I haven't posted on here in such a long time! We've just kinda been coasting with Oliver for the past couple of years - his setup is long done, and he has seemed healthy enough, so we've just been hanging out with our little guy. But I've noticed something over the past year or so that I want to run by everyone.
(FYI: Oliver is about 4" long - this is as big as he will get, due to poor diet in his early life before we got him - and he is about 6 or 7 years old, give or take a couple. In any case, he hit turtle puberty about 3 years ago.)
His current setup is a 50 gallon stock tank with an external filter that I built. He has a floating basking area that's anchored so it doesn't float away from the ceramic heat lamp, and he has a UVB 5.0 CFL bulb on a timer. He has been in this setup for 4 years.)
The problem with the current setup, which we assumed would go away but it never did, is that it scares him. I don't know if it's because he was raised in too small of a tank for the first couple years of his life, but Oliver seems to have some serious agoraphobia. He simply does not like large spaces. When we let him walk around the house, he runs to the first dark, tiny space he can find and hides there. He never comes out. In his tank, when he is basking, he startles very severely when we walk into the room and won't swim around to see us. The only thing that gets him out of hiding is shaking his green food canister to tell him it's time to eat. He swims around when he thinks he's alone, but is very scared when anyone is in the room. He will absolutely not bask if we are in the room. I don't think he ever relaxes all the way in this setup, and I have seen some minor impacts on his health (scute retention, for example, no matter how excellent his diet is).
This brings me to the times when we travel with Oliver. When we get to our destination, we set him up in a 10-gallon glass tank with a Whisper filter and basking area, with the same lamps. As soon as he is in this tank, he comes alive. He swims around and explores, plays in the bubbles from the filter, basks for hours even if we're in the room walking around, flutters at the reflective parts of the glass, eats well, and gets a lot more exercise. He loves to use the downward pressure from the water falling out of the Whisper filter as a treadmill. His favorite game is trying to swim upward against the current.
When we do frequent partial water changes and keep the filter media regularly freshened, the water chemistry checks out just fine. We use a net to scoop his poop out so it doesn't decompose in his water. He seems so entertained in his smaller tank. He seems to feel safe to explore and watch us from the safety of his close little walls.
So my question is: if the water chemistry is checking out fine since we're vigilant about it, and if Oliver seems so happy, and if he is getting more exercise in this tank, is there a remaining reason why he shouldn't be allowed to stay in there?
I have thought about keeping him in the smaller tank and building him a more extensive basking area (with nice safe walls) because he loves to climb. I'd like to create a few places where he can climb and explore so he can get exercise in and out of the water. I really think he would be very happy and healthy with this setup, but I know it is very different from the general advice given here.
So with all of those details in mind, what do you all think about that? I'd love to hear your opinions!
