My genius idea-or is it not?

[f burkart]

ok so i had this idea of getting a hard plastic kiddie pool for 2 of my sliders and since i dont have a filter i was thinking i could just dump out the water when it gets kinda dirty clean it and then put clean water back in-so my question is would that be a good idea?

ohh yea i also live in florida which would be great for my turtles to be outside...

it would be just like this one :http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WGnQtY5ClqI&feature=related

 

[terryo]

I think it would be a great idea. You could put some water plants in there too which would also help keep the water clean.

 

[Maggie Cummings]

you'll be dumping it daily, they are messy without a filter...

 

[elegans]

It works just fine though. I have done it for years, with no ill effects.

 

[turtletania]

it would work well, but make sure the plants are in the middle if it is a little shallow, or else they will become escape artists like one of mine and use the plant to climb out. (Found him walking out my gate 30 metres away from the pool about 2 weeks ago).

 

[terryo]

I always used a kiddie pool for the smaller ones that couldn't go in the pond. I put a plant in the middle of the pool so no one could use it as a escape route. I'd put in a large round pot filled with river rocks and a bog plant. They would bask on there and it looked good too.

 

[Yvonne G]

I don't accept water turtles anymore, but when I did, I kept them in a horse trough with no substrate, just water. Once a week I would siphon off the water and clean the trough, adding fresh water. By the end of the week, the water was pretty green and smelly, but it never harmed the turtles. I had the trough sitting up on a little table to make the siphoning easier. A kiddy pool will work, but after mashing down a side several times to get the water out eventually the side won't spring back up.

 

[terryo]

I have a little pump that came with a water fountain, with a tube attached, so I just put it in there with an extension cord and drained the water...didn't even take the turts out. (but they were small and didn't do too much messing up) A big one.....that's another story. You would be cleaning it every day.

 

[Yvonne G]

That's a real good idea, Terry. Then you could have substrate and plantings and make a regular habitat for the turtle. I was always too cheap to spend money on pumps and stuff!

 

[terryo]

That's a real good idea, Terry. Then you could have substrate and plantings and make a regular habitat for the turtle. I was always too cheap to spend money on pumps and stuff!

I wish I took pictures in those days, Yvonne, but it looked like a little island in the middle of the pool with a tall bog plant and flat river rocks...no soil. Just stuck the bog plant in there. Tom from TurtleTails.com does that with all his water turtle babies that are inside.