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Skooter Tpau15 Bearded_dragon_0 Tpau15 Mikeornata JackAsp Mikeornata Gottee guy Idk53

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#2053568

Skooter
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My turtle needs land

I am trying to set up a 55 gallon tank for my turtle with half water and half land. I am running into a problem though with not knowing what to use for dirt on the land part of it. Can anyone give me any suggestions? I also want plants to be able to grow there too.

08/09/09 09:35am

#2053653

Tpau15
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Message To: Skooter In reference to Message Id: 2053568

My turtle needs land

Organic potting mix. It’s potting soil with no added chemicals, like Perlite (the little white balls in potting soil.) It also reasonably priced. I use it for all my temperate and tropical reptiles. I get it for $6 at Lowes for a 10 lb bag. Walmart also has some. It’s not the same band and it’s $4 for a smaller bag. You can also go to a pet specialty store and get some coconut coir "dirt," but I find that it is more expensive that way.

-tpau15

08/09/09 12:29pm

#2053709

Bearded_dragon_0
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Message To: Skooter In reference to Message Id: 2053568

My turtle needs land

I used dirt from back yard. You might want to go with a 1/3 or 1/4 land. They like to swim more than bask.

08/09/09 02:23pm

#2053770

Tpau15
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Message To: Bearded_dragon_0 In reference to Message Id: 2053709

My turtle needs land

If you choose to use a "dirt" source that is not sterile, like using dirt from outside, you are risking out of control harmful microbe and bacterial growth in the enclosure; you would be taking something that is kept in check by many factors in an open environment (outside), and moving to a closed environment (enclosure) where those factors are removed.

-tpau15

08/09/09 04:10pm

#2054832

Mikeornata
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Message To: Skooter In reference to Message Id: 2053568

My turtle needs land

Skooter,
Cut a piece of glass or plexiglass the width of your aquarium and as high as you want the water to be deep. Place this in the desired location using aquarium sealant. Allow it to dry, then add your soil/gravel/sand or whatever and...viola you have dry land that can be planted with whatever you want. You might even stack some small flat stones to create some steps for the turtle to reach the land area.

08/11/09 11:56am

#2058550

JackAsp
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Message To: Mikeornata In reference to Message Id: 2054832

My turtle needs land

My advice is don’t.
Make a cage for above the tank, give the turtle a whole tank of nice deep water to dive in, and then make a huge land area above the water, using big slate tiles or whatever. Best of both worlds. Otherwise, with a 55 gallon tank, by the time you cut in half and then only fill it part way, the turtle only has about 10-15 gallons of water.

08/17/09 03:12am