Last year someone offered me a turtle pair (RES) and I put them in my
waterlily pond. They disappeared and we never saw them again. I figured
they crawled over the edge of the raised pond and went looking for a new
home during the major storm that occurred a couple of days after their
arrival. This spring while trimming one of my flower beds I noticed a tiny
baby turtle. He was smaller than a 50 cent coin. He was looking dried out
so we decided to put him in a spare aquarium we had. Over the last couple
of weeks he has grown quickly and we are wondering what to do next. If I
put him in the lily pond I suspect he will climb out and have a hard time
surviving our hot Houston summer. We have a large koi pond and it would be
nearly impossible to climb out of it. Would this put our koi at risk?
Dan

On Fri, 13 Apr 2007 21:08:27 CST, "Dan Robinson"
wrote:

Last year someone offered me a turtle pair (RES) and I put them in my
waterlily pond. They disappeared and we never saw them again. I figured
they crawled over the edge of the raised pond and went looking for a new
home during the major storm that occurred a couple of days after their
arrival. This spring while trimming one of my flower beds I noticed a tiny
baby turtle. He was smaller than a 50 cent coin. He was looking dried out
so we decided to put him in a spare aquarium we had. Over the last couple
of weeks he has grown quickly and we are wondering what to do next. If I
put him in the lily pond I suspect he will climb out and have a hard time
surviving our hot Houston summer. We have a large koi pond and it would be
nearly impossible to climb out of it. Would this put our koi at risk?
Dan

Turtles have to get out of the water and dry out now and then.... and
that's about the extent of my turtle knowledge. ~ jan
------------
Zone 7a, SE Washington State
Ponds: www.jjspond.us

Turtles generally refer to both tortoises (land dwelling turtles) and
terrapins (water dwelling turles).

jan may be right in a general sense that all shelled reptiles need to get
out of the water from time to time, mostly to sun and get vitamin D, but
with respect her answer does not answer the question to OP had. Of course,
neither does my answer answer it.
"~ jan" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 13 Apr 2007 21:08:27 CST, "Dan Robinson"
wrote:

Last year someone offered me a turtle pair (RES) and I put them in my
waterlily pond. They disappeared and we never saw them again. I figured
they crawled over the edge of the raised pond and went looking for a new
home during the major storm that occurred a couple of days after their
arrival. This spring while trimming one of my flower beds I noticed a
tiny
baby turtle. He was smaller than a 50 cent coin. He was looking dried
out
so we decided to put him in a spare aquarium we had. Over the last couple
of weeks he has grown quickly and we are wondering what to do next. If I
put him in the lily pond I suspect he will climb out and have a hard time
surviving our hot Houston summer. We have a large koi pond and it would
be
nearly impossible to climb out of it. Would this put our koi at risk?
Dan

Turtles have to get out of the water and dry out now and then.... and
that's about the extent of my turtle knowledge. ~ jan
------------
Zone 7a, SE Washington State
Ponds: www.jjspond.us

Turtles need to get out of the water in order
to bask. They need to raise their body temperature,
it's the only method they have, and they need to dry
out some body parts to keep healthy.
So your turtle would need to get in and out of the
water.
We have an island in our pond that the turtles liked.
But they could also get out of the pond and go
walk about the yard. A securely fenced yard is a must
as turtles have wanderlust at times.

As for your koi, I never had a problem with fish health
and turtles in the pond.

k :-)

Turtles are pleased to eat whatever they can. Most goldfish and koi
are out of their range. Small fish, OK!

Jim

On Fri, 13 Apr 2007 21:08:27 CST, "Dan Robinson"
wrote:

We have a large koi pond and it would be
nearly impossible to climb out of it. Would this put our koi at risk?

My dentist has turtle and goldfish in small ponds outside his office.
After years of living together in the same pond without incident, he
removed a growth from one of his older goldfish and when released back
into the pond the turtle immediately swam over and took a large bite
out of the goldfish. He guessed the smell of recent surgery (Fresh
wound.) could have been a number of things to cause the turtle to bite
after years of not harming a goldfish. You may have a different
experience.

Regards,

Hal

"Hal" wrote in message
news
On Fri, 13 Apr 2007 21:08:27 CST, "Dan Robinson"
wrote:

We have a large koi pond and it would be
nearly impossible to climb out of it. Would this put our koi at risk?

My dentist has turtle and goldfish in small ponds outside his office.
After years of living together in the same pond without incident, he
removed a growth from one of his older goldfish and when released back
into the pond the turtle immediately swam over and took a large bite
out of the goldfish. He guessed the smell of recent surgery (Fresh
wound.) could have been a number of things to cause the turtle to bite
after years of not harming a goldfish. You may have a different
experience.

