Fishkeeping - Turtle In My Pond

first of all its very unusual that a turtle should find its way to
your pond... perhaps you live near a natural source and one traveled
but its not likely.

anyway, pond / lake turtles are meat and plant eaters and will eat
small fish and they are good at catching them. turtles have nails of
a sort so if your pond is a fabric one as opposed to formed plastic
then its possible for them to claw a spot where they think they can
escape.

turtles are messy ! and destructive because of their size and weight.
i had a hard shell pond i made just for 3 ' slider ' turtles and their
wastes quickly fouled the pond and i had mechanical filtration...
because they are meat eaters as well as plant eaters their wastes are
more toxic. ( salmanila )

the bigger the pond they better off you are... a small 3 inch turtle
is easier to keep than a 10 inch turtle. make an island if you can so
the thing can sun itself. wash your handles well if after you handle
a turtle. ( salmanila )

an ideal pond in my opinion is one with a few petite water turtles...
a couple of bullfrogs... pond snails and fish. i had an island where
birds could land and take a drink and even bathe... i had plenty of
flowering plants around it to attrack flying insects so the frogs
would have a better diet then just small fish... children of my larger
fish.

i'd just keep a watchful eye on the guy and monitor his lifestyle...
turn any floating plants over to see if hes eating roots... good luck
!

On 14 Jul 2004 23:09:41 GMT, (Roy Lasris) wrote:

A turtle (don't know which kind) has taken up residence in my pond along
with my koi and comets. The new babies survived its presence, so it doesn't
appear to be eating anything other than my lilies and lettuce.

Any reason not to keep it and enjoy it? Could it be harmful?

Thanks,

Roy