Recent content by Paschendale52

I'm more inclined to use two mechanical timers, I try to keep smart things in the house to a minimum. Is the ticking on some of yours loud enough to be heard over typical noises like aquarium water/air pumps and the like?

I know there has been more recent discussion of this, but this was the first one I found. For those you of you that run two timers (i.e. visible lights from morning to night and UV/basking for a couple hours around noon), do you have two separate timers for things? Or do you have one timer with...

Do you mean quarantining the pond or their old aquarium before adding new? The aquarium will be empty of turtles, but keep its fish inhabitants for a couple of months until I can get some new babies.

Hi all, I just got my 4 Rio Grande Cooters into the pond outside a bit under 2 years old. I wanted them to have plenty of time to get acclimated to their ~50 X bigger pond before their first brumination in the winter. They're already bigger than all of the other turtles in the pond and...

How much higher is your electricity bill in the winter running those stock tank heaters? I put one in the pond here in Albuquerque and didn't realize that they drew 14 amps continuously. It was a couple of weekends of running them before I noticed, we had about $100 extra on the bill that month...

I have a domed fixture that sits on top of the aquarium. It uses the smallest halogen bulbs I can put on it. PAR20 Flood 39W 120V Halogen Light Bulbs Something like that from Amazon works for me. It keeps the basking spot around 95 - 100°F.

I don' recall what the penetration is, but its almost directly in the center of the tank under the UVB-LED. But under 2' of water. Its probably a pretty still spot in the currents and stuff. When they all get together, they're crammed in pretty well too. Pressing against the sandy substrate on...

I just noticed that my Rio Grande cooters have been huddling together like this most mornings for a couple hours, usually with eyes closed at least some of the time. I wonder if they have noticed the seasons even inside. The tank and room its in get a lot of outside light, so its not a crazy...

Here is Albuquerque, mine are about the same as Yvonne's. No food from late Oct - early April or so. If you try to feed them they ignore it. I have never seen one out of the water during that period either. I have had to rescue them once or twice in the turtles first two winters, but nothing so...

How much ice are the turtles hanging out under?

I feel like at some point the 10 gallons per inch of turtle has to break down though. For example, a 120 gallon tank is only barely big enough for a 12" slider. Many would argue its too small at all. That rule would give me 500 inches of turtle as a budget. If we assume an average of...

Do you have problems dealing with the organic waste the fallen leaves represent as they break down? I have lots of leaves in the back yard that I could figure out a way to sink in the pond. The bottom drains might get a bit clogged doing it, but if I find the right place to put them I could see...

Thats a good point. Do we understand how much turtles would huddle together underwater? While basking its well documented how much they will gather onto a small area in stacks sometimes several turtles high to bask. But I don't know about underwater for bruminating or just hanging out. Is a 3'...

Hello all! I figured this would be a question which was answered to death such as the "how many turtles in my aquarium" question, but after a bit of searching I can't find even a consensus on bad information. What are people thoughts on how many turtles should be in a given pond size? For...

Hi all, I've noticed twice now this winter that one of my Mississippi map turtles has been getting through the 4" bottom drains into my filter box for the pond. Both times I've picked him up and put him back in the pond. It occurred to me today that through the winter, the fast moving cold...