Habitat - Indoor :: Igloo cooler

[pairpepper]

I'm wondering if using an Igloo cooler for my recently aquired RES is ok until I can get something better. I bought him from a local pet shop for my grand-daughters birthday but her mother did'nt want the responsability for a water turtle. She assumed I'd buy a terrestrial type. So he's mine now and I really like the idea of the cooler because its easy to emtpy when the tank needs cleaning and I have the Igloo on an adjustable cart over the pedistall sink in our extra bathroom that is not used very often. I have a basking pedistall in the tank with a 12" tile on top and a ladder type CD holder with a large scotch brite pad attached so the turtle can climb up easy. I have a clamp on heat lamp over the basking area also. So far it seems to be working well and I guess I would like some input on this set up, and how long can I get along with this plan?

I'm new at this and reading this website has helped alot, however, you should know I really don't care for tanks that holds water without a plug to let the water out! Why don't the make one that has a drain built in and stands with rollers? Any comment would be appriciated.

Oh ya, how do you tell how old a turtle is; right now he's about 5" and about how long will it take for him to get to 6",7" and so on?

[Kemul]

I think the cooler is already too small for the turtle. We don't change water often,
at most about 10-20% weekly. We use a good filter for the cleaning. Hence, we
usually don't have tank that has a drain installed. And moving a filled tank, although
the stand has wheels, is quite a stunt with a risk of breaking the tank. To drain
water, we can use a syphon.

Having said that, your setup seems much better than the death bowl. If you can,
upgrade the environment. A 5" turtle needs about 50 gallons of water to live
optimally.

We can't really tell how old a turtle is. It depends on how the turtle lived since
hatchling. A very rough guess of a 5" turtle's age is around 2-3 years. Optimally,
a RES can reach 4" at first birthday, then it grows about 1" per year until it
reaches its maximum size: 10" for male and 12" for female, if I remember
correctly.

I hope this helps. Good luck and keep researching!

[pairpepper]

Thanks so much for your input,
I know this isn't the best setup but its working well so far(only one week) but the cooler is quite large. 35"L17"W 15"D I'm not sure of what the demenstions are for a 55 gal tank but I love being able to pull the plug and clean the cooler. I was never crazy about the looks of an aquarium in a house so keeping this setup appeals to me.

[wiccabrat]

You could always upgrade him to a big tub and put a drain in it. Or if your extra bathroom you hardly use has a bathtub use it. The best option is a nice big pond outside for him to live in. Pretty plants, maybe a few fish, sounds good hu? lol

I have 13 RES of various ages and sizes and all coming from different circumstances and just so you know he may never get bigger. There's no way to tell except time. I've never seen a male over 7" and most don't get that big (in captivity), I assume it has something to do with the treatment they get as little ones.

[pairpepper]

Unfortunetly, it's a half bath. I had him in the main bath at first... however, the family objected that idea. Maybe I'll construct one that fits his and my needs, but it'll take time and research. Thanks so much for your input.

[gwennie]

You could always get a stock tank to keep him in - it's a large black water container used for watering livestock. I think they have plugs, or you could put one in.

I've seen indoor ponds created with those before.

[pairpepper]

Boy, it's really neat how everyone helps another in this forum. I've read more and more and realized we had a "Jet sled" that my husband got for bringing deer out of the woods. It looks just like the Waterland tubs made for turtles, however, it doesn't have a basking area built-in: I put a big rock in the middle and it works great for basking. Since I put him in he finally started to bask.

Now I'm wondering if I clean the water every 3rd day would I necessarily need a filter? I have a pump to pump the water out the window.

[Kemul]

I think you'll find that changing the water every 3rd day will become troublesome.
A filtration system will keep the water clean for a long time. That way, you only
need to clean the filter every month or two, apart from netting debris from the
tank every now and then.

It's great to get new ideas for the turtle, isn't it? Good luck and have fun!

[mikee]

Pair-p It sounds like you are serious about properly taking care of your turtle. What have you done about a uvb light? Turtles need at least 10 gallons per inch of his shell (carapace) to be healthy. If you have a 5 inch you need a 50 gallon tank. The problem with that is that you have to keep upwith your turtle growing. I have up sized from a 20 gallon to a 55 and now I am having to get a 124 gallon to keep up. They need their room. The next thing is a filter that pumps at least 5 times the water volume that is in the tank. You should purchase filter pumps according to the gph output. Good Luck! m.

[pairpepper]

I just purchased a 40 gallon kidney shaped pond liner and he's loving it! I have a water fountain pump that will pump the water out either in bathtub or out the window and I'll hook up a hose to refill as needed. I put the liner on an coffee table we had in the garage that was going to goodwill but its perfect for the liner; it has a couple drawers under it for all the paraphinallia like food,water conditioner ect. I'm sure that in time I'll want all the bells and whistles all of you have but I have to see first if this is something I can live with, apparantly for a long time. Thanks for the input mikee and everyone else.