If I bring one more turtle into the garden, my wife says she will kick me out. There is one I discovered while searching the web that needs a crane to deliver it - weighs like 1,400 pounds and the shipping alone would have been several thousand dollars. Hand tight, I will see if I can find the link: I bought the small one! Meanwhile, can this be real?? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UbBc6MOcLLo Finally, our FAVORITE turtle (well, at least Oscar's and mine) is here. Walking, singing turtle. http://www.collectionsetc.com/Item49311.aspx Here is a link that might be useful: Gigantic turtle found in Iraq?

Its awfully enjoyable...the main differences with a turtle pond a fish pond is that (unless you have a VERY well fenced in yard) you have to build a small fence around the pond to keep the turtles from leaving. You also have to take into account that turtles aren't the most gentle of animals on your plants - so you'll really have to pack a lot of plants in there to keep your pond looking nice. A lot of the commonly available turtles are highly omnivorous and will just tear apart any of the plants you put in there. Redear sliders (Trachemys scripta) and Painted Turtles (Chrysemys picta) are the ones most commonly sold (and the cheapest) and they both love to snip water lilies off...but if you've got enough you can make a very nice pond. I'll include a photo of an old pond I had that housed some painted turtles and a slider - the key to keeping the pond looking nice is to keep small numbers of turtles in there. My old pond was around 2500 gallons and it only had 3 turtles in there...to give you an idea.

Thanks Nandina....where did you get your seeds?

I'm not sure. Perhaps there is a pond nearby? They head to their natal area to breed. Perhaps someone moved it and it was heading home? I love turtles. Here is a link that might be useful: Painted turtles