Habitat - Indoor :: Seashells?

[Turtle_Turtle]

so i was thinking a bare tank bottom boring
then i thought what about seashells

so do u think i can put seashells that i found on the beach

[Tenodera]

Well It depends on what kind, how big your turtle is.

You have to wash off the salt off. Don't use soap!

[xsavingsaturdayx]

Personally having a bare bottom tank is much more easier to clean. Your turtle will do fine without anything on the bottom. But if you must, go with river rocks (bigger than your turtles head, NEVER USE SMALL FISH GRAVEL) you can find a bag for a couple of dollars at a petshop or dollar store. I believe they also sell sea shells for fish tanks (obviously if its for fish, its treated to eliminate anything bad, so I would go with that instead of picking up rocks/seashells from outside, much safer IMO) I would also worry about the sea shells being sharp, i have seen some that are pretty sharp - i can imagine a turtle poking an eye out..so watch out for that.

To round things up, i'd completely say no to rocks/seashells (waste of money, instead try buying plants, fake or real - your turtle will benefit from it (by hiding, it will probably reduce stress and if the plants are real, your turtle will get a nutritious meal out of it ) and your tank will look pretty) But like i said, if you realy want rocks or sea shells, buy some made for aquariums and make sure that the rocks are bigger than your turtles head, NOT glass, and the sea shells arent sharp.

Hope this helped

[adam85491]

I use a few river rocks and a fake plant and a stone frog. I think a minimally covered bottom is best but if you must, get those fake jungle plants that you can hang to the side of the tank and maybe a background.

[kmichael55]

I have one rather large seashell that i use to anchor down one plant, the rest I've given up on and they float on the top...other than that the tank is bare, my turtles like to sit on the shell though, it's big enough that they can both sit on it
it's like this one:
http://www.livingwilderness.com/beach/shellwave2.jpg
ok...i can't get pictures to post for the life of me, sorry

[industrial_girl_2000]

Not into seashells.....some of them have some sharp edges. I like using a few river rocks in the bottom. Some people's turtles like to "re-arrange" the river rocks & move them around the tank & pile them up in the corner. My turtle isn't like that.....she usually just ignores the rocks.