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 RU-vid 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!

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!!!

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.

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

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.

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

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

Walnut is so photogenic!!

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!

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

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!

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

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.

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

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.

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

This is one of my favorite setups you've done! Walnut is precious, as well.

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

Walnut really does cling like a magnet! I was surprised to see him cling to a knee right off the bat, he seems very happy in the new enclosure.

Turtles are so misunderstood and i dont know many people that take such good care of them! I'm so happy to see all the care you put into your turtles home

Love the cypress knees, weird thing to type but ok...🙃 they look like mountain ranges, inspirational as usual 😁

Love the new environment for Walnut, and it's obvious that Walnut does, too! Your idea to make water wicks, disguised with moss, to bring moisture to the growing plants was brilliant. The cypress knees give the scape a very natural look. If I didn't know this was a tank in a private citizen's home, I would swear it was in a big, public space run by scientists, like an aquarium or botanic garden. Except I think Walnut gets better care from you.

This is really awesome. My little turtle, Luther, just passed away last week. I had him almost 15 years and my mom had him about 7 years before that. I already miss his antics.😢

5:13 the drill vibrating stone dust creates such a trippy effect!

Excellent upgrade for Walnut. Now I can't wait to see what's planned for Cookie.

You checked that glass accordingly, but not appropriately.

Amazing build as always! A word of caution from one loggerhead owner to another: they’re amazing climbers, so you may want a lid to make sure little Walnut can’t escape.

Love it. Those pieces of wood are so unique and because that’s where he would naturally live, he looks perfect hiding among them. Lucky turtle!

You’ve made me entertained of watching throughout the years and i love watching the clean up and learning stuff. Soemthing about every video is so satisfying. Love you bro and i want to be like you one day ❤

I’m not sure why RU-vid’s algorithm listed your video in my feed but it did its job! That was fascinating to watch and Walnut is so endearing. His new tank looks phenomenal. Subscribed and looking forward to seeing more videos like this!

You did a great job duplicating the cypress swamp habitat. I've seen them in Florida and Louisiana and yours is spot on. Loved the way you recovered from the shattered glass "oopsident". It's encouraging to know even experts make mistakes.

Tanner, I don't know if you feel the need to put on a positive face for the camera, or if you're just an incredibly upbeat and positive person (I'm leaning towards the latter) but the way you just shrug off that glass shattering as "things don't always go according to plan" and then just move on. I don't know how you do it! Though I imagine being able to engage in such wonderful endeavours helps a lot. Thank you for sharing these wonderful creations. The love and dedication you have for your animals is so heartwarming and inspiring.

Thanks for sharing this video. Tanner your videos are very calming. My wife of 40 years is very I'll and I needed this Distraction!!!

Hey Tanner, could you do a video going in depth on drilling tanks? Not just how to drill a hole in the glass but how to properly choose a bulk head size and what fittings are available? I’m getting ready to drill my first tank and I’m having a hard time answering a few questions like: what size tubing should I use, do you need some kind of check valve on the return in case of a power outage and the tank keeps siphoning into the sump/canister, etc. love your work!☺️

I appreciate your calmness. Thanks for showing us the hard parts too!

Me and my five year old daughter love watching your videos. They are relaxing and amazing. Keep up the good work.

Walnut has a wonderful new home! 🌹❤

And bob moss strikes again :)

You and @MDFishTanks both just updated the enclosures for your little turtles, and it’s happy serendipity for a fan of both of you haha

I thought it could be interesting to include an orchid in a naturalistic setup. They naturally grow on trees instead of pots, nestling into the bark, with the flowering stems hanging down instead of being propped up by sticks and clamps. I imagine it could be a nice centerpiece in a vertical build. It might be something for the missus? Maybe for valentine? 😉

Beautiful new home for Walnut. I look forward to updates as he settles in. The enclosure looks big enough for a friend!

I love the natural ecosystem you made, initially I thought you put way too many botanicals but I’m sure over time as they decompose it will be very appropriate. Great job!!

Tanner, I actually enjoy some of the “blooper” moments because it just adds interest and a challenge. I love your work and this channel. Hug Samson for me ✌🏾

Walnut is going to be living like a king in that huge tank

This may be my most favourite of all your setups to date, it really does look so natural! Excited to see how it progresses

Wow that shatter was crazy!!

That is one adorable little turtle. You always make the coolest habitats.

I love how this is the closest thing to “chaotic” I’ve ever seen on this channel. When the glass exploded I jumped and had to rewind the video because I couldn’t believe it even happened lol

I love your use of the cypress knees. I live near Caddo Lake, which is full of cypress trees and knees. It is a place to go for inspiration.

gorgeous as always

neat teachable moment with the sunglasses and the tempered glass

Dude this looks like a better version of a cypress bog tank I've been putting together for a couple of weeks now. I wish mine had this many cypress knees.

Y'all is it just me... or does this dude just have the most calming narrator voice?

I love your dedication to naturalistic environments. Before starting my own reptile journey, I used your content as a blueprint for what I would focus on as a keeper. Amazing work as always.

