Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Turtles and their effects.....

Have some turtles in our pond...as most of us do. They have never bothered me any as I'm sure they are part of the ecosystem. BUT, I have two that hang out around my feeder ALLL the time. They know when it goes off also because their heads are up bobbing around.

Are they after the fish or feed or both?

Will they run off shy fish with there constant swimming around??

Will the fish hang back because they see the turtles as a predator??

If they are hurting dinner time for my fish they are going to be removed one way or the other.


Any turtle experience and or observations would be great.


Thanks guys!!!

I have tons of turtles and don't see any negative effects at all from them. They eat a little fish food but that's ok with me. Never seen them run off any fish during feeding time so I leave them be

Based on my fishes reactions, they don't see turtles as a threat at all. They will eat some fish food, but small price for the janitorial services they provide.

Cool beans. I just don't want the fish to be hindered. I don't mind them eating a bit of feed...Just don't want the fish to be run off or snipped at. I just know those two heads are there everyday, bobbing up and down and back and forth around the feeder. I still get a great response at the feeder...even with the water getting so warm here in SW Arkansas...albeit not as hot as normal.

I have 6 or 7 turtles that magically appear when the feeder goes off. In my case they are definitely after the feed and they do not scare off the fish nor do the fish seem to pay them much attention. I have actually seen the fish take the feed right in front of the turtle as they are trying to get it. Truthfully the turtles probably do not eat that much as they are rather slow and usually late to the party.

The only detrimental effect from the turtles I have found is that when the water level is high, the turtles will swim over the overflow pipe inlet and get sucked down onto the pipe effectively killing the turtle and stopping water flow out of the pond. This has happen twice in the last 2 months. I have plans to put a screen of some sort on the pipe but I haven't done it yet.

Next time go out and throw a hand full of feed right over the turtle, and watch the fish attack it. My fish will boil that area so much the turtle will get spooked.

Hello.

I want to keep my Crayfish to clean the Filamentous algae,Chara and different plant in the pond.

And I want to keep the Crayfish for my Yellow perch and Smallmouth bass, so I don't want Turtles.

A+

Hmm, never thought about my crayfish disappearing because of the turtles. I have painted turtles, I'm not sure if they can tackle a big crayfish?

Hello.

Also for Frogs.

How the Painted turtle can eliminate frogs for several years from a pool, a pond or even a region in just a few hours.

A+

I did a test throw a couple of days ago and counted 8 turtles. Only one came to feed and that's OK. Glad it did because my BG fed a little but very lethargically. Not sure why. With the hot temps, I figured their metabolism would be up. I'm probably wasting a lot of feed.

Dleiser, you have a conundrum. If you screen the pipe to keep the turtles from stopping it up, you also stop it up in a heavy rain event. Either way, you could lose the dam. I'd probably shoot the bigger turtles.

We've had painted turtles, snapping turtles, frogs, crayfish, and fish of all kinds together in our ponds for decades. It's never been a problem for us. I pay turtles no mind whatsoever.

What does a turtles diet consist of in the wild? I watched my couple that hang out around the feeder yesterday...they do not eat much. Its almost like they are simply curious and enjoy watching the fish eat...lol. From what I have read from everyone's observations it would seem they would eat about anything. Are they like the raccoon of the pond world??

Yep, natures clean-up crew. I did watch a few painted turtles snag a couple of FHM in a pond last month that were swimming too slow.

For two years we added painted turtles to our pond and non seem to stay. Our water is too cold I am guessing. The ones we add stay for the summer and then are gone. They do get trained to the feeder and love the feed.

Maybe I will be able to grow some monster turtles!! lol

I have between 20-30 turtles that wait for my feeder to go off.

Need to trim that down by 50%.

I have a number of red ear slider turtles that are feed trained. They hear the 4 wheeler coming and their head pops up and they swim toward me. I throw feed their way when I see them. Every year have babies in my two small sediment and forage ponds. The snappers know what feed is but they seem to be more wary and come and go from the pond so are not regulars like the red ears are.

I also have had a problem with them stopping up my overflow pipe from the sediment pond that goes into my main pond. Had a huge rain event and noticed the water flowing over the emergency but not much coming out the pipe. Figured some debris in it so stuck my hand down there to clear it (I would NEVER do this in my main pond overflow but there is very little height differential between the sediment and main pond so little risk of getting "sucked in"). Felt like a rock in there. Weird. Wrenched around on it with my hand for a while and felt like two rocks. Then I felt something move. That was the end of the hand operation. Got a bar and pried around and dug one 6 or 8" turtle out. Neck hanging out and looked dead. Threw it on the dam between ponds. Still very slow water flow. Dug another bigger turtle out, neck hanging out and looking dead. Threw him on the dam and he promptly came to and crawled briskly into the main pond. Then a few minutes later the first turtle came alive and crawled into the water.

Reminds me, I was going to get a bar guard made for that pipe. Fortunately that pond has a very large emergency rock covered overflow that goes into the main pond so even if the pipe clogs up it is not much of a big deal.

Hello.

Some year you will don't see lots of frogs.

How the Turtle clean the frog in the pond.

By a beautiful sunny day thousands of tadpoles go to water's edge to get warmed by the sun, there are so many that the edges of the water are black.

It's the moment that the Turtle waited to make the carnage, slowly without making a noise they will come behind the tadpoles and they will eat them one after the other.

The tadpoles don't see the danger and will be eaten until the last,

In the morning there were thousands of tadpoles, the production of a whole year, and in the evening there is almost nothing left.

A+

I have about 30-35 turtles that are ready when my feeder goes off... they consume a lot of feed, my BG just pick one at a time off while the turtles just cruise the surface slurping up piece after piece.
No worries about too much feed in the pond, those turtles will eat until it's all gone.
Between the mallard and her 4 now about grown ducklings my BG don't have much of a chance to eat...