Recreating a Tiny Turtle's Natural Swamp Ecosystem

I’ve been planning this one for months and have been collecting the materials to do so for several weeks now. I’m so excited to finally have done it, and Walnut truly seems to enjoy it as well! I’m so excited to see his little swamp ecosystem come to life and document its progression. It should be an incredible journey!

Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!! I agreed to "babysit" a loggerhead musk turtle for a friend, with the promise it would only be for one month...that was six years ago... since then, I've upgraded his tank twice as his original owner only had him in a 20 gallon with no basking spots and no UV light. I've spent years searching for species appropriate videos for inspiration on how to improve his home, but while YouTube is laden with an abundance of content geared towards sliders, tellapins, and other basking turtles - it is sorrowly lacking in content geared towards bottom dwellers like my inherited musk. This is EXACTLY the content I've been so desperately searching for, and it was well worth the wait! I hope walnut enjoys his new home!

It's nice that you show the stuff that doesn't work, I think it's always interesting to see how you solve unanticipated problems!

I’m glad you mentioned in the beginning that you didn’t see him for a while after you put him in his new paludarium. Not that long ago I moved my corn snake from a ten gallon tank with aspen shavings to a fully planted 4’x2’x2’ bioactive vivarium modelled after one of your builds and once I moved him he explored the whole enclosure, made tunnels and burrows in the generous substrate layer and climbed around in the branches but then I didn’t see him for 3 weeks!

The trick to boiling cypress knees is to use a large metal garbage can over an outside fire. The bark comes off revealing a gorgeous smooth surface. I’m from Florida. We used to do this all the time. Give it a try one day, you’ll see.

Hi! I'm an environmental science student currently taking a course on botany with an emphasis on native Southern species. The "knees" of Bald Cypresses are specialized roots called pneumatophores, and the function is believed to be gas exchange and support for the root system in an environment where their substrate is often waterlogged. So cool to see how this specialized root supports the habitats and behaviors of other native swamp species!!!

Wait does this mean a cookie enclosure later!!!!!! Yeah!

So cool. And now I can’t wait to see what you do for Cookie!

Any animal that comes into your care is beyond lucky! What a great environment for the little guy.

Aquatic turtles have been known to chew / claw at silicon seams. On my friends musk turtle tank we cut 1½ pvc town the pipe to make 4 cresent shaped peices we then siliconed those over our actual water retaining seams.

Walnut is so photogenic!!

Beautiful buildt, as always Tanner. I love how Walnut goes for the root right after he came down there. His natural insticts are kicking in :D

Walnut is super cute, climbing all over like he's on a treasure hunt! It's really cool how you fixed the big oopsie with the tank. It’s like you made lemonade out of lemons, but for Walnut, making his home even cooler. He’s probably too busy being adorable to notice, but he’s got the best spot to play hide and seek now!

please keep on creating these beautiful builds. I am very fascinated watching how natural they look. they're therapeutic to watch.

Growing up in the Great Lakes, cypress knees look so alien to me, but seeing how Walnut interacts with them brings the environment really to life!

Oh, your educational touch to the environment chosen was also a good touch!

Thank you for showing the imperfections when filming 😊 It’s appreciated! Gorgeous natural habitat ❤❤❤

As a floridian who grew up on a house bacling up to cypress swamps, this setup is spot-on. I'd love to see something similar for a semiaquatic snake like a green water snake or (someone else's) cottonmouth.

Another masterpiece of yours! It's absolutely stunning. And that turtle is so cute!

Thank you for this video, Tanner. I have 2 Bumblebee crawling toads and a Mourning Gecko in a heavily planted 55 gallon tank. I felt bad because I rarely see any of them. Hopefully they will eventually get accustomed to me and I'll get to see/enjoy them more in the future. I was wondering if they are alive, but like you said, the food is disappearing, so I have to believe all is well for now. Beautiful build. Keep up the good work! Love your positive channel. It always is a feel good kind of watch.