Habitat - Outdoor

Posted: Tue Aug 29, 2006 2:14 pm **Predators**

Has anyone ever lost a turtle to a racoon? What about a pretty good-sized 6 1/2' or 7' turtle?

What about a possum?

What about a hawk or eagle?

Posted: Tue Aug 29, 2006 2:21 pm

I haven't personally but I've heard of someone on another forum that lost one to a racoon. Didn't lose it really but the racoon chewed the turts legs off and it had to be put down. I believe it was an adult slider. I'm sure an oppossum could do the same damage, as could a rat.

Posted: Tue Aug 29, 2006 2:31 pm

Good lord! I'd better take precautions. A possum comes into our yard from time to time. I thought he was too small to do damage to a "big" turtle. Didn't know that they swim, either. But though I've never seen them in the yard, there are racoons in the vacinity. We just read an article about racoons eating the koi in a pond at a residence right smack in the middle of Dallas. Racoons are kind of scary - they're big and they swim and they're smart.

Posted: Tue Aug 29, 2006 3:15 pm

In that case, one turt was carried off by a hawk or some other large bird and the other was mauled by a racoon. The turts were actually on the porch of the house in a container that was thought to be predator proof.

Posted: Tue Aug 29, 2006 7:06 pm

Racoons are really smart animals.

There are a lot of hawks where I live--they were flying around and screaming a lot in the hot weather.

I had my painteds out quite a bit before the weather cooled, but always kept their stock tank covered with hardware cloth during the day. And I brought them in at night.

Posted: Tue Aug 29, 2006 9:52 pm

From time to time, a racoon just happens to sit around and chill in the space between my house and the neighbors'. My dogs go nuts.
I just found a boxie today and I'm planning to put its habitat outside in the backyard, smack dab where the racoon chills around. Should I put an overhead barrier for the pen? I mean, the racoon just lingers around on the neighbors' side, and there's a 6 foot fence between them and me. I'm doubting racoons can climb fences that high, and it looks like this guy doesn't have the gall to scale the fence.

Posted: Tue Aug 29, 2006 10:53 pm

I've seen racoons climb 20 feet up into trees to get away from our dogs. A 6 foot fence isn't going to keep him out.

Why in the world are keeping a boxie that you found?

Posted: Wed Aug 30, 2006 7:41 am

I have (well, actually, had) chickens and kept them in a cage outside. It was wood and chicken wire. It was about 8ft tall and had a roof. Somehow, a racoon got in and ate all the chickens. We have no clue how, because nothing was damaged.

Posted: Wed Aug 30, 2006 10:42 am

You would be amazed at the size spaces that they can fit through too. It's because their body is actually pretty small compared to all of that fur.

Posted: Thu Aug 31, 2006 1:14 am

Spot's been spending the night outside in his pond, but as soon as I finish with his upgraded indoor tank (the next few days), he'll be spending the night inside. There was a spot on TV tonight about another "gang" of racoons in another Dallas neighborhood. Maybe they're coming into the city because the weather's been so harsh this summer.

Too bad because Spot really loves his pond.

Posted: Tue Sep 19, 2006 12:46 pm

my turtles are getting quite larger now and i want to put them outdoor. my mainly concern about putting them outdoor is cats. my neighbor have like 4-5 cats jumping across to fence to fence.

Posted: Tue Sep 19, 2006 7:09 pm

Speaking from personal experience a RES has a VERY strong bite. They have thick shells and can go down deep in the water. I wouldn't think a house cat would be much threat to a grown RES.

The turtle would have to be a big one, though. A little one wouldn't be able to defend itself. And the turt would have to have some deep water to hide in.

A dog, on the other hand, would be a real danger to any size RES. And a racoon can be pretty large, and they've got those opposable thumbs...and they swim....and they're really really smart...

Has anyone else had a bad experience with a house cat?

Posted: Tue Sep 19, 2006 7:39 pm

step moms cat came in my room once....stuck its paw to try and get george...george thought paw was food......cats paw got cliped by his mouth and it drew some blood, the cat dosent come within 10 feet of my room

Posted: Mon Sep 25, 2006 5:46 pm

Yeah, cats were my other concern with an outdoor habitat. I'm relieved to hear they pose no real threat. I never imgined racoons could climb as high as you guys said until I saw one running out of the alley between my house and the neighbor's and climbing up our lilac tree. My dad hosed down every square inch of the tree until the sucker got off.

My dad got a golden retriever puppy from a co-worker, so if he doesn't get rid of him anytime soon, I may have to put an overhead barrier. Just may have to lock it shut. Racoons don't have keys eh

.

Posted: Mon Sep 25, 2006 5:50 pm

SpotsMama wrote:Speaking from personal experience a RES has a VERY strong bite. They have thick shells and can go down deep in the water. I wouldn't think a house cat would be much threat to a grown RES.

The turtle would have to be a big one, though. A little one wouldn't be able to defend itself. And the turt would have to have some deep water to hide in...

How big do you think the turt would have to be?

Habitat - Outdoor :: Predators

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