Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi.

I have a question on how to construct some type of floating dock for my turtles. I have three of them in a large aquarium, 120 gallons or so. They are all about 5-7 inches in length.

I have tried different types of wood, in differnt shapes and sizes with no success. My turtles always have trouble getting on them, either they are too heavy or the docks are too tipsy.

Does anyone know of any good turtle docks that I could make myself??

Thanks for the help.
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Mike
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2 Painted
1 Musk
1 Common Snapper
1 Cooter
1 Map
1 RES
1 Corn Snake
1.1 Water Dragons
2 African Frogs
1 Toad
1.0 Degu
1.2 Chihuahuas
0.1 Cat

They have an actual product called the "Turtle Dock". It works really good and they can easily get up it. I would get the Large since tou have 3 bigger turtles.
Heres a link...and there even on sale!
Turtle Dock

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0.1 Red Eared Slider, 1.0 Common Snapper, 1.0 Bearded Dragon and a 55gal Native Fish Tank with a 6in LM Bass, 3 Crawdads and a Pleco.
I use to have a collection of Leopard Geckos that I bred, but have sold them.

My turtle's basking area doesn't float (except when she knocks the cork into the water) but I use an upside down wire basket which is open for swimming underneath. The ramp is a part from an old aquarium filter. I had now of those turtle docks but it broke in half but I am using the bracket to hold the ramp in place. Here's a picture:

What kind of turtle do you have in there? If its not a mud/musk/snapper fill that water up!
Chris
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0.1 Red Eared Slider, 1.0 Common Snapper, 1.0 Bearded Dragon and a 55gal Native Fish Tank with a 6in LM Bass, 3 Crawdads and a Pleco.
I use to have a collection of Leopard Geckos that I bred, but have sold them.

I've got an eastern painted. The water level was low that day and is normally to just below the bottom of the platform so that she's got head room underneath. This is a 100 gallon tank and is deep enough that she can stand on her toes and poke her nose out. She's got plenty of swimming room.

A system that worked for me was to have suspended platform in the rear of the tank (about 1/4 of the surface area). Access to this area was provided by a "hinged" ramp (hinged with loops of electrical bell wire through the ramp and platform) that was adjusted for bouyancy (usually just a piece of wood) so that it was partly submerged at the base and could provide a sloped access that rose and fell with the water level. The ramp was covered with vinyl stair tread material from your home improvement store to give traction. Since I wanted to utilize the full depth of the tank, I created an enclosure of plexiglass around the top rear of the tank to prevent escape. I left the front aquatic area open, however.

I used PVC pipe, zip ties and UV resistant screen....
this solution has been really solid for me. i've
not found anything "commercial" that can handle an
adult female.

-adam