How to Create a Habitat at Home for an Eastern River Cooter Turtle

The eastern river cooter turtle is a popular pet. Scientifically known as, Pseudemys concinna, the turtle's shell may measure 12 to 16 inches as an adult. The eastern river cooter is primarily found in the eastern United States, from Virginia to Florida. They generally live in ponds, lakes and marshlands with lots of plants. Although they are excellent swimmers, they also like dry, warm basking areas. If you have an eastern river cooter turtle at home as a pet, it is important to make their habitat as much like the wild as possible.

Things You'll Need

  • Aquarium
  • Sand
  • Rocks
  • Plants
  • Water
  • Filtration system
  • Basking lamp
  • UV light
  • Digital probe thermometer
  • Aquarium heater
  • Food
  • Calcium powder
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Instructions

    • 1

      Buy an aquarium for your turtle. A 20-gallon tank is sufficient for a hatchling, but as the turtle grows you will need to buy a bigger tank. An outdoor pond or child's wading pool is ideal for adult river cooters, but is not always possible.

    • 2

      Cover the bottom of your aquarium with sand or gravel.

    • 3

      Place a pile of rocks, a large rock or a turtle dock in one corner of your aquarium for basking.

    • 4

      Place many live or plastic plants in the bottom of your aquarium. The more plants you put, the better, as they provide security and hiding places for your pet.

    • 5

      Fill the aquarium with water at a depth of 3 to 6 inches for hatchlings. Adults are excellent swimmers, so you can fill the aquarium with water from 10 to 30 inches deep.

    • 6

      Put in a filtration system to keep the water clean. You can use a foam or power filter and change the water frequently for hatchlings, but use a canister filter for adult turtles.

    • 7

      Clip a basking lamp to the corner of the aquarium where your turtle will bask. Keep the temperature under the light around 90 degrees Fahrenheit. You can buy a digital probe thermometer from a hardware or garden store to correctly measure the temperature in the basking spot.

    • 8

      Place a fluorescent UV light on another area of the aquarium to provide UV rays over the entire area. This is necessary for your turtle to make Vitamin D3 from calcium.

    • 9

      Put in an aquarium heater to keep the water temperature in the 80s (Fahrenheit). A titanium or unbreakable glass heater is recommended so the turtle doesn't break the heater.

    • 10

      Feed your turtle both meat and vegetable food. You can buy packaged turtle food at the pet store and also feed live crickets, red worms and super worms (available at most pet stores) to your turtle. You can also feed your turtle collard greens, turnip greens, pieces of cucumber, zucchini, carrots and yellow squash. You only to feed an adult eastern river cooter two to three times a week. It is also a good idea to sprinkle powdered calcium on their food.