Tank Too Big for Small Turtles?

[KleinmannCrew]

Hello,

We’re bringing home 2 African Dwarf Mud Turtles soon, and they’re under a year. For winters they’ll be indoors in a 75 gallon, with a extended area for basking/digging that ramps out of the water.

Being so small, Im curious if the 75 is too big until they’ve reached a more mature size. I think to myself that in the wild they have entire *lakes* to explore, but wanted to see if captive turtles might experience any struggles I’m not considering.

Thanks!

P.s. If you’ve kept this species, I’d love to hear from you! There’s limited captive care guides beyond Anthony’s in reptile magazine. I understand they’re a relatively new species all together in the captive hobby.

 

[mark1]

i believe you can keep young turtles and tortoises in enclosures that are too big . a 75 gallon tank wouldn't be something that i think is too big for anything ..... hatchlings don't explore , they hide and move about only for a purpose ....... the less they can move about , the better chance they have at growing up, the survival rate of wild hatchling turtles is ridiculously low ........ studies on home ranges of adult tortoises/turtles certainly appears to shown the larger home ranges are because the resources needed were more spread out , turtles/tortoises with more condensed necessary resources had substantially smaller home ranges .....