Potential pond ideas for a FL Softshell?
Hey! Just wanted to get some opinions on this.
I found a quarter-sized Florida Softshell roving my front yard on Sunday. Since then, she's gone into a 5 gal. aquarium with a sand bottom, a heat lamp, and a fluorescent lamp. I understand just how massive this tiny little girl will get, and thus I am already thinking about housing options.
The best idea I have so far is to dig a pond for her. I have a small 175 gallon that CERTAINLY won't hold her for long, and an established 300 gallon pond that has all sorts of algae, plants, elephant ears, etc. growing in it- but my Razorback Musks and Cooter are living it up in there, plus the vegetation is too overgrown for her(and I don't want her eating my H. formosa. Just sayin'.)
Anyway, I was wondering the best ways to go about making a HUGE turtle habitat for her. I was considering getting a used above ground pool for her and giving it a DSB, curing some wood, adding plants, etc.
Has anybody tried making a habitat for a turtle with a pool like this? How big would the bio load be for, say, a 2000 gallon pond, plus fish and assorted plants? A 1000? Water changes are a big problem here. Since it would be in the sun all day and have a pool filter hooked up to it, do you think I could add a bag of carbon to the filter instead of using chlorine? I haven't looked at prices for UV filters, but I would assume they would be painful for a jobless kid like me, XD
We already have a 2000 gal. pool that has an inflatable ring and a(probably broken by now) pump and a skimmer. Would I have to take her inside come winter(it drops to 15 F at the lowest where we live in FL) or could she brumate in the pool?
I can release her if this seems too far fetched, but my dad LOVES her.
Thanks for any and all advice ;)
Re: Potential pond ideas for a FL Softshell?
The best place to go to get your answers would be austins turtle page forum.
You would not want to use chlorine in a turtle pond. Most people use water troughs or make ponds for there turtles. Make sure you are using a uv light while the turtle is indoors not just any old florescent light.
http://www.austinsturtlepage.com/
Re: Potential pond ideas for a FL Softshell?
not sure what soft shell you have but here is the care sheet page
http://www.austinsturtlepage.com/Care/caresheets.htm
just pick put the one you have
good luck
