Murray river short neck river turtle

[mollyrabbitts42]

I’m interested in buying a Murray river short neck turtle. So I am in the middle of constructing a outdoor turtle pond And was wanting to use a pond liner but I was concerned that the turtles nails will rip the pond liner will this be the case? I was also wondering if I need to put a filter in the pond as well as putting in a water fall?


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[Flaviemys purvisi]

Hi. If you double the pond liner over instead of using a single layer and cover the bottom of the pond with a few cm of river sand you won't have any problems. The main issue will be where the turtle hauls out of the pond to bask in the sun... these areas you'll want to cover with something like marine carpet... it will give the turtle something to grip/get purchase on while protecting the pond liner. A filter would be ideal, for a small outdoor pond a gravity fed bog filter works well... something as simple as an old bathtub filled with gravel and planted with plants...all you do is use a pump to push water from the pond into the bath, (whatever container you use, IBC, 44 gallon drum, etc) and it'll trickle through the gravel and run back into the pond... there's a lot of info on the net for DIY bog filters. A waterfall is not essential but moving water is always better for the oxygen/Co2 exchange, temp circulation, etc.

 

[mollyrabbitts42]

Hi. If you double the pond liner over instead of using a single layer and cover the bottom of the pond with a few cm of river sand you won't have any problems. The main issue will be where the turtle hauls out of the pond to bask in the sun... these areas you'll want to cover with something like marine carpet... it will give the turtle something to grip/get purchase on while protecting the pond liner. A filter would be ideal, for a small outdoor pond a gravity fed bog filter works well... something as simple as an old bathtub filled with gravel and planted with plants...all you do is use a pump to push water from the pond into the bath, (whatever container you use, IBC, 44 gallon drum, etc) and it'll trickle through the gravel and run back into the pond... there's a lot of info on the net for DIY bog filters. A waterfall is not essential but moving water is always better for the oxygen/Co2 exchange, temp circulation, etc.

Thank you [emoji4]



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