Toys

Offering Barbour's map turtles (Graptemys barbouri) enrichment items and stimuli may still be good for their physical and mental well-being in captivity, even if they may not engage with toys in the same manner that birds or mammals do. These enrichment activities are great for warding off boredom, getting people moving, and igniting their natural tendencies.

Turtles will have a blast exploring their new tank home with the help of aquatic structures like submerged logs, pebbles, and platforms. Indulging in their natural habits, turtles may climb, bask, and hide inside these constructions. Turtles are more likely to explore and engage with their environment when given a range of textures and surfaces to climb on.

As an extra source of enrichment, you may provide floating items like cork bark, plastic plants, or basking platforms to your Barbour's map turtles. These items allow the creatures to bask and rest on the water's surface by imitating the floating trash or plants that they would encounter in their natural environments. These items could be fun for turtles to climb or toss about the tank.

Turtles' innate hunting tendencies and need for mental stimulation may be satisfied with food puzzles or foraging toys. A basic example of a turtle puzzle would be to hide food inside PVC pipes or weighted containers and then have the turtles move the pipes or containers to get to the food.

The turtles like eating more since food puzzles are a great way to exercise their bodies and stimulate their minds at the same time.

Floating Vegetation: To make things more realistic for Barbour's map turtles, you may add real or fake floating plants like duckweed or water lettuce. These plants provide turtles a place to hide, some shade, and chances to explore and engage with their surroundings. Vegetation on the water's surface not only filters it further but also helps oxygenate it.

If you want your turtles to be more active, you may provide them toys or enrichment devices that release treats or food as incentives. As an example, turtles may get physical and cerebral stimulation by playing with floating treat balls that are loaded with tiny bits of food or rewards. It is critical to provide turtles with snacks that are suitable for their dietary requirements.

Even though it's not a typical toy, a mirror may be a great visual stimulant for Barbour's map turtles in their aquarium. The exploration of one's own reflection may be a fascinating and educational experience for turtles. But keep an eye on how they react to the mirror; take it away if it makes them angry or stressed.

Changing and rotating the turtles' enrichment items on a regular basis helps keep them interested and prevents them from becoming used to their environment. Turtles may be kept from being bored and bored to death by occasionally adding new things to their tank, such as toys or stimulation. Turtles need their caregivers to pay attention to how they react to various enrichment items and make adjustments depending on what the turtles like and how they act.