# Will My Turtle Care be Adequate?



## AndrewspenLL (Jan 8, 2018)

This would be a long one..

I lived in Indonesia and if you love aquatic turtles or owned them there, you would know how we keep them..<outdoors in ponds or big plastic tubs with barely any filtration or UVB. Since Indonesia is a tropical country, I house them outside with the Sun as the primary source of UVB. So basically, our baby turtles are housed in plastic tubs and a rock and we put those tubs outside during the day for about 3 hours. Adult turtles are housed outside in our big ponds and again, without substrate or filters, just water and a basking area which consist of a large land area filled with sand and dirt.


But now, I live in Australia and people reccommend me to get an aquarium, filter, Calgrit (substrate), PH kit, Basking lamp, Heater, UVB and so on. I may get some turtles in the future but is it possible to not use all of those equipments?


My plan is to get a big plastic pond, put it outside and just add a basking dock and pop a few water plants and fish in for the turtles to snack on. The main source of food would be appropriate pellets, roaches and any sort of food that I may find suitable. I’ll house them outside and during winter, I’ll house them inside and use UV+Heat lamps. Again, no filter or substrate is going to be used.

I say this and everyone things I’m cruel and should not own a turtle but hey, I don’t actually have one at the moment. Thats how me and my uncles housed them and guess what, we have succesfully breed and kept more than 30 species of turtles in Indonesia.


So I don’t want to house my turtles in a tank because I think that it is just too complicated and expensive to set up. I also think that the use of filters is a little complicated if I would change the water daily. I think that adding sand or calgrit as the substrate is not what I am looking forward to because it is hard to clean. I would like to keep them like how I keep them, in ponds, without anything besides water and a basking area.


I’ve also heard from Asian turtle keepers (not being racist, I am asian too) that turtles kept outdoors in dirty green water full of algae with the Sun as the optimum source of heat and UV are somehow more adaptable and can be healthier than turtles that are used to clean water, artificial UVB lights, a good filter and kept inside with a heater.

The fact with this is that turtles kept indoors with artifical UVB, filters and so on are used to that so that when the conditions actually change like your filter broke, UVB exploded, etc, your turtles would immideatly notice something wrong and suffer while turtles kept outdoors basically do not have problems like that. That is what I heard and keep in mind that I do not really believe them.


So what do you think? What should I do? Keep them like how I keep them, get a filter, substrate and water conditioner, or just not own turtles at all. I am commited but limited if not needed. And obviously, I do not want to endanger any pets that I keep.
Check out @andymatsubara and @andspenlll on instagram. Scroll down to see their turtles. They live together and own many kinds of turtles from all over the world and they basically do not use filters or Uv light, they just house their turtles outdoors in ponds, containers and an uncycled aquarium. If you happen to see their setup, pond or tank by any chance, that is how I want to keep my turtles.

https://instagram.com/p/_1uLscA14U/
https://instagram.com/p/_1gvVgA19v/
https://instagram.com/p/_1uLuUg14V/
https://instagram.com/p/_rRgCMg1zL/
https://instagram.com/p/BKDWnp0hQ0R/
https://instagram.com/p/BPcTIoEh_se/
https://instagram.com/p/jO1s6cSwVR/
https://instagram.com/p/BHex3SQAe_b/


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## Imported_tuatara (Jan 8, 2018)

you do realize there's algae in tanks to some degree too? and mate, very few turtles could you have outside in MELBOURNE, that's almost as cold as here!


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## Flaviemys purvisi (Jan 8, 2018)

Any turtle kept outside needs a minimum water depth of 90cm at the shallowest end of its pond/tub. This is to avoid excessive and rapid temperature fluctuations. Turtles should not be allowed to experience 4 seasons in 24 hours.

An outdoor turtle pond should also receive the morning and afternoon sun whilst being shaded from the harsh midday sun.

The only species you would be able to keep outside successfully there are those endemic to Melbourne... Murray River Turtles, broad-shelled turtles and or Eastern Long-necked turtles.


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## Pauls_Pythons (Jan 8, 2018)

Whatever you do needs to be in line with any requirements for the state/territory you live in.
Im no turtle expert but this might give Kev something to keep him amused for a while @Aussiepride83


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## AndrewspenLL (Jan 8, 2018)

Aussiepride83 said:


> Any turtle kept outside needs a minimum water depth of 90cm at the shallowest end of its pond/tub. This is to avoid excessive and rapid temperature fluctuations. Turtles should not be allowed to experience 4 seasons in 24 hours.
> 
> An outdoor turtle pond should also receive the morning and afternoon sun whilst being shaded from the harsh midday sun.
> 
> The only species you would be able to keep outside successfully there are those endemic to Melbourne... Murray River Turtles, broad-shelled turtles and or Eastern Long-necked turtles.


To be safe, I’ll consider getting a suitable enclosure for my future turtles but for the moment, I’ll think whether to get a turtle soon or later on once I have a decent job. Keeping turtles outdoors is just simpler for me. Inside during winter is fine but not for like 6 months. I’ll not use a substrate or filter by the way so you could point that out if it is actually an urgent must. Changing water daily has been a “way of life” for me, well used to before I moved.
[doublepost=1515410609,1515409260][/doublepost]


Imported_tuatara said:


> you do realize there's algae in tanks to some degree too? and mate, very few turtles could you have outside in MELBOURNE, that's almost as cold as here!


I am aware of that but I will be keeping native species. And if temperatures consistently go lower than 15-18C, I will drag the pond in my garage where a heater and appropriate UVB will be set up.


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## Imported_tuatara (Jan 8, 2018)

it's very rare for it not to be below 10C at least once a week in autumn and spring, and rare for it not to go below 15C at least once a month in summer.


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