Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have three red eared sliders that are about a year old (maybe less). Our tank is set up so that there is gravel at the bottom and the turtle have a floating platform to bask on. Recently, within the past month, the turtles have been digging in the gravel and messing up their tank!! They dig like crazy!! I'll change the water, and then a day later it is all cloudy because of all the digging they are doing!! They have never done this before. Is this normal behavior, or should I be worrying? How can I get them to stop?? I don't have time to change the water everyday?? What should I do??

Thanks a lot!!!

well you really shouldnt have to change the water daily if you have a filter. the filter has to be larger than just a fish filter because turtles are MUCH MORE messy than fish! also, you should have a tank that is large enough for your three turtles, which is 10 gallons of water per inch of turtle. This means if you have 3 turtles about an inch each, you should AT LEAST have a 30 gallon tank. This will also help to cut down on the 'mess' that they make. also, most of the people, including me, on this forum do NOT use a substrate suck as gravel because it traps the dirt. and turtles are VERY messy! your best bet would honestly be to get rid of the gravel and get yourself a filter, considering your tank is large enough for the turtles! good luck....
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~ Evie

Pets:
RIP 0.1.0 German Shepherd {Dusty}
0.1.0 German Shepherd/Collie mix {Shadoe}
0.0.2 RES turtles {Booger & Snot}
1.0.0 African Clawed Frog {Bingo}
0.0.2 Snail {Gary & Larry}

I agree...first evaluated wether the tank is big enough for the three turtles...depending on their current size (and of course future size!) you might need a much bigger tank then you suspect.

If the tank is an ok size make sure you have a good filter...canaster filters work well, although they are expensive. It is a good idea to get one that is rated for many more gallons than it will be filtering because a. this will keep the tank cleaner and b. you can use it when you have to move your turtles into a bigger tank as they grow.

And lastly you may just have to remove the substrate. This also makes clean up much easier!
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