Poor little Walnut needs a friend to share his beautiful new home with!

love your videos, i love the idea of the cypress knees and I'm so glad you do leaves in your aquariums, it makes it look a lot better and since youve posted about it ive seen more and more people doing it!. as much as ive loved your videos and watched them for 6 or 7 years, this is not how a swamp looks. and you do this with a LOT of your tanks. I've grown up in these turtles range and been to swamps, creeks, rivers, and lakes they live in. I have never seen a swamp with moss growing underwater, I have never seen that much foliage growing on cypress knees, I have never seen air plants like that growing that close to the water, i have never seen the water or bottom of a swamp THAT clean. those might be a lot of small things but they add up. its sad seeing you do so well with half of the tank, then just not fully commit to the natural look. these tanks could be so much better if you just paid more attention to detail and followed nature more closely. I have no problem if this is just your style but for a long time you've advocated for tanks that mimic nature and described your tanks as "natural", and then you don't pay attention to detail to make them look natural. if you claim to be dedicated to making your tanks natural, then do it.

I have an Eastern musk that I caught wild two years ago, and have kept. Very cool critters.

I learn so much from your videos while getting to watch the construction of fully functional pieces of art and nature replication. Well done again!

I was just in congaree national park, which is full of cypress knees!! so cool to see a simulation of the same swamps I was walking in

I love this build. Well done. It looks fantastic.

Great build for such a cute lil friend! 🥰

You should use fly tying equipment for when you need to tie plants, its essentially a tube that holds a bobbin so you can place the thread or fishing line accurately.

This setup really looks amazing 🤩

It's so cool to see you make builds for animals that are native to my area, ESPECIALLY turtles!!! ❤️

Love this one! The cypress knees are so cool!

Wonderful new home for Walnut

What a beautifull animal, amazing work as always!!

That habitat is outstanding, bravo.

I love my Sternotherus pilfers. They are so rewarding to watch. Great video!

Woah, I’m early for once! Walnut looks so adorable and happy in his new home, and I absolutely love the addition of scuds!!! 💚

You have such an awesome symbiotic relationship with all your creatures & plants. You truly care about all of them. Giving them the environments that best suites their needs allows you to indulge your passion, creativity and talents. Not the least of which is being able to make very pleasing videos of all of it, teaching us not only how to create such environments, down to the reasons for material choices, but also teaching us about the plants & animals you populate these miniature worlds with. You also don’t shy away from showing mistakes turning them into very valuable lessons learned moments. I was wondering, how much of a pain would it be to have live feed? Focused on one of your environments so we could also share in the pleasure of watching the inhabitants. Maybe rotating it from one environment to another occasionally? Ask the Serpa Squad, I bet I’m not the only one that would enjoy such a live stream. Keep following your passion!

OH MY!!!! I've been waiting for this video for 10 years!!!!!

This video was awesome

I love every bit of the new tank! ❤

always love your videos brother, keep up the great work my dude!

I really wish your videos weren't so short now days. We need longer content

Love watching you create habitats for your babies, my mouth actually hurts from smiling so much. Thanks for sharing your babies with us. I wonder if we've ever seen your wife, or is she like my husband, and doesn't want to be on camera? Anyway, I know you say we a lot so figure she loves the babies as much as you do so it'd be nice to see her if she feels like it.

The cypress knees are so cool

I'm building my water snakes an all natural enclosure to and I am almost done. This channel definitely helps an what type of plants to use to.

This is pretty neat. I think that making enclosures specifically for animals and perhaps multi animal enclosures like you have before are some of your best recent ideas for upload views! Other people do what you do, but you do it the best by far.

Wow! This looks amazing!

“all I had to do was pull to tanks completely apart and put them back together as one” easy. 😂

I love these videos, hope to see many more mate!

OHHHH! Walnut is SOOO CUUUUTE!!!!!!!!!

Awesome! I think it's safe to say that Walnut loves it! Fantastic job, Tanner 🐍 🐢 💚

look at that little guy zoom around in the new tank! NYOMMMM💨

Thank you Tanner, incredible! 🪻💚🙃

Looks so good! Lucky Walnut 😊

That looks like the swamps near me. Lovely job! Walnut should be very happy in there!

1:50 Well that solves my question of what happens when you drill into tempered glass. 😮😂😅

Beautiful ty for sharing. I always love your video's 😊

Absolutely stunning.

Aw Walnut looks like he loves his new set up. Those knees are gorgeous! I planted cypress trees along my driveway between my house and the neighbors. The knees keep growing up (far from the trunk) and causing issues. So note to others, keep that in mind when planting trees. But now I may have to let a few grow so I can cut them and use in enclosures. Lol. Sorry you had issues with the glass. But really is any project smooth from start to finish? Part of the hobby is problem solving. I hope you show an update with Walnut climbing up the knees. Very cute. 🥰 I need to work on my box turtle habitat. Its pump stopped working. Probably needs a redo anyway. I hope you have a blessed day!

You should get him a friend in this tank! 🐢

YAY, we get to play spot the hatched praying mantis egg case on the larger piece of wood. @4:49 (used to have a ton of these from my parents garden growing up)

Absolutely stunning !!!!!!!

Awesome setup!