes well with the turtles.  They are constantly scratching around in the rocks and dart about.  They have yet to bask on the ledges.  They should adjust and enjoy their outdoor home.

It's Been Busy

Life has been busy the last week.  I finally have the yard mulched.  (Except the playground.  Little Man requested the mulch be left in a pile for him to play on.  I obliged his request for the time being.)

We have had baseball practice, office work, taking care of a friend's cats (while she is on vacation), home school class, household stuff, turtle pond project, and a lot of rain!

My week in pics:

Fruit trees mulched

Playground mulch pile for Little Man.

Wanting to play ball!

One of the cats we are watching.

Feeding the koi we are watching.  Love the pond!

Making kites at the homeschool class.

Flying the kites!

What is up with spring?

Rain!

The yard couldn't take much more.

Turtle pond

Turtle pond with cover.

Now, it is back to work!  Hopefully, things will slow down soon.

Turtle Time

The turtles keep growing and growing.  The tank that seemed so large a year ago, now looks so tiny!  Harriet and Franklin are needing more room.  Poor little Ozzy is the only one not complaining. 

The plan is to make an outdoor pond for them.  I have started the design and trying to get things in order to create their new home.  I won't be able to place the trio outdoors until it warms up.  I don't want to shock them.  So, I am having to become creative in letting them stretch their legs.

Harriet checking out the tub.

Today, I filled the bathtub half full of warm water and placed Harriet and Franklin in it.  They weren't too sure of this.  However, after a few minutes, they have settled into a larger pool of water.  I left Ozzy in the turtle tank.  Sometimes, when Harriet is displaced she picks on poor Ozzy.

Franklin swimming around the new digs.

I have checked on them every fifteen minutes.  They seem to really like the tub.  So, this may become a few days of the week endeavor.   It won't be to long and the pair will out grow the tub! 

Turtle play time!

Turtles

We love vacationing at the beach every year. My children would rather go down to the low country and sink their toes into the white sand than anywhere else. The island we stay at has one store and they sell all the tourist stuff plus turtles. Little baby red eared slider turtles to be exact. The children love looking at them and beg to get one. Every summer we tell them no. That is until I lost my mind! Knowing that we would homeschool this year, I told the kids they could each get one turtle during our summer vacation. I had a tank from my classroom that I figured we could use. The turtles would make a great science project. We could measure their weight, shell length and width, learn about turtles, etc. The kids were ecstatic and could not wait to get to the beach. 

Now I had not fully done my research on these little critters. When I said we would get turtles, I did not know that they would get upwards of twelve inches when fully grown! I was thinking around four inches. So being a person to keep my word to the children, I still allowed them to pick out a turtle each. Hopefully, the turtles will grow slowly.

We went to the beach store the first day of our vacation. Egee picked out ‘Harriet’ and Little Man picked out ‘Franklin’. They were happy and we hoped that having two reptiles did not violate the no pets rule of the condo. 

Franklin was finicky. He would not eat. This was not a good sign and we thought surely the little fellow wouldn’t survive the week. Harriet ate everything, so we knew she would be a keeper. However, one day after returning from an outing, we discovered Harriet a float upside down in her tank. The little bugger had died after two days in our care. Egee was devastated.
We called the shop and explained that the turtle had died. They were understanding and told us we could get another, no charge. So back in the van and off to the shop. Egee picked out another Harriet and the man encouraged us to have another one just in case Franklin didn’t make it. He said it was on the house. So now we have three turtles! We named the third little one Ozzy.

It has been nine months and the turtles are going strong. We had a rough patch during the winter when they stopped eating. I just knew it was a matter of time before one killed over. Harriet almost did! We came home one evening and she was upside down in the tank. I rushed to rescue her and we put her in a small tank with little water. She came through it and has tripled her weight.

We love watching the Three Amigos (the term we use for all three). Each has a different personality. Ozzy is still the smallest of the three. He is catching up to the others. They are growing by leaps and bounds, but still small in terms of a red eared slider. That is fine with me! 

 

Ozzy, Franklin, and Harriet