Turtle Housing

Question
Hi,
  I have 2 red eared sliders Carmen and Diego. They have out grown there 10 gallon tank. I cant afford the tank I want to get them. Do you know of any way I can put them outside for about $20 bucks. Can I really put them in a kiddie pool and leave them outside I do live in rurel ohio.
And if yes how do I set it up?

Answer
The rule of thumb is 10 gallons of swimming space per inch of turtle. 1" of turtle is really already too much for a 10 gallon tank (since that won't leave room for basking, etc.)

Kiddie pools are a common option, but it needs to be deep enough that the turtles cannot easily climb out of it. It is more commonly used indoors (or on porches) since it is hard to provide cool weather shelter (deep water and mud) and protection from predators in it outside. You can also use some of the bigger plastic tubs.

The basic idea is simple. Start with a deep pool, and fill to within about 4" of the top (depending on turtle size and steepness of the walls). Pile some rocks near the middle for basking. With more than 1 turtle, most keepers would create multiple basking areas. A simple ramp made of plastic, driftwood, or woods that are not treated or resinous (cedar, redwood, cyprus, etc.) works well.

The difficulties come with heating and filtration. It takes a little planning to do this in a larger pool.

A rather cheap outdoor pond is possible, but labor intensive. Get some heavy black plastic or pool liner and dig your own. Make sure it has a deep area and some shallows, and is about twice as big as you think you'll need. Line it, then use rocks, sand, or clean pond soil to hold the liner down. You'll want to create a sort of ridge around the edge- but keep the slopes gentle.

Put some water plants (in pots or planted in the soil)and snails in the pool to help with cleanliness, and don't forget a good basking site- a driftwood log is great here!

Next, fence the area off. Turtles do best with solid fencing  that they cannot poke their head through. They climb well, so it should be about twice as high as the biggest turtle is long, and there should be some digging protection.

If you have cats, dogs, skunks, racoons, etc. in your neighborhood (and you do!), you'll need to rig up some kind of cover- at least for nights. You can use chain link or chicken wire for this if you want.

http://www.redearslider.com has more ideas that can help!