Pond in the basement

mrgrimm · 11-28-13, 12:31 PM

Since I will be keeping an adult snapping turtle indoors for at least this winter, I figured I should make it as decent a life as I can for him. I started by keeping him in a kiddie pool, had no filter or anything. Changing water every other day, a couple space heaters I had going next to it to try and get water temps to at least 75F. It was a hassle so I moved him into the small bathroom upstairs in the bathtub. That made water changes easy, but too small and awkward for him to be comfortable I thought.

So after a couple weeks I finally picked up this $150 used setup off craigslist to get started. It is a 300+ gallon pre-formed pond liner that allows a lot of options and looks pretty good. I am using a 1000W bucket heater to keep the temps between 75-80 and have ditched the space heaters! I plug/unplug on a 6-8 hour cycle (with help from the wife while I am at work.) but am going to order a nice T-stat online soon. I keep the little light there just to give a since of day/night but am planning on a large UV light to hang soon. I also would like to get a spot setup for the turtle to get out of the water completely if he desires. I have been gathering up some things I had lying around the house like the 2x4's and carpet to make it more comfortable for the turtle in the pond. I know they like to feel hidden. I will upgrade and change things as money/time allow but for now I think this is pretty sweet for a 10"+ snapper!

He eats like a champ now, and I have just been scooping his poops and uneaten food out with a small net and even the wet/dry shop vac. He is easy to handle and hasn't actually snapped at me yet while I hold him from behind/underneath. He will stretch out and chase his food all around the tub if I tease him with it. It seems like I have been adding 15 gal. or more of water every few days to keep it up and keep water fresh. I really like having this turtle and can't wait to get more stuff for his pond!

mrgrimm · 11-28-13, 12:35 PM

Here it is now

sharthun · 11-28-13, 01:54 PM

That is so cool!!

Jim Smith · 11-28-13, 02:07 PM

You are indeed a good person to go through all that trouble for such a badly injured yet common animal. I sincerely tip my hat to you as a true animal lover. Thanks for sharing and for being such a good example for others (like myself) to follow

Jim Smith

drumcrush · 11-28-13, 02:11 PM

wow, really cool. Thanks for taking the time to care for this amazing animal

smy_749 · 11-28-13, 02:32 PM

Pretty cool of you to put a giant pond of water in what looks to be the middle of a carpeted finished basement. I thought my 4 foot cage in the living room was bad haha

Nice setup.

Starbuck · 11-29-13, 01:47 AM

Very nice setup, its really inspiring to.see someone taking such excellent care of a wild rescue!
I'd be very interested to see you make a.photo diary of the changes in his shell as it heals.

Best of luck!

wrecker45 · 11-29-13, 03:48 AM

You just need a dump truck load of sand dumped through your basement window. Lol. You are a very caring human being. Good on you.

Primal Rage · 11-29-13, 06:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jim Smith

You are indeed a good person to go through all that trouble for such a badly injured yet common animal. I sincerely tip my hat to you as a true animal lover. Thanks for sharing and for being such a good example for others (like myself) to follow

Jim Smith

Another+1!
Every spring you can see roads littered with dead snappers here in Ga. I'm one of the crazy people stopping and helping them cross. Box turtles too! Nice setup, and thanks for sharing!

mrgrimm · 11-29-13, 08:43 AM

Nice to see all the love you guys have!

I see now why a lot of captive Snappers are notoriously overweight...this turtle is an eating machine and he tries to make you feel guilty for not feeding him by just staring at you and following you around when in the room!

I am still researching on what best to do to the shell and tail. Twice now I have dry docked him for a night then the next day took some tweezers and picked algae/black stuff out of the tail and cracked shell. I then applied triple antibiotic ointment and put him back in the water a few hours later. I couldn't find anywhere online where that seemed like a bad idea.

Also, the antibiotics I was planning on giving him (through the vet I visited) are so pricey that the vet is trying to figure out a cheaper way for me. He told me that it would cost around $28 day and that would be for at least 2 weeks, maybe 3! Hopefully we can come up with another solution.

Good idea on documenting the shell re-growth, It may be a slow process though!

sharthun · 11-29-13, 08:45 AM

Hats off to mrgrimm!!!

wrecker45 · 11-29-13, 09:01 AM

I rescued a painted turtle with a cracked shell. It went to a turtle rehab centre here in ontario. they treated for infection and left the shell alone. Then sent it back to me to release where i found it.

guidofatherof5 · 11-29-13, 09:50 AM

Awesome setup. Watch your water high temp. Snapper are cold tolerant but too much heat can kill them quickly. Thanks for taking the time to help this young one.

guidofatherof5 · 12-15-13, 11:38 AM

How about an update on that awesome Chelydra serpentina is doing and how the indoor pond is working.

mistersprinkles · 12-16-13, 05:19 PM

Great work, just a comment on water quality:

When you're keeping anything in an aquatic environment, you will get a buildup of ammonia (NH3/NH4) in the water. This is toxic. When the animal drinks the water, it is ingesting toxic ammonia which can cause additional health problems.

When the body of water is adequately filtered through first mechanical media (foam, floss, etc) and then through biological media (ceramic rings, bioballs, etc) at an adequate flow rate, something called "the nitrogen cycle" takes place.

Over a period of 2 to 4 weeks, a sufficiently large colony of beneficial bacteria will establish itself to convert the ammonia from NH3 to N02 (ammonium nitrite) and then to N03 (ammonium nitrate). The end product is much less harmful to the animal(s) in the water. Once an adequate beneficial bacteria colony is established in the filter, the ammonia and nitrite levels will be maintained at undetectable levels (<0.25 parts/million)

You still need to do water changes (remove about 1/3 of the water, then pump fresh water in) and the water MUST be dechlorinated or you will kill the beneficial bacteria in the filter.

If you don't change water toxins like nitrate will just build up and build up until toxic levels are reached and organ damage could eventually result.

ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate do not evaporate. Only pure H20 evaporates.

Get a good filter. They make big pond filters. Get one. And get doing water changes.

-An aquarium person.