Well, with the turn of the colder weather, we had to make that final call on if to let Bright eyes go to ground for the winter and hope for the best or buy the required equipment in order to safely bring her into the house for the winter.
The first order of the day was to buy a good turtle care book and get a understanding of what this would in fact mean, how big did she need, what kind of heating, what kind of food, etc etc. After reading the book a few times I had the basic’s and still we talked it over.. well then it snowed and we needed to make the call..
So we are now the proud owners of a new 10 gallon fish tank and set up, we used small local rock for the bottom, we got her a funky fake correl peice that she adores as she can climb it and hold on with her front claws and just hang all relaxed on it. when she wants to hide, she goes behind it and hangs, when she is comfortable she rest beside or on her big floating turtle lily pad (the same one that was in her other tank) and she does like to nibble on her floating cuttle bone.
As I didn’t want to shock her, we used the same rain water that was going into her trough but moved her into a big five gallon bucket, and then use that to fill the tank as full as needed with a touch more from outside, the water was very cold, but its been warming up in the house and with the heat lamps on it, and already today she is more active in swimming and faster coming off her pad, then she was yesterday when she first came in.
Now to just get her eating her young turtle pellet food, I will also offer her some other things but she has been eating wild in her trough and so hopefully she will figure out the pellets soon, or I will be needing to go add a worm now and again.
A few Video links.. Anyone know how to try and get these to show up without needing to do the video upgrade?
Brandy-Eating a Carrot Treat..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJ44vHj-x4k&feature=plcp
One week old Large Black Piglets, a piglet eye view 🙂
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0R-I3Vq-08&feature=channel&list=UL
Just another Day on the Farm 
I found if I clicked on the “share” button and copy & pasted the share link then the video shows
Thanks, I will see if I can make that work!
I had a friend who kept turtles for a long time who suggested to put turtles in a rubbermaid box while eating. When she’s finished you put her back in her own tank. That way you don’t have to clean the tank as often.
I had painted turtles while growing up and now live along the river where I interact with more turtles. In captivity, turtles will eat small pieces of lettuce and cooked meat, too. They like to be able to climb up onto a rock out of the water.
My granddaughters took a baby turtle home last year and kept it in a tank all winter……. and watched it grow.
Hello just wanted to give you a quick heads up and let
you know a few of the pictures aren’t loading correctly. I’m not sure why
but I think its a linking issue. I’ve tried it in two different internet browsers and both show the same outcome.
Dad brought me a painted turtle home from the deer hunt one year and we kept it in a tank in my room that first winter… Come spring though – out it went into the pond and now, SEVERAL decades later, there are loads of turtles of all sizes in the pond that, every spring, love to line up and sun themselves on the cedar pole that’s been floating out there for just as long as the turtles have been in the pond.
Great memories – thanks!
Glad to hear you sounding better – I’ve got the bloody bug now too (darned things travel at the speed of light, it seems; )