BASIC INFORMATION:

For all you northern states pond lovers, here is the one turtle that can handle your cold winters, and all but the biggest of raccoons, becomes very tame, has nice coloring, gets along great with all other species, will not get huge, and is a pleasure to keep. Some have lots of yellow spots, some have "even more" yellow spots. In the north, so long as your pond is deeper than the frost line, these guys can winter over outside no problem. If you live in the south and have a very shaded pond 3 feet or deeper, with a bit of basking sun on the banks, European Ponds will work for you too...

Ours love pellets and cut fish. If you have some sun, some shade, a nice basking spot, you're set... As a special bonus: those of you who want to keep Blandings turtles in your outdoor ponds - but can't because Blandings are native to your state, and are there fore protected - European Pond Turtles are nearly identical in every way - and are perfectly fine for your state. Their species description follows:

European Pond Turtles inhabit the slow moving rivers and streams of Spain, Portugal, France Greece and Italy. They're also found in the Baltic region, the former soviet states, into Iran and Turkey. European Pond Turtles are also found in soft bottomed lakes, marshes and ponds with plenty of vegetation. One key to this species success is their ability to thrive in brackish, and even very polluted waters. Truly, Emys orbicularis are impressive survivors...

These are great turtles for all levels of keepers. They love to bask, and quickly overcome their instinct to dive back in when startled. European Pond turtles love to bury in soft bottoms, where they will actively hunt for food. They are very carnivorous, stalking insects, worms, mollusks, crustaceans,amphibians and fish. If it moves, they'll eat it - on land or in the water... We raise ours on cut fish, worms and pellets.

European Pond Turtles are very similar in appearance and habits to American Blandings Turtles. Dark brown to black in shell color with literally thousands of small white to yellow spots. Their plastron (belly) is partially hinged, similar to a Box Turtle's. Their extensive range gives them great temperature tolerances, and adults (up to 6+ inches) make fine additions to outdoor ponds. These are very personable turtles, great for glass tanks with either good basking areas, or even part land - part water set ups. Considering their vast range and great versatility, European Pond Turtles are great turtle representatives of the old world...

* Remember, each turtle order comes with a free starter sample of the same Turtle diet your Turtle has been raised on - this will last one small turtle a few weeks - to order larger quantities, see the lower left side of this page. *