We have an outdoor pond/grotto at my church that I did not know has…turtles as well as fish. Large turtles, 3. There is nowhere for them to climb out and sun themselves/dry off, required for turtles. I stacked some rocks for now. Problem is the water level varies considerably up and down during the course of the day as part of a filtering cycle. So trying to build a pyramid/stepping stairs pile of rocks, about a meter high, with places for them to rest and sun. The larges one is about 25 cm, a decent size but not agile so needs to be able to climb this. The grotto is only about 130 cm across at its widest point. Needs to look decent, this is next to our front door (Don Bosco church Taipei, can look on Google maps if you like). I am pretty upset about this situation for the turtles, it is cruel to keep them like this- they try to climb on the filter pipes in desperation to dry out/sun. Sad. I thought I would make a cheap cinder block base, fish can swim through the holes, then put decorative stones in a stepped pattern building up on top. Any leads very much appreciated. Thanks!
I’ve seen Buddhist temples with wooden floats for them as well
Any reasonable sized aquarium shop will have what you need although will likely not be cheap, could do worse than head a little north to the riverside in Dajia and pick out some suitable stones from the river.
Just move the turtles to a better location. That’s a weird little grotto you got there and it doesn’t get much sun.
Yes, I agree that would be best but, not my grotto, not in control. Lucky to be able to do anything here and it better look decent at the end of the day. I tried a temporary platform, no go, they couldn’t do it. Put together a large pile of stones and everyone piled on, clearly the way to go.
Tried a bunch of aquarium shops and…nada. This grotto thing is over a meter deep and the biggest turtle is over a foot long…
For now, found a landscaping stone supplier near Chang Gang hospital (A8 on Airport train) going Saturday to have a look.
I looked at floating islands that look like rocks but one of them is a total clutz, don’t think he/she can do it as I build a temporary wooden platform and no go.
Rivers. Gravel yards have lots of sizes but probably won’t sell so few. Should be easy to get them free from the outdoors pretty easily.
Pretty illegal I think.
Loose stones on the sides of roads won’t turn many heads.
Or just dig them up from your yard/someone you know land etc. Farmers are happy to be alleviated of rocks.
Sure. But highly illegal to remove stones from river beds and people have been prosecuted for it.
On the other hand every day the cement companies rape the rivers here for stone.
Not a lot of farms near where I am or any rivers without tons and tons of CCTV cameras all over. I am willing to pay, like I said the stones need to be nice looking, this grotto is right next to the front door, like a little shrine to Mary, people will get super upset unless it’s all perfect, guarantee someone’s grandmother gave money to have this built, that sort of thing. Many Catholics have an incredibly deep devotion to Mary, I need to respect that. However, turtles have a right to adequate living conditions so needs to be a compromise here. And, yes, people stand in front of this and pray for a long time, it will be noticed. Trying to find gray/black rocks to match what’s already been used. Also, the fish are a consideration, so needs to just be an island for the turtles with room for fish to swim around as well. Yes, this is not an ideal habitat but trying to improve conditions nonetheless.
Can try online if pet and garden shops don’t have anything. The pet trade type retailers often have a lot. I see carts of rocks relatively regularly at HTC and Kerri courtiers centers 
not crazy expensive to ship
Do you have a vehicle?
I found a garden center…well really more of a rock /stone supplier out in Taoyuan at A8 on the Taoyuan MRT. Easy walking distance from the station, hauled the rocks back by Uber, nicely wrapped in Ikea bags. Not sure if I can upload photos, the turtles were climbing up as I built it, going to fix it more tomorrow when I get concrete blocks from the Christmas decorations as we take them down…build a bigger base put the decorative rocks on top. The place is called yuan yuan garden center 原園 . Pictures on the review I left if I can’t post them here. Quite a job but completely worth it for their sake.
Very nice!
As you’re building, try and get a wide/flat enough space above ground to let them heat up and digest in dryness. Loads of turtles die from cool Temps and wet bacteria havens. Good idea on the concrete blocks to build a foundation. Those are often available at BaiHuo type stores. Could get a good base and use the pretty Rick’s for the upper layer.
Good on you for caring about the turtles, much respect!
Yes, they need to fully dry out people don’t understand that. The water levels rise and fall so needs to be a gradual slope with wide base. The concrete blocks have holes, the standard ones, so also a habitat for the smaller fish who were hiding underneath the edges of this slab which is on a brick base with other rocks underneath. Also, I only saw fish pellets being fed, this is not a sufficient turtle diet. Animals cannot just be lucky or decorative or Feng Shui. I am so sorry that I didn’t know we had turtles, no idea how long they have been suffering. They are not fish they don’t swim 24 7. Wish me luck, will post tomorrow’s results.
Oh, here is a before picture . One turtle would climb up into the filter pipes…inadvertently unscrewed the float valve float which I fixed since it was overflowing with no cutoff which is how I noticed the turtles in the first place. As the water levels receded, here he is, was doing it enough you can see they put in a plate to block him rather than figure out his problem which is no place to dry out…
Have you asked the church about this, perhaps they can do something, you need their permission besides anyways.
As for rocks, I see a lot of shops selling cut stone slabs in Bali, also some in Xinjhuan.
You could possibly pick up rocks from say the beach or river (I’m thinking those hot spring areas or whatever, or along the railroad from say Badu to Reifang train station which runs along a river, lots of boulders to be found there).
Before you pick up any rocks from a river or a beach, make sure you look up the laws on this and look around for any signage around the area. You can get in trouble for this. I’m not sure how this works, I believe there are some areas where you can be charged with theft for picking up rocks or whatever.
see earlier reply found a shop, my church working with tacit permission, drastic daily water height changes are my biggest challenge
Would this church agree to migrate these animals to elsewhere? That might be the easiest solution.