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[MyTurtles'sKeeper]

Found this forum. I'm thinking about building a pond in my back yard and add some turtles. I'm trying to research how to keep the water warm and the land warm for them in the winter months. I'm from California so it don't get that cold but it does get too cold for a red ear turtle. I plan to build a pond thats 6 feet wide by 12 feet long and about 4 feet deep. I need to reseach how to keep the water warm and what I need to do to keep the land warm enough when they come out of the water. if anyone knows where I can read on the form to help me please send me a link. Please help if you can also. Thanks and I'm happy I found this forum. It looks like a great place on the internet.

[xfallwithmexo]

Most people with ponds usually bring them inside for the winter and keep them in either a regular tank or a stock tank.

You can also teach them how to hibernate, but from what I've read its frowned upon for turtles that aren't wild, but maybe someone else knows more about it, try looking into that!

[worldpeace]

As long as you have a pond heater and the pond is deep enough, they should be fine. As for basking, they probably won't do it for the winter months if the temperature outside is lower than the water temperature. What motivates turtles to bask is sun and the warmth of the air in contrast with the water. The ground temperature is not really relevant in this case. There's no reason to worry since they would get plenty of basking during the rest of the year considering the weather in California.

[missibsu]

viewforum.php?f=7

That is the link to the outdoor section. Beyond that, I am not an outdoor keeper, but there are tons of articles there to get you started. I think it is about finding balance between what others have done, and what meets your needs financially, and based upon where you live vs where the poster might live. Best of luck! It would be great if you could take some step by step pictures as you are building your pond. Might help someone else out in the future.