All About the Turtle Habitat

If you wish to keep your turtle happy and healthy, you must invest time and energy to building a perfect turtle habitat.

Items required to build a turtle habitat

o Aquarium thermometer

o Aquarium heater

o UVA and UVB wavelengths equipped full spectrum light

o Dechlorinated or aged water

o Logs or large stones

o Pond rock/sand/gravel

o Aquarium filter

o Aquarium/turtle tank

Instructions on building the perfect turtle habitat

# 1

Do your background research on your turtle's natural habitat thoroughly and try to simulate that native habitat.

# 2

Always give your turtle ample room to swim and bask. A 40-gallon water aquarium is the minimum size you should opt for and never over crowd the tank with more turtles than it can hold. The above mentioned size is good for 2 turtles.

# 3

The water should be clean, fresh, aerated and bacteria-free. This will prevent shell and skin diseases and ear abscess in your turtles which are all results of poor water hygiene.

# 4

An under gravel filter should be positioned at the bottom of the tank, covered with a one-inch layer of pond rock, sand and gravel.

# 5

Next, the turtle tank should be filled with dechlorinated water (up to half tank).

# 6

There should be a basking area for your turtle inside the tank made of logs and large stones that should rise well out of the surface of water. It should not occupy more than one-third of the total tank space.

Warnings and Tips

o Your turtle tank should have clean, fresh, healthy water. Filter the water for a day or two introducing your pet turtle to the tank.

o Before using the turtle tank, scrub and rinse the whole tank clean with a light-duty scrubber, warm water and non-iodized salt. This will keep the water spotlessly clean.

o If you put the turtle immediately into the new water inside the aquarium, he may suffer from a thermal shock. Habituate him slowly.

o The basking area that you create for your turtle should be well-guarded and secures. If there is a lid, it should be tightly fastened so that your turtle may not take it upon himself to escape from captivity.

o The filter in the tank should have adequate suction.

o Don't make the basking area slope very steep or else it would be pointless as your turtle won't be able to climb it. The floating log should be sturdy and heavy enough. That will prevent it from flipping over.

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