The Summerhouse

My turtles have their very own summer house. It's actually a turtle tub, a large black plastic tub I keep in the garage. I got it so I can put them in there for a few hours each week while I'm cleaning their glass tank upstairs. They have grown too large to fit in the little cardboard carrier boxes I brought them home in. And they hated being shut in those anyway. This way they have freedom and can be comfortable for as long as I need to finish cleaning.

The turtle tub is meant to simulate the environment they would have if they lived in a pond. A pool of water, a ramp for them to climb out and a platform for them to bask in the heat (provided in this case by a lamp, I bring the lamps from upstairs so I don't have to keep two sets). Pretty similar to their tank setup, but they don't need a water heater. It's already plenty hot in the garage. I'm guessing in the winter I'll have to bring the water heater down as well, but for now it's fine without it. I have a spare filter going which they probably don't really need for such a short time, but it may help a bit keeping the water circulating and filtering out at least a bit of the waste they produce.

I got the second filter to see if it worked better on my tank. I've tried 3 so far, and the original one still seems to do the job best. At least it keeps working even when full of muck. The others got clogged and stopped working within a couple of days. It's frustrating because I've spent a lot of money trying to get the best setup to keep things clean and the turtles happy. But they are mischievous and messy little critters and not much keeps them from mucking things up. They like to mess with the filter tube, turning it in the opposite direction. They have detached the tube assembly from the filter housing a few times which stops it working. I keep telling them they need to leave it alone. And though they have excellent hearing, strangely they don't seem to hear my admonitions.

I love them though. They are not cuddly, but when I can watch them climb out of the water, basking in superman pose, neck and limbs stretched out, they look so vulnerable and beautiful.