Habitat - Indoor :: Sputnik's Terarrium Setup

[VelvetAlley]

This is Sputnik's terarrium, which he's lived in for about 2 months now.

Before, the community begins posting the "not enough water" and even the "rocks are bad" comments, I recognize this and thank you for your concern. This is simply to share with the group my turtle's current living quarters, which my wife and I setup with him in mind.


This is the full setup. It's an "All Living Things" terarrium with the Tetrafana Terarrium pump and heater.

A note. So that people don't do the same thing as I have; you can spend probably the same amount of money as we did just buying an aquarium with a stand. Probably 60 gallons full, in retro spect would be better than what I currently have, however this is better than what he had.

Also somebody should put in bold letters somewhere DON'T BUY A TERARRIUM. becuase you're limited to only filling it half way with water.

Altogether this setup ran 70 bucks for the terarrium (on sale) 40 bucks pump, 20 bucks heater, 99 bucks Wal-Mart TV stand (Actually looks pretty good imo. Poor weight restrictions though. And I can assure you that the terarrium is well beneth the weight restrictions.) 20lbs River rocks 8 bucks approx, and the ramp.

A note on the ramp: I do not know who made this ramp cause it was in his old tank, but it's horrible. The suction cups aren't very good and it has collopased on him in the past. I currently have the turtle ramp from Dr Smith and something ordered and waiting for delivery.



This is an overhead shot of the crappy ramp and the pump with the heater over to the right. I also removed the log recently to allow more space for swimming. Contrary to what you might think, my turtle can haul [---] chasing after my finger from one side to the other. We work on his cardio every so often.


Horizontal view of the same area.


And who all the fus is over, Sputnik my RES.

Sputnik lives with a little guppie named "Survivor" who is the last of three feeder fish we got for him when we first got Sputnik. Survivor has become one huge fish! Recently I've seen Sputnik chasing him around. I tried to take a picture of Survivor, but he moves around too much. I'm also getting attatched to the little fish, I'll miss him when he's lunch.

Couple other notes. In the future I will look into getting him larger quarters, the issue is we bought this stand which has weight restrictions and to convince the miss's that we need to get rid of it so soon wouldn't come off to well. We make good money, but there are alot of things on the "I want I want I want" list. In the meantime Sputnik is still young enough that the terarrium is currently sutable for his needs.

I have considered doing the rubbermaid getup as some kind of a get away, but now it is becoming winter and the only place for it is outside. By next summer, the "I want 3x" list will be much smaller and we can begin looking for a better tank.

Thanks for lookin.

Branden

P.S. if you'd like to see pics of my cat, and my two cats that passed away recently you can check out my myspace, if you're into that scene.

http://www.myspace.com/thevelvetalley

[flutterby]

Even though those tanks aren't made to hold water, I've had one and I had it 3/4s of the way full and had no problems with leaks.

[Muirner]

Brenden - i like your setup but i gotta ask... How big is your turtle? And how long have you had him? My turtles are adjusting but still shy... I think you should be able to put another 5-10 gal of water in there... How thick is the glass??

[VelvetAlley]

We got him in April and he was the size of a quarter then. I'd say he's a little bigger than a silver dollar now.

The deal with the tank is, it warns against raising it above half. I would be daring if the place I lived in is my own, however, I lease a house and cannot risk any kind of water damage. The other problem is the pump has a maximum water level which is about an inch higher than what it is in the pics. I have been filling up pitchers and allowing them to sit over night to help the chlorine evaporate, and pouring them in the following day.

Here he is as a baby, in his much smaller aquarium back in April.

[Hoooneylynn]

Are you thinking about eventually getting a tank that you can actually put more water in? That would give more water for him to swim, you wouldnt worry about water damage.. maybe get a new filter, I believe the pump you are talking about it the pump for the filter? and you wouldnt have the hassel with those pitchers.. and I understand youve read comments like "not enough water", and "rocks are bad"... the rocks look big enough where he cant eat them now.. but later on I would suggest you take them out.. my turt ate a small rock and thank god she passed it.. she could have died. And people have been telling you not enough water, because it really doesnt look like an adequate amount.. your basking area is really cute.. and I love that ramp... too bad it doesnt stick well.. he has a very pretty shell too!

[SpotsMama]

Little Sputnik is a real beauty!

[VelvetAlley]

Yes come next spring I will begin hunting for a tank I can fill to the brim.

What size if sufficiant for the next couple years of growth, if not the rest of his life? Lots of the tanks I see on here, look comperable to the tank I have, though they can be filled up. 60 gallons for one turt acceptible? I can probably even go as for as 100.

[flutterby]

A 60 gallon would be acceptable for a while, but if you get a 100 gallon you probably won't have to get another one for a while if at all.

[Spookster]

Your turtle will continue to grow. Males will grow to be 7-9 inches and females 10-12 inches. Going with the rule of thumb of 10 gallons per inch of turtle would put you at 120 gallon for a full grown female. If you can get a 100 gallon you should be fine as long as you consider building an above tank basking area which frees up the tank area for swimming so you can fill the water level all the way up.

[Muirner]

Velvet - if that glass 1/4 to 1/2" thick, you can probably put another 2-3" of total water in there... no problem... Hey where'd you get those rocks in the corrner? I'm looking for clever places and things like that (currently looking for a "resting" platform that i can put just under the water level...

[marisa]

That's a cute turtle. Looks like he's got a few scutes to shed.

[VelvetAlley]

the "rocks" in the corner are the pump I think. All the rocks were labeled "River Rocks". There is however one rock in there I got from the yard of the first house my wife and I lived in together, somewhat sentimental. That's the big stone that's wedged between the ramp and the pump.

The green thing in the right corner is just some reptile resty thingy ma-bob I got at Petco (Petco is useless btw, I can post about that later if you like). That's his resting spot.

Marisa, yeah he's got a few dry spots on his shell. Up until 4 days ago I didn't have a UVB bulb so I figure that may have something to do with it. I'll go get the potato peeler now and take care of those dry spots.

[Muirner]

until i saw the laughing smily i almost crapped myself... i got so scared for the lil guy

[VelvetAlley]

Wanted to show you all. I have since cleaned out the tank, removed the rocks, and filled it to as high as the filter will allow. Simply removing the rocks gave him alot more swimming area.

I also got the new ramp which is sturdier! First reason I removed the rocks is for safty concerns, he's getting bigger and the rocks were staying the same size. (I didn't re clamp the UVB bulb yet, but I still have it. I just got done cleaning after all!)

Here's it now, with recent photo.



And another photo in my on going attempt to get a good shot of my turtle.

[Hoooneylynn]

Looks very clean! Im glad you removed the rocks... its so frustrating to get something and then have to remove it, but what I went through with karlyn, and what could have happened was not worth it...