WOOHOO!!! I'm see'n Spots!

[PicOlio]

I already had:

Slash, Dot, Squirt, Star, Sirius, Raven & Rose

The nine in this pic just arrived today (breeder moved from a legal spotty state to a state that wouldn't permit him to have them).

I have named them Rigel, Draco, Dotty, Taurus, Twinkle, Lynx, Lyra, Casper, & Carina



Total count once these guys are out of quarantine and ready to join the others in our spotted turtle pond is 16 (8 males and 8 females). I think that's more than enough for now lol

Rose, one of our existing spotties is obviously ready and waiting for them to arrive



So there's my spots folks

There's not an emoticon in existence to express how happy I am

[fstybrat]

YAY! too cool Deb! (I have often wondered what it would be like to raise turtles)

Are they outside year-round??

[Chinchilla_Girl]

WoW! COngratulations!

[PicOlio]

Quote: Are they outside year-round??

That's a loaded question lol.

I live in central Florida so I do not have to deal with that weird white stuff other people deal with and that helps me out tremendously as far as how long the turtles can be out especially since I have not experimented yet with hybernation...

The spotted turtles are outside all year long for the most part but I shade and mist their zone to keep it cooler in the three hottest months of the year. They are northern turtles so it's bit warm down here for them...

My Terrapins and hamiltoniis go out in the summer months but hang out on the porch when it chills down...

The rest of the turtles are out year round (a variety of cooters and a painted) but they are brought inside during the night if/when the temps are going to get below 45 degrees.... so there's a month or two out of the year where they spend their evenings on the porch.

The Porch: We are fortunate enough to have a large porch that has a ton of windows as well as heat and air so we can control the temps pretty well to make it suitable.

[veggiegirl]

Cool turtles! I've never seen those kind before. The spots are really neat looking.

[elfomatic]

NO WAY. Spotteds ... We aren't allowed those here in SC. I know a few people who have them but I haven't bothered to go for the permit (which is required here) myself. Awesome!!

I think I need to move to FL.

[Chrisanne]

that is wonderful!! Congrats

[Lizgirl]

A herd of turtles...How delightful! I bet they are fun to watch. Are they friendly being that they live outside all the time? How do you protect them from preditors?

[PicOlio]

Quote: Are they friendly being that they live outside all the time? How do you protect them from preditors?

Though I have a few shy turtles, most of my turtles will crowd up around the pond's edge and begin the ritual of begging for food when we go out there lol. I'd say most of my turtles are about as friendly as a turtle gets. Some like head rubs, some enjoy leg rubs, others just want the food lol

My main pond is fenced all of the way around the sides (18 inches deep and about 4ft high on three sides.... 12 inches deep and 2 ft high on the viewing side) to prevent the turtles from crawling out. There is no top cover on the main pond however it is also 4ft deep with plenty of hiding places for the turtles to use as protection and the turtles in my main pond are much larger so I don't worry as much about them.

My smaller ponds are fully enclosed with poultry mesh which is annoying for the humans but vital protection for the turtles.

Well...hang on a sec...I'll go take a pic of it

This is the view from our porch... you go out porch doors into pool and the ponds are at the end of the pool....


The hamiltoniis are in the "green mesh squared off" section you see in the front left corner of the main pond area...

The lil spotty pond is an "extension" (we call it the left wing lol) off of the fencing of the main pond... with the black mesh all around it....




This is the main pond which right now is considered our weed garden lol. We've purposefully allowed much of Florida's natural "weeds" grow in there since most of the turtles in this pond are rescues that are native to Florida...


There's still the risk of a critter getting into them and causing problems but we've been lucky so far with our major losses being fish from the main pond being stolen by the herons and egrets...but that's where the dogs come in handy

[capnsweets]

The turtles are adorable, the ponds are awesome, and I want a swimming pool.

[Jade]

What a fabulous setup! And the turtles are adorable to boot!

[Lizgirl]

What great set-ups. Thank you for sharing pics.

[Sigaru]

what kind are those? spotted turtles? I just found one that looks just like them and I'm not sure what kind it is

[lixx]

Aww, look at all those turtles!!! You have a wonderful set up

[Sigaru]

Oh, but the turtle I found doesnt look exactly like that one...it has an all black face aside from a few little yellow dots..and no 'stripe' near its ear....also, it has reddish on the legs...aside from that its the same...