Regards,

Hal

Or the fish was sufficiently disabled to allow the turtle to accomplish what
he had been only able to dream about for years :-)

Thanks for all the responses so far. In my koi pond I would build a small
floating area that he would be able to climb onto. Something like an old
partially submerged log anchored to the middle of the pond. Unless the
turtle could get a running start and learn to jump it is unlikely that he
would be able to use that as a way to hop out of that pond ;-) As to
hurting koi that is my main question. In the tank he is currently living I
placed a few gambusia and a bullfrog tadpole. So far he seems to ignore
them. I think he has consumed a fair number of smaller snails I tossed in
there.
Dan
"Dan Robinson" wrote in message
t...
Last year someone offered me a turtle pair (RES) and I put them in my
waterlily pond. They disappeared and we never saw them again. I figured
they crawled over the edge of the raised pond and went looking for a new
home during the major storm that occurred a couple of days after their
arrival. This spring while trimming one of my flower beds I noticed a
tiny baby turtle. He was smaller than a 50 cent coin. He was looking
dried out so we decided to put him in a spare aquarium we had. Over the
last couple of weeks he has grown quickly and we are wondering what to do
next. If I put him in the lily pond I suspect he will climb out and have
a hard time surviving our hot Houston summer. We have a large koi pond
and it would be nearly impossible to climb out of it. Would this put our
koi at risk?
Dan

Klatch wrote Or the fish was sufficiently disabled to allow the
turtle to accomplish what
he had been only able to dream about for years :-)


LOL!
Who knows what dreams a turtle holds
dear in his heart.

k :-)

"Dan Robinson" wrote in message
t...
Thanks for all the responses so far. In my koi pond I would build a small
floating area that he would be able to climb onto. Something like an old
partially submerged log anchored to the middle of the pond. Unless the
turtle could get a running start and learn to jump it is unlikely that he
would be able to use that as a way to hop out of that pond ;-) As to
hurting koi that is my main question. In the tank he is currently living
I placed a few gambusia and a bullfrog tadpole. So far he seems to ignore
them. I think he has consumed a fair number of smaller snails I tossed in
there.
===========================
A baby slider found our smaller 880+ pond and ate the same pellets the fish
ate. He grew like crazy. We released him in a the nearby lake the
following year.
--
RM....
Frugal ponding since 1995.
rec.ponder since late 1996.
My Pond & Aquarium Pages:
http://tinyurl.com/9do58
Zone 6. Middle TN USA
ISP: Hughes.net
~~~~ }((((* ~~~ }{{{{(ö

this is true. my friend Jo Ann went to pick up a pondful of koi when
somebody decided to retire. this was a friend who bought the fish from her
originally and the fish were always very, very busy moving around. when she
drained the pond she found a pleco that had been after the fish for years
and the minute the koi sans pleco got in her ponds they slowed down
completely.

when keeping koi and GF it is good to remember that all kinds of other
wildlife are not really compatible and could possibly bring in disease.
Ingrid

"Klatch" wrote in message
...
Or the fish was sufficiently disabled to allow the turtle to accomplish
what
he had been only able to dream about for years :-)

"Dan Robinson" wrote:

Last year someone offered me a turtle pair (RES) and I put them in my
waterlily pond. They disappeared and we never saw them again. I figured
they crawled over the edge of the raised pond and went looking for a new
home during the major storm that occurred a couple of days after their
arrival. This spring while trimming one of my flower beds I noticed a tiny
baby turtle. He was smaller than a 50 cent coin. He was looking dried out
so we decided to put him in a spare aquarium we had. Over the last couple
of weeks he has grown quickly and we are wondering what to do next. If I
put him in the lily pond I suspect he will climb out and have a hard time
surviving our hot Houston summer. We have a large koi pond and it would be
nearly impossible to climb out of it. Would this put our koi at risk?
Dan


I have a RES in my pond. He leaves everything alone. In fact the Koi and
shibunkins regularly push him out of the way. You will need a way for your
turtle to get out of the water and sun himself. The only fish we suspect he
may have eaten, are those fancy, slow goldfish. As I say, we only suspect
this as we lost some last year, but there way also a snake and raccoon
about.

San Diego Joe
4,000 - 5,000 Gallons.
Koi, Goldfish, and RES named Colombo.

I have a pond full of GF that were originally bought as feeder fish for
my RES. The turtles will eat babies (as do the adult GF) but leave the
big ones alone. They will nibble on corpses, though. Unless you have koi
fry, you'd probably be okay putting the little RES in the koi pond --
just be sure he is big enough the koi don't eat him.

RES, as previously noted, do need a spot to clamber onto to bask. Rocks
in the pond or a partially submerged log do well.
www.clowder.net/cats/Turtles/pond.html
http://www.clowder.net/cats/Turtles/pond.html shows my pond with
basking spots. Turtles and fish can bee seen at the bottom of the page.

Gabrielle in southern Arizona


Dan Robinson wrote:

Last year someone offered me a turtle pair (RES) and I put them in my
waterlily pond. They disappeared and we never saw them again. I
figured they crawled over the edge of the raised pond and went looking
for a new home during the major storm that occurred a couple of days
after their arrival. This spring while trimming one of my flower beds
I noticed a tiny baby turtle. He was smaller than a 50 cent coin. He
was looking dried out so we decided to put him in a spare aquarium we
had. Over the last couple of weeks he has grown quickly and we are
wondering what to do next. If I put him in the lily pond I suspect he
will climb out and have a hard time surviving our hot Houston summer.
We have a large koi pond and it would be nearly impossible to climb
out of it. Would this put our koi at risk?
Dan

Hi Gabrielle,

I went to look at your turtle pond and then I got
lost in all your pages. Say 'hi' to Hop! I, too, am
an ornery woman. At times.
k :-)

My painted turtle is still missing. After seven years living happily in
my little pond. If its wanderlust (assuming it wandered, and wasn't
turtlenapped) took it to the stream in the woods, the raging waters from
this weekend's nor'easter probably washed it way downstream.

I blame the blasted weather. If it would have stayed cold in March,
rather than warming up for a bit, the turtle would have kept hibernating.
Instead, it woke up, disappeared, and then winter returned to Maryland.

And once again, I had no toads coming to mate at the pond. Never have,
and I don't know why.


Alan

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