General Care Discussion :: Droppings

[tuttle429]

Well my turt is about 5 inches long lives in a outdoor habititat so he pretty much gets uv lights filters all of the needed basics. Well it seems that when we feed him, fruit the dropping become pretty big and noticeable. Well the pond is hard to clean out becuse of its size (110 gallons) Is it ok to not feed him fruits and other things besides pellets? Is this like ruffage?

[tuttle429]

i have a pic of his overall pond

http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n65/ ... verall.jpg

[tuttle429]

algie also collects in places the filter can't reach becuse of the sunlight i know that shouldn't hurt the turt

[marisa]

He should have a balanced diet, which includes plant matter as well as pellets. How much do you feed him and how often do you feed him?

Does that cover stay on the pond all the time?

[tuttle429]

yes it does stay on most of the time. We feed him about 10 pellets every day but he seems to be always hunger i just got a pic of him here..

http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n65/ ... ure036.jpg

This was him in his tank in early july before we installed the pond.

[tuttle429]

bout the glare :0

[tuttle429]

I am thinking though if you look at the oic there is alot of shrubery including roses! We have a phicus right beside there he might be eating some of the leaves off our plants to. Is there any kind of plant poisones to a turt?

[tuttle429]

if i am lucky i will take a pic of him before it starts raining again

[marisa]

Nice looking RES.

I asked about that cover because if he's in the pond under it, it looks like it blocks quite a bit of light...

110 gallons isn't really that big for a pond. What kind of filter are you using? Perhaps a different one would help keep the water cleaner.

[tuttle429]

Well one that came with the pond and a ultra violet

well my dad(dear old dad) changed it to 12 hours a day should he change it back to 24? bye the way i heard that its feeding size is about how much can fill his head well i juist got a pic of his head lol. And its current.

Yes we do keep it on all the time but where i live there are possums and cats and dogs the roam the neighbor hood sometimes and come up the driveway so we try to keep him protected.

He is rather shy and jumps quickly if we get near him is this normal?

http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n65/ ... eeking.jpg

[tuttle429]

Also when i went outside i checked out the plants they inclued:
basil,phicus lemon grass,roses.\

Thats just to name a few.

[marisa]

If the filter has a UV light, that should eliminate any algae problem.

Don't really know what you mean by 12 vs. 24 hours---are you talking about the cover?

So the cover is really for protection? It's too bad some kind of predator fence/barrier couldn't be put around the pond. I can understand why you would want to have it on at night with those critters around, though.

Some turtles are shyer than others (depends on the turtle). The fact that he's covered a lot(?) of the time could also make him more leery of any movement when he sees it. (He doesn't get a chance to learn to recognize you because he doesn't really see you.)

For pellets, the amount you mentioned is correct, every other day. He needs to have a varied diet, though. Adding some aquatic plants to the pond would be good. Look at the feeding forum for some other foods you can give. Some basil is OK, don't know about the other plants. If you're concerned about the possibility of your turtle eating poisonous plants, take a look at http://www.chelonia.org/Articles/plantsthatpoison.htm

[sonyj]

At his age you should only be feeding him the amount of pellets that would fit inside his head if it were hollow every other day... not daily. He needs a variety of veggies daily though. Fruit should only be given monthly though due to the high sugar content.

I don't know if it's just the pic or not, but the pond didn't look like it had that much water in it. Is it full?

[Boogerbutt02]

First of all I want to say is the pond looks like it could potentially be good...

But there are a few issues as the others have already stated..

I don't know much about an outdoor setup, but I do know my turtles and their needs and likes and dislikes...

I don't know if it's just the pic or not, but the pond didn't look like it had that much water in it. Is it full?

As SonyJ has stated I think it looks less than half full... and Do you have a basking area?

I couldn't tell from the picture but what is the sex of the turtle? If it is a female you need a potential nesting area for her...

if you could take the cover and make a fence around the pond with it and then put a mesh screen (the that is right for letting in the correct amount of rays) on top of the fence this would keep you turtle in and pretators out...