Here is a general setup for an outdoor water
turtle. You will want to make sure that you have a protective
cover or door on top. This is to protect your turtle from
predators (like dogs or raccoons) and to prevent them
from escaping. Raccoons are very smart animals and can
figure out how to open doors. To prevent this make sure
that you keep a lock on the door. You can make the door
out of some type of heavy duty screen. Never use glass
or plexy glass! This can cause a greenhouse effect
and can cook your turtle. No turtle soup! Fried turtle
nor baked turtle!
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Bird's Eye View
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The basic necessities are to have some type of area
where your turtle can get completely out of the water
(a basking area), a shaded area where they can cool off
out of the sun, and a place to hide. Sometimes they feel
stressed and need to hide from the world. If you have
multiple turtles in the same home, make sure that you
have a hiding place for each. In my diagram I have placed
an in ground pond (which you can get at most garden centers).
For shade you can use some shrubs or even a tree on the
outside that will shade part of the area. They may want
to hide in some weeds or tall grass. For the basking area
you could use some bricks, wood or cinder blocks. If they
have a hard time getting up on the 'island' you can place
a log where they can crawl up on or make a slope for them
to walk up. I have place a water plant in the water for
some food. You still need to feed them regularly. Maybe
have some feeder fish swimming with them.
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Side View
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