OT: Turtles

 Well it soundss like he's in good hands now!  lol  Jeez to not even notice your pet was missing, poor thing.  

Yeah, they're not a "cheap" pet at all, I've spent god knows how much money on all mine!  Getting good filters, correct UVB lighting, the pond etc, it's not cheap.  But once you get them set up its all worth it :)

I've (family) have had the same turtle for about 43 years. His name is Floppy. He is retarted, really!! His first 5 years he had to be hand fed, or else he could not eat. He would walk in circles then "flop" over thus "Floppy" He is a good guy, has free roam of the house. He begs at the fridge when he is hungry( always). He also comes when called.

I wanna see everyone's turtles!!!  Please post pics :)

Also, a couple good sites are:

http://www.turtleexchange.com/forum

and

http://www.turtleforum.com

If you want to see some great rare turtles, care tips, enclosure ideas etc.  :)

I don't know how to get to your photobucket page..... What kind of turtles are they?

I have 3 red eared sliders.  2 of them live in a pond in my back yard and I have a little baby one that lives in a tank in my house.  Cute as can be! 

My son fell in love with turtles when he was a little boy.  The two in the pond we've had for about 10 years now.  I became a turtle lover as well with them.  They really do have a lot of personality. 

***update** Oh i figured it out now.  Your turtles are beautiful!!!  What a variety.

 Thanks, they are quite the crew!!  :)  All very well behaved so far *fingers crossed*.  :)  

I'd love to see pics of your pond too!  I'm jealous I cannot have an in-ground pond.  We don't have a yard, just the "side yard" that has a concrete floor so had to do a galvanized pond for the pond chillers.  We'll upgrade that soon, that is around 800 gallons.  And we need to revamp the enclosures for everyone else at some point.  But right now, we're getting prepped for winter, they're feeling it and slowinig down :)

My friend had found a turtle or tortouse about 20 yrs ago..I do not know much about them myself.  She and her husband kept it and it became a family pet.  It had its own den and pond outside and would come wandering into the house thru the patio door when it was left open..lol  It would also stand at the fridge and beg for food.  She always had an ample supply for fresh veggies and certain flowers for "Pogo"  When they moved 10 years ago, they took about 50 dry gallons of its soil and it set up a new home in their new backyard...so far I believe its still doing well.   What a neat little guy. 
Kim in Fontana

My pond is actually only semi inground become my beagle is dying to jump in there and play with them.  I would like to move them to something bigger.  Right now I'm trying to get a good filter built.  I just bought all the supplies but haven't had a chance to put it together. 

What do you do for them in the winter?  Do you let them hibernate?  I'm scared to.  I actually bring them in the house during the winter but they are in a much smaller container so I'm sure they don't like it (still plenty big enough for them though). 

Yes all of mine hibernate.  Well, I shouldn't say ALL... I have 3 baby boxies that are 1+ year old that I will be bringing in for the winter and these 2 new babies I'm getting next week.  It's not to cold here so they kind of 1/2 hibernate, lol  I see them roaming around all the time in the winter.  :)

So your water turtles hibernate as well?  I know you have one RES and I'm not sure if the others are semi-aquatic or aquatic as well......

Do you do anything to prepare them?  I take it you don't use heaters?

Oh yeah, we have 6 out in the pond and they hibernated last year for the first time without a problem.  Heaters aren't good, they can do more damage than anything.  You don't want them coming out of the jacuzzi water and breathing in winter air, that's a recipe for RI.  It's best to just let them start slowing down on their own.  You'll notice it, they'll eat less when fed.  When this happens, just slow down on the feeding and if they are healthy and ate enough to store fat for the Winter, you should be ok.  :)  It's scary, not knowing what's going on down there but I see them on occasion and I can get a semi-headcount, lol.

We have the 3 spotties inside in a 150 gallon tank and they won't hibernate, they will be indoors forever.