Habitat - Outdoor :: what should i need to know?

[chevvok]

hello everyone, i would first like to thank you for making a wonderful RES forum.

i had my RES for almost a year now and has not grown at all. he is still practically a baby and i think its because his aquarium was small. i been keeping him in a 15 gallon aquarium and decided to move him into a outdoor 40 gallon pond... this pond does not have any fish so he will be alone. i have two ponds and the 100 gallon pond has fish in it so im going to keep him in the 40 gallon pond im just worried that he will escape or something. the pond does not have a fence but it does have rocks surrounding the pond and i put a floating turtle dock in the pond as well. the pond only gets good sunlight in the morning but around 3 it starts to shade down.

what do i need to know? how can i make sure my RES dont escape and is protected.

[marisa]

Welcome. Forty gallons is very, very small for a pond (is it really a pond?). If it's in direct sunlight for any length of time, the water will heat up quickly, so I'd monitor the temps first to see how hot it gets. Your RES will need a shaded area. Aquatic plants will give him cover to hide under and also provide some protection from the heat if they cover enough of the water's surface.

If the turtle dock is floating, it's possible he could get on it, float to an edge and escape (you don't say how high the rocks are or if he could get on them). I'd anchor the dock in the center so it can't float around. Having some sort of fence around it would protect him from predators and also prevent him from escaping.

Personally, I'd get a bigger enclosure or put him in the 100-gallon pond.

How big is he? What do you feed him? Does his current set-up have proper lighting and other equipment?

[packfan1]

I have never personally delt with doing a pond, but it sounds to small. As a general rule, you need 10 gal of water per 1 inch of turtle. 10" turtle=100gallon set up, pond or otherwise.
You need to be sure that the turtle cannot dig out either, as I have heard they can do so you need to be sure that if you need a fence that it goes down deep enough to keep it in. Now, is it a he or a she? If female, you will need an area for nesting. I know, if no male why worry, because it sounds like they can and do lay eggs without being with a male, they just are not fertile, thus no hatchlings. THere are others here that have pond set ups and will be more helpful than I. Have you looked under the outdoor habitat section for help?

[chevvok]

thanks for the replies guys... this turtle is about 2 inches so a 40 gallon pond is big enough for now. if he ends up growing then ill put him in my 100 gallon pond. it is almost a year old but never grew much in my 15 gallon aquarium. i still cant tell if it's a girl or boy yet. i been feeding him pellets (i forget the brand name but it starts with a W).

i left him in it all day yesterday (brought him back in at night) and today (might leave him out) and he never crawled out. the rocks are pretty high and are a lot higher than the turtles actual body. as for the basking platform, even if he is on it he is still too short to climb out. the sun directly hits the pond early and the pond gets shady around 4-5 PM because of a tree facing the west. the sun still hits the pond but not much.

i hope to keep him outside because UV lights are way to expensive for me. in fact, i had the same UV light for 10 months so it probably dont generate UV rays anymore which is probably why he has not grown much... also, the pond has a good filter and the aquarium dont... so i had to clean the aquarium every 1-3 weeks.

[untsmurf]

Could he have some sort of parasite? If the turtle hasn't grown at all in a year, you should consider taking him to a herp vet.

[chevvok]

Could he have some sort of parasite? If the turtle hasn't grown at all in a year, you should consider taking him to a herp vet.

i don't know about that but he seems healthy. i mistyped that. he was 1 inch when i first got him now he is 2 inches. he just dont seem to be growing very fast like most turtles do.

[steve]

40 gallons may be "enough" room, however an outdoor pond will be under natural conditions. For that, you must consider water depth and volume.

[chevvok]

40 gallons may be "enough" room, however an outdoor pond will be under natural conditions. For that, you must consider water depth and volume.

and how do i do that?

i currently live in ohio and there has not been a single storm in over a month.

[steve]

That will depend on the location of the pond, access to light and weather conditions. Is this only a summer pond or year-round?