Habitat - Indoor :: took out gravel...

[Dillon]

and now my turtles water is cloud yas [----] i did a partial change still cloudy....
my turtle is having trouble moving around on bottom....

Frankly i think he was better off WITH the gravel as far as happiness....

[Sgt. Pepper]

Did you do a complete water change? That'll make the water cloudy for a few days.

It'll just take a bit for him to get used to it, but he will. It's better than him eating rocks and then dying from it.

[Dillon]

Dont ponds and rivers and the places turtles normally live have worse conditions and these animals thrive in it?

Im just trying to figure out how they live in the wild without anyone "removing the rocks" from their waters bottom..

[Dillon]

and i did like a 2/3 - 3/4 of a change
once i removed all the gravel so much crap came up that i figured that would be the most logic thing to do...

I'm never doing a "full" water change regardless of how many people tell me too...ever...

I just cant see that being helpful..(not saying that you recommended it just generalizing)

[RunninWideOpen]

what don't you see being helpful about a full water change?

you can put some large river rocks on the bottom of the tank for him to play with. just a few will do. they push them all over the place.

there's no "scientific" answer to your question.....but i'd say that turtles in the wild are always preoccupied and don't often scrounge around the bottom. plus, the ponds and lakes they live in are much deeper than the aquariums we put them in.

[steve]

Dillon - watch the language, regardless of the forum censor.

Regarding your question,I agree with RunninWideOpen. Your turtle is captive and confined in a tank and will change behavior accordingly. It's another reason why people shouldn't release their pets into the wild.

As far water changes, the water will be cleaner without gravel to trap waste. A full or partial water change is up to you... when you clean your filter is up to you... many people will have their own preferences. However a smaller tank will require more water changes.

[jasmiester]

Take into consideration of adding "a few" large rocks they can move around. The pet store dude told me not to allow them to move them around, if i wanted to put rocks, he recommended them be tightly packed together so they cant be shifted. The rubbing and scrapping of the rocks on the bottom of the glass tank could weaken the glass and could lead to leakage..

[SpotsMama]

Once again, the pet store dude appears to be misinformed. Most of the people on here have a few large river rocks on the bottom of their tanks. They aren't tightly packed and the turtles do love to push them around and do it all the time. It doesn't do any harm to the tank and it keeps the turtles entertained.

On turtles' natural habitat, there's a gallery out there with lots and lots of photos of wild RES from all over and you can see that their prefered habitats are muddy rather than rocky. They bask on logs or on a muddy shore. Here's a typical photo:




Not that there aren't rocks in their habitat - because there certainly are - but they don't predominate. It's also a fact that we've seen over and over that when there's gravel in the bottom of the turtle tank, eventually the turtle winds up eating it and sometimes it causes huge problems. So why take a chance?

[RunninWideOpen]

thanks for those pics spotsmama! those are cool!

jasmiester- pet store's generally don't know much about turtles. river rocks aren't heavey and have never caused damage to the bottom of my tank. if you pack them tightly then they are going to trap feces and debri and make the tank much dirtier just like gravel does.

[Dillon]

So....Basically...What is the closest substitute for simulating his environment then...?

Is it "muddy" instead of "rocky"? SpotsMama?

Watching him run into the bottom of the tank because nothing is there is quite....sad...

Someone mentioned river rocks? I had small ones in there and you told me to remove them...so im taking it these rocks have to be about...as big as him?

[Dillon]

Dillon - watch the language, regardless of the forum censor.

steve...i didnt realize i as offending...forgive my urban slang...not all of us live in suburbia and the way we talk may seem STARTLING...try walking down my block.

[Dillon]

if anyone has ever been to Five points,Denver or lived here...then i think you know exactly what i mean...im not trying to be mean sorry steve...it just came out i didnt mean to offend you..

[Dillon]

i just saw it says you live in new york....i grew up in Statin Island...im curious as to where u live in the big apple ...

[megcornell]

As for rocks, they need to be larger than the turtle's head so there's no chance that he can eat them. It's usually wise to get rocks much larger than the turtle's head because that way when he grows you don't have to constantly check to make sure the rocks are still large enough.

As for the language, I'm not sure what word was censored, but there's a diverse group of people on here and not everyone appreciates or wants to see inappropriate (to them) language. Just look at the forum rules to avoid future issues. Also, to avoid making multiple posts in a row in a short period of time, use the edit button to add those thoughts into one post.

[Dillon]

nice i didnt know u could combine them thanks cornell!