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turtle in pond

17 years ago

This spring we made a large natural pond about 100x55 and eight feet deep at the deepest part. I have been adding small Koi throughout the summer. Some have managed to grow quite fast..some I have never seen. We have been visited by heron and a kingfisher. This morning I saw a small maybe 6-8 inch long turtle. I believe it is a snapper due to the long tail I thought I could see. Question is how big a fish is the pest capable of eating? Any way of getting rid of him? Also on the kingfisher..how big a fish will he try to eat?

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Comments (5)

surfhead
17 years ago
turtles will only eat very small fish. they aren't the most nimble of hunters. so anything over 4" should be safe.

The birds on the other hand will go for pretty much any size fish. Even fish WAY to big for them. they will peck and stab larger fish and leave them for dead. I have seen 30+ inch fish killed by herons but not eaten, just stabbed.
cagony
Original Author
17 years ago
Thank you for the info. That darn Heron was out there this morning and I did manage to chase him away..he's huge. All of my larger Koi are accounted for thank goodness. My horse has been wading in the pond and mucks it up..I think this is an advantage to the fish at this time. I guess I will have to just hope and pray! Thanks for the reply as the turtle I thought would have a big advantage stalking under water.
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There really isn't a one size fits all for building a pond. The basics for each are about the same, though, unless you're planning a dedicated koi pond, which you aren't. I found a few sights online by googling "how to build a pond". The link below is one of the first to come up, and it has diagrams to aid in the instructions. Some people like shelves in their pond and some people don't. That's up to the individual. With turtles, you'll probably want shelves close to the surface to aid them in getting out of the pond to bask. For a filter, you can build a homemade filter out of a trash can, some tubing, and a submersible pump (be sure to have some kind of prefilter, usually foam, on it and rinse it at least a couple of times a week). If you do decided to use a skimmer, you can place a couple of lengths of pvc piping horizontally across the the opening. This will allow the debris to get inside while preventing the turtles from getting in. Here is a link that might be useful: How to build a watergarden
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yfbili_yahoo_com
15 years ago
I used to have problems with herons getting at my koi. I got an ultrasound generator box (runs on 110V or battery & costs about $40) that puts out an ultrasound that keeps large predators away. Works great & is very unobtrusive - much better than a net that I had earlier. Bird-X as well as other on-line outfits sell these boxes.
mollymaples
15 years ago
I use ultrasound as well. It seems to work on raccoons and heron. It does not work on king fishers who swoop in and take fish. I still have to have the fishing line to prevent them from eating my fish.
garbird
15 years ago
I have seen snapping turtles eat eat fish up to a foot long. I bet they could take them larger with not much trouble. Once while fishing in a large farm pond I heard a commotion on the other side and saw it was a duck being attacked by something. I went to investigate and found a large snapping turtle eating a mallard duck that it had just killed. Don't ever under estimate the power of hunger!
After all these turles are carnivores.
You must also be aware of bullfrogs and water snakes. I once put a big Bullfrog in my pond, and it ate a 10" comet goldfish the very first night. I went out the next morning and there was the frog under the waterfall with a big orange tail sticking out of it's mouth.
I've also seen a few snakes with very suspicious lumpy bellies around my ponds.

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