Reptile & Amphibian Forums

i've got two RES that I saved from a friend that didn't want them any more and they only had a 10 gallon tank for them which is all that i have to keep them in right now. that is why it is important for me to get them a bigger home. i've decided to build an outdoor pond for them to live in. i live in CA so they will be able to stay out there for all but the cold parts of winter.

anyway my question is about making the pond turtle safe. i want to make sure they wont leave the pond, but at the same time i want the pond to have a natural look to it. there are many raccoons around my house so they must be protected from them. those are the only two things i need help with. i've got filtration covered and construction of the acctual pond won't be a problem either. thanks for any help.

One adopter had her pond built so that the water level was below the reach of a racoon sitting on the edge - the pond had to be dug deeper, but she hasn't had any problems with her fish or turtles, and she lives right next to Rock Creek Park in DC, where there are racoons aplenty. If you had female sliders you could put in an egg-laying area the center of the pond, as a precaution against egg-binding while still maintaining the racoon-free zone. Or you could install an electric fence.

Katrina

Hi thanks for the ideas our pond is going into the side of a hill so i should be able to make it as deep as i want without having to dig much more the other side of the pond is against a wall
i haven't put much thought into an egg area yet because my turtles are young still, but in about a year they will be ready to lay eggs and it looks like i have 1 male and 1 female so i may be getting some eggs wether i like it or not (i like it!) so anyway i was wonder what an egg laying area would require i'll be incubating any eggs so they don't need to stay there for very long
thanks

I dug my pond with an "egg-laying area". The Red Ears will have nothing to do with it, they will work on escaping to the point of injury so that they can get as far from the pond as possible to dig and lay their eggs. Until today I would just observe their behavior and when they looked like they were relentlessly trying to get out I would just let them out to do their thing. My yard is fenced and they are 20 years old, so birds aren't a problem either. But this morning I tried something different. I set up a couple of ramps to facilitate the process. I put two of the potential escapees out in the yard and they dug and layed all morning and when they were done they found the ramp and went back home, amazing critters. They had to walk around my in- ground swimming pool to get there, but they went home.