Reptile & Amphibian Forums

i am not sure what to do, i want to get a big tank or like a little pool for my eastern to rome around in. if i would get a tank i would want like a 55 or 75 gallon tank. or a kiddy pool for inside? if i did have one inside what would be a easy to clean substrate to put on the bottom of it? which is better for my turtle a pool or a huge tank?

actually(IMO) neither,
your turtle is old enough to have an outside enclosure, and if you house both your "russian box turtle" and your eastern together a 75tank/kiddy pool wouldn't be big enough
"tanks" are not good for box turtles, they can see out them and they do not understand the odd invisable barrier, and slowly become depressed, a kiddy pool would be big enough to house your eastern for a short while(see the other kiddy pool post below)
but she's going to grow.. the best thing you could do(as far as housing goes) for your box turtle would be to build it an outside enclosure..

gotta go with Rouen on this one. i could not see keeping my boxies indoors, they need SPACE to roam. nathan has said the same in many posts. it is too hard and expensive to recreate nature when it is outdoors for you and the turtles to enjoy. you will save much money in the long run setting them up for outside.

well i can't build an outside enclosure because i have 3 cocker spaniels, that are very nosey. what should i do? should i get a big kiddy pool? my russian is captive bred so he should be just fine in the regular tank right? i think i will just go with the pool

You can have your eastern outside with dogs, you just need to create a good barrier. A typical outdoor enclosure for an eastern will need to have some sort of solid wall material extending down into the ground as well as above anyway. By having the above ground section made of something solid (ie not see through) and perhaps a little taller than usual, so that the dogs can't see in, and then a well secured cover, you'll probably be fine. I adapted mine slightly on one side to keep my dogs from injuring my turtles, and its working out well. The dogs have lost interest at this point.
In the long run, it will be MUCH easier for you to care for it if its outside.

StephF is right your turtle should be kept outside,
how do you know your tortoise is CB I thought you got it from a petstore?
even if it is CB though that doesn't mean it will be comfortable in an aquarium, I'm pretty sure tortoise breeders keep their torts outside or in VERY LARGE concrete/rubbermaide bins..
and if you keep your turtle/tortoise inside you're going to NEED all the special lights,
it's your call though.. I just hope ya do whats best for the turtle/tortoise

If your russian tortoise is an adult, I can 100% gaurantee to you that it is not captive bred and you were decieved. If you bought it at a pet store, there are probably 3 pet stores in the world that might sell captive bred russian tortoise hatchlings, but they would be outrageously expensive.

Either way, a tortoise also does better outdoors, they just seem to be able to survive indoors better than a box turtle if you give them a ton of space and lots of expensive uvb lighting (each bulb runs 30-60 bucks, depending on the type you use, and each must be replaced every 6 months). My wife and I spend a few hundred bucks in lightbulbs each year just for ONE bearded dragon living in a large cage (8'x2'x2') indoors, and this cage would be too small, in my opinion, for a russian tortoise, one of the farthest roaming tortoises of the world, they survive because of their strong instinct to travel long distances constantly searching for food and mates.

If you can't keep this animal outdoors, get together a few hundred bucks and build a 4'x8' turtle table and set it up with the lights it needs. Perhaps it will do okay.

If you purchased a box turtle with no ability to keep it outdoors, you've made a grave error. Grave for the turtle. I know now of two keepers who have success keeping their box turtles indoors. Each has invested many hundreds of dollars and almost as many hours in building a zoo exhibit to house them, with plumbing, lights, weather, plants, etc. taking up a large part of the people's homes. I suppose this will be unfortunate for the turtle, but a good lesson for you that buying animals because they look neat without first researching their needs is a bad idea. If there's one thing that is repeated over and over again by the experienced keepers on this forum, it's that one rule.

If you are willing to spend the fortune to make a zoo exhibit for your box turtle, after spending a lot to set up your russian tortoise (they'll need to be in separate rooms most likely since the boxie needs high humidity and the russian needs the opposite), there is a canadian who posts on this forum, named kanuck I believe, who I think would be the best person to talk to IN DEPTH about every detail of his work to set up his indoor environment.

Neither is acceptible. A box turtle living indoors is not going to survive well unless it is lucky enough to be owned by a zoo exhibit designer with a ton of money to work with, or someone with the same knowledge. A glass tank indoors is a slow deathtrap, the indoor kiddie pool might be a slightly slower deathtrap. Neither is much more than a purgatory for box turtles.