Spotted turtle enclosure

[BrodieGibson]

Hello,

I have built an enclosure for a spotted turtle and was looking for advice on how I should construct it, eg what percentage should be land and what water, what is the best substrate to use, etc. (Bearing in mind i want to make it as naturalistic as possible). The enclosure is open air, basically just a corner of my room fenced off with bricks and covered in pond liner.

Thank you.

 

[Yvonne G]

I'm pretty sure @Markw84 keeps spotteds. Maybe he can help you.

 

[Markw84]

How old of a spotted turtle(s) are we talking? Young spotted turtles do not really need land area. The will do best in water about 6-8" deep with LOTS of plants. I use plant garlands I get from the local craft store "Michaels". they are plastic and 6 ft long I cut them into 3 pieces about 2 ft long and rubber band a small piece of tile to one end to keep it anchored. I let the rest float around the tank. This keeps a large portion of the tank filled with plant that extends from bottom to water surface. They need a way to be able to climb to the surface, as well as swim. Spotted turtles spend the bulk of their time hanging in plants. This allows them to feel secure and natural and thrive in an environment like this. I use large gravel or small rock as substrate. I like them to be able to dig through hunting for food which is great exercise and activity for them. They will spend quite a bit of time doing this. I keep water temps about 78°. I use a basking dock and have an incandescent 65 watt flood bulb above it along with a UVB light. A few that are up to perhaps 2.5" will do fine in a 40 gal breeder tank. I use a 75 gallon tank for 2 year olds, and a custom tank I built that is 5ft x 2 ft for 3 yr olds. But I am always dealing with lots of spotted turtles

Keep in mind spotted turtles can drown. In an aquarium with vertical sides they will do fine when acclimated and feeling comfortable. When you ever put one in the water that you have been holding, its flight reflex causes it to release its air to completely go into its shell. If you then place it into the water it will normally not have enough air in the lungs to provide the needed buoyancy and will have significant negative buoyancy. They cannot swim to the surface when this occurs. Place them on a basking area and let them extend their necks and have to walk/run to the water after holding them. This will most often allow them to have a more normal buoyancy when they then dive into the water. I always watch them carefully after any handling to see them get to the surface themselves before I am comfortable leaving them. Once they have been in the water and got back to the surface just once themselves, they will be fine. But always have ways they can climb to the surface.

I keep my 3.5" and above spotteds outside year-round in my pond. I have a large colony and a large pond area. They need land and water area, especially if you are letting them breed. They always need a way to walk out of the water, so the water needs shallow sloping sides in some areas and also lots of plants and perhaps some logs or stacked rocks as ways to climb to the surface. Outside this is very important especially as weather cools down and they can and will drown if they cannot climb or walk to the surface. With cold water temps, they cannot swim well enough to get to the surface so need to walk or climb up. They don't need a lot of land area - perhaps 25% as they are quite aquatic in habits and some rarely use the land area, while a few will use it to dig in and brumate or aestivate at times. Most of them will brumate in the water hiding in plant roots near the surface. Normally if given a choice, I find they prefer hiding in plants in the water rather than using the land area.