Turtles, Anyone?

[tadpole]

I have been asked to give a consult and estimate on the construction of a Turtle Pond. Though not one of my main avenues of endeavor, I know that turtles, by nature, are nasty critters, so the usual water quality concerns need to be addressed (skimmer, Filter etc.) I also know that they need to sun themselves quite often and they like to burrow underwater.
The client has emphasized the fact that they were not particularly concerned about aesthetics and pretty aquatic plantings but just wanted a pond for her pets.
If anyone has had any experience in this area, please advise me on any peculiar idiosyncrasies concerning turtles, their culture and habitat, that I need to be aware of.

[jp14]

I am no expert on turtles but I have had customers ask about putting turtles in their ponds. I do know that there are a variety of types of turtles kept as pets and that will influence your design. One challenge is making sure they don't have an avenue of escape. I also learned they can be hard on certain types of plants. Also, most pet turtle species are fairly small so working on the proper scale will be important also. That is about all I have.

[tadpole]

Originally Posted by jp14

I am no expert on turtles but I have had customers ask about putting turtles in their ponds. I do know that there are a variety of types of turtles kept as pets and that will influence your design. One challenge is making sure they don't have an avenue of escape. I also learned they can be hard on certain types of plants. Also, most pet turtle species are fairly small so working on the proper scale will be important also. That is about all I have.

Thanks. This client has been keeping turtles for years and has several species of aquatic turtles. I am doing some heavy research on this before the scheduled meeting. This is going to be a unique experience, that being....the customer actually knows more than I do. I just don't want to look completely ignorant and incompetent, I want to convey that I am bringing some useful amount of knowledge to the table. Image! Image! Image!

[turner_landscaping]

Go to google and type in Turtle Pond Design there is a good article there on turtles in ponds by ponddigger..

[tadpole]

Originally Posted by turner_landscaping

Go to google and type in Turtle Pond Design there is a good article there on turtles in ponds by ponddigger..

Thanks. Have completed the Google route. Read the article that you mentioned I am looking for anecdotal info that may prove to be of additional help.

About the Google route, I was amazed at just how large this niche market is.There are local, regional, national and international societies devoted to turtle and tortoise keeping. This may be a chance to get the old proverbial foot-in-the-door in a new market for installation and service.

[turner_landscaping]

Yeah their is a pretty sizeable market for them in the right places. I have a client that their entire back yard is dedicated to turtles no joke.. Ive never seen some many turtles im talking 100s of babies and adults. Most of their turtles are all the species of box turtles w some aquatic ones. Its a crazy yard! Had to be careful when we rebuilt their pond talk about stress ARGHHH!!