I'm putting together an exhibit...

[Berkeley]

...at the State Botanical Garden of Georgia. It is a pond at the entrance plaza outside the visitor center. It is about 18 inches deep, filtered water, full sun all day long. Last year some native wetland plants were added for interest (pitcher plants, spiderlilies, iris, etc) and I have been approached about adding some turtles.

I'd like to put something in like any of the cooter species, yellowbellies, or redbellies. The only catch is they would have to be males because there is no place for the females to get out and lay eggs- they just have the plants in pots and don't want to risk them digging them up while trying to nest.

Does anyone have any of those species (males!) that they would be willing to donate? I'm trying to locate some animals before I commit to putting this exhibit together. Juveniles would be okay, but I wouldn't want them to be real small (A, I don't want predators to get them, including people, and B, the sexes wouldn't be known for certain). Smaller juveniles (3-5 inch range) would work because we would have a better idea of the gender. I do have some aquariums/stock tanks set up indoors where I could house some if needed.

Species I am looking at:
-Florida Redbelly, Pseudemys nelsoni
-Florida Cooter, Pseudemys peninsularis
-River Cooter, Pseudemys concinna
-Yellowbelly Slider, Trachemys scripta

If you have some suggestions for turtle additions, please chime in. They need to be a southeastern native species though. I'm shying away from the muds/musks because of their size and bottom-dwelling tendencies. Painted turtles would be a nice bright addition as well.

Here's a picture of the pond at the front of the Visitor's Center for you to see.



If you have any questions or have some animals you might consider donating, please let me know either here or by email: [email protected]

Thanks!

--Berkeley

Admins, if this is not allowed please feel free to remove or relocate (just tell me where it gets put), and accept my apologies! I wasn't sure where to put this.

 

[Moozillion]

SOOOOO cool that you are doing this!

 

[Yvonne G]

That's a mighty pretty pond. What kind of plant if the one with the pink flowers?

 

[Berkeley]

Thanks Bea and Yvonne. I wish I could take credit for the pond, but I was not the one that built it. It sure is a nice one though!

Yvonne, the plants with the pink on them are pitcher plants. They actually aren't flowers, but the pink is the color of the tubes. The tall one all the way to the left is a cultivated variety of the White Topped Pitcher, Sarracenia leucophylla (a 'normal' phase can be seen on the right, under the bench toward the back). The shorter one toward the front is a Parrot Pitcher, Sarracenia psittacina.

--Berkeley

 

[Berkeley]

Just bumping this up. Anyone have any leads on any of those species listed?

Thanks!
--Berkeley