Reptile & Amphibian Forums

we just had five westeren painted turtles hatch this sat 04/09/05 and do not really know what to do for them. we have a large backyard pond with some large koi in it and when the little turtles were in the water the koi tried to eat them so we have them in the house now. how long after the hatch do they eat ? is it not odd that they hatched now ? in april. we have had there mother for a year now she is doing just find. also does anyone know if it really a bad idea to have this turtle in the same pond as our large koi? anyone with help for us?

i would put the hatchlings in a childrens plastic wading pool. then you can still keep them outside and not have the fish eat them. you can use a stump or rounded rock for basking and cover part with a tarp or the like for shade. the turtles should be eating now. try frozen bloodworms. they also make baby turtle food that is small enough for them to eat without biting. im not sure the name but reptimin broken up might work too. hope it helps.

Many times painteds will "winter over"- stay in ground until Spring if late Summer weather is not optimal for hatching. It may take a week or so, or less, for them to eat- depends on how much egg sack was digested over winter. Koi pond is a bad idea till the little guys are well started.I've kept mine in a small aquarium and fed chopped minnows, worms, and pelleted food till they were big enough to release.Daily H2O cleaning is a must, so keep the tank simple. Good Luck!

THANK YOU JODY.
WE DID BRING THEM IN TO THE HOUSE & HAVE THEM IN AND BABY BATH TUB FROM NOW . CLEAN DAILY OK. THANKS AGAIN. LINDA

The babies can take several days to eat as they absorb their yolk sac. Try live blood worms, chopped up earth worms, or live feeder guppies just to get them started. Large koi will eat just about anything that they can cram into their mouths so I would wait untill they are a few inched long before going into the pond. Another thing to consider is predators. I don't know where you live but here in NJ we have raccoons, cats, and crows who would all love to snack on some baby turtles sitting out in a baby pool. I would deffinetely recomend setting up a tank for them with some good full spectrum lighting untill they are not quite so delicate. Good luck.

i just took them outside today for awhile , the sun was out. i live in washington state about 100 mile north of seattle and we too have all the pests. any way thank you zach

just to let you all know the babies are doing well. last nite sat. they ate some earth worms we dug up in the yard and that is the first time we have seen them eat. it has been a week .
just wanted to say a very warm thank you to all the answed my plea.
thank you
linda in lynden wa.

That's great! I'm so happy you were able to get such good advise and that they're doing well.

hi my name is brian you should feed the turtles after the yolk sack is gone about the pond i don't know i wouldn't try it

Hi,
I too have a couple of watergardens/garden ponds. We have a couple of painted turtle clutches a year. In fact just found one sunday. 7 turtles in this nest. The adults live year round in the ponds here in kansas. Drawbacks for the small ones are a few. The koi can definitely eat them along with bullfrogs, although I don't think they are a problem in washington state. The other main problem is your filter system. If you have a skimmer filter, that is worse than any predator. I usually have had mine hatch in late summer and overwintered inside. But a couple of months of feeding and growing and they should be fine in pond. A bog area can help speed things up because they will normally stay in there. Hope that helps.