Homemade turtle dock?

[dre205]

Okay I've decided to get painted turtles. I wanna make a home made turtle dock thats readily easy and cheap to make. Can anyone email me pics on how to make one and andrecargill@yahoo.com? Or just post the pics on here. That would be great yeah I know I'm being bipolar with this tank stocking thing but I'm already familiar with fish so aquatic turtles shouldnt be to much different for me

 

[Juxtaroberto]

I did it by buying a piece of corkwood off of ebay (really cheap). It had to have a nice footprint, something the turtles could fit on, and one of the lengths had to be a little bit bigger than the width of the tank. Then, when it arrived, I cut off any excess, leaving it about a millimeter thicker than the width of the tank, and then wedged the corkwood between the front and back panes of glass. You can do it as high or low as you want, while the area beneath the dock is still accessible for swimming.

 

[krichardson]

One thing I've been considering for when I get more DBT'S is to silicone a rectangular sheet of acryllic or glass to one corner of the tank to form a shelf.This sheet will at least be in the middle of the tank heightwise and the water level will be just above it so the turts can land and rest upon it.It might not look like much but it's cheap,simple and easy to keep clean.

 

[dre205]

Could I just stack layers of bricks on one side of the tank? Will it be safe? Will it be too heavy for the glass floor or the tank?

 

[krichardson]

I don't know if certain bricks release anything harmful into the water over time but I've seen it done before

 

[dre205]

The bricks I have I've used before in my African cichlid tank. All they donis increase the ph.

 

[krichardson]

The bricks I have I've used before in my African cichlid tank. All they donis increase the ph.

Then I guess you are in the clear as long as you don't take up too much swimming space.....but then again,painteds like to bask a good bit.

 

[AngryWretch]

What size tank are you going to keep them in? They may start out small and cute but they grow fairly quickly. I used packing styrofoam from my PC and coated it with pond liner and did the suction cup/bar system that commercial docks use so I wouldn't have to worry about water levels as much. With a screen cover and heat lamps water evaporates quickly, and last thing I need is a turtle(s) who can get onto thier dry areas.

 

[dre205]

The tank is 55 gallons. The bricks stacked measure 7x12x5 leaving 39x12 inches of swimming room with a deph of 4 1/2 inches

 

[rsour24]

go to www.redearslider.com forums. there r a lot of ideas on there