Wayfarin
Arachnoknight
- Joined
- Mar 20, 2022
- Messages
- 234
(LONG THREAD)
Hello folks!
Anyone who is acquainted with my posts probably knows that we have a red-eared slider turtle at home.
She's currently living in less than ideal conditions for her species (her tank and temporary bin set up are too small) and we've been thinking about giving her a more ideal setup.
I've struggled to decide on what kind of setup would be ideal (the only thing that I've decided is that she needs more space) and I've planned on keeping her in anything from a 55-gallon glass tank to a plastic tub over 300 gallons in capacity.
At this point I've realized that the most affordable ideal setup would probably be an outdoor pond. A liner for a 500-gallon pond costs about as much as a glass aquarium that's way too small for any adult red-eared slider.
A pond certainly would seem like what our turtle would prefer to live in as well.
Of course, there are risks. Red-eared sliders are infamously skilled invaders outside of their native range, and that's where our slider lives.
Likewise, there are raccoons, skunks, and cats in our town, and I've even seen a fox, a mink, and an otter on the outskirts of our town.
I also doubt that the pond could have any electricity powering it, so it would have to be largely self-sustaining, aside from a few solar-powered devices.
But I also suspect that it may be possible to do right.
There is one thing that kind of concerns me in particular, though.
Frogs are quite abundant in our area. I don't suppose that it would be easy to keep them out of our turtle's pond.
I know that sliders have somewhat of a voracious appetite for frogs and tadpoles.
I suppose that it would be possible to create some sort of frog-proof turtle pond, but I honestly would like to have the frogs hanging around the pond for biodiversity.
But I wouldn't want to have our turtle devouring large quantities of innocent frogs, as I'm interesting in making our yard a haven for wildlife, not a death trap.
Even if we could come up with some enclosure setup that prevents frogs from colonizing the pond, I would probably want to add a bullfrog or two to the pond simply because of my fondness for them. I'd imagine that bullfrogs would be the safest choice, although I've seen YouTube videos to suggest that even large frogs may be attacked by relentless turtles.
Obviously, in the wild, turtles and frogs coexist without the turtles decimating them. So there must be some way to minimize or prevent turtles from devouring frogs.
Would it be possible to replicate this in an artificial turtle pond? And how small of a pond would be able to maintain this balance?
I've heard of online advice like adding lots of lush vegetation, but if I recall correctly, turtles often devour this as well. I'm not sure if that would be an major issue, though.
Does anyone have any suggestions concerning this? Any input would be appreciated. Either about the frogs, the turtle, or about anything else that I've said.
(Although both red-eared sliders and bullfrogs have a reputation for being invasive, only red-ears are non-native here, which is why I might add a bullfrog to the pond if possible.)
Thanks! God bless!
Hello folks!
Anyone who is acquainted with my posts probably knows that we have a red-eared slider turtle at home.
She's currently living in less than ideal conditions for her species (her tank and temporary bin set up are too small) and we've been thinking about giving her a more ideal setup.
I've struggled to decide on what kind of setup would be ideal (the only thing that I've decided is that she needs more space) and I've planned on keeping her in anything from a 55-gallon glass tank to a plastic tub over 300 gallons in capacity.
At this point I've realized that the most affordable ideal setup would probably be an outdoor pond. A liner for a 500-gallon pond costs about as much as a glass aquarium that's way too small for any adult red-eared slider.
A pond certainly would seem like what our turtle would prefer to live in as well.
Of course, there are risks. Red-eared sliders are infamously skilled invaders outside of their native range, and that's where our slider lives.
Likewise, there are raccoons, skunks, and cats in our town, and I've even seen a fox, a mink, and an otter on the outskirts of our town.
I also doubt that the pond could have any electricity powering it, so it would have to be largely self-sustaining, aside from a few solar-powered devices.
But I also suspect that it may be possible to do right.
There is one thing that kind of concerns me in particular, though.
Frogs are quite abundant in our area. I don't suppose that it would be easy to keep them out of our turtle's pond.
I know that sliders have somewhat of a voracious appetite for frogs and tadpoles.
I suppose that it would be possible to create some sort of frog-proof turtle pond, but I honestly would like to have the frogs hanging around the pond for biodiversity.
But I wouldn't want to have our turtle devouring large quantities of innocent frogs, as I'm interesting in making our yard a haven for wildlife, not a death trap.
Even if we could come up with some enclosure setup that prevents frogs from colonizing the pond, I would probably want to add a bullfrog or two to the pond simply because of my fondness for them. I'd imagine that bullfrogs would be the safest choice, although I've seen YouTube videos to suggest that even large frogs may be attacked by relentless turtles.
Obviously, in the wild, turtles and frogs coexist without the turtles decimating them. So there must be some way to minimize or prevent turtles from devouring frogs.
Would it be possible to replicate this in an artificial turtle pond? And how small of a pond would be able to maintain this balance?
I've heard of online advice like adding lots of lush vegetation, but if I recall correctly, turtles often devour this as well. I'm not sure if that would be an major issue, though.
Does anyone have any suggestions concerning this? Any input would be appreciated. Either about the frogs, the turtle, or about anything else that I've said.
(Although both red-eared sliders and bullfrogs have a reputation for being invasive, only red-ears are non-native here, which is why I might add a bullfrog to the pond if possible.)
Thanks! God bless!