Whoa, that sounds like a nice setup for your pet! I asked my wife if we could build a pond for Katie the turtle but she said "NO". LOL. But my wife has been very loving and accommodating over the years, in reality.
I once read of a turtle that got locked in a shoebox with papers, and put in an attic, and survived for 30 years. Apparently the turtle ate the papers and absorbed moisture from the humidity. I can't attest to that article, but when my pet was "young" , she did climb out of her tank and got lost in the house for six months. I'd given up on finding her. Then one night at 3 a.m., my dog was barking loud and long, and the turtle was all sprawled out in the middle of the kitchen floor. What she ate or drank for six months, I don't know.
I feed my turtle about every other day. More in spring and summer when she's more active, less in fall and winter. I have traveled a week and just tossed extra food into her tank. I normally use a small separate feeding tank because turtle's are pretty darn messy when they eat.
I've researched a bit to find a delayed feeding device of some kind, but I've not really had any luck. Since we're here full-time and don't travel extensively for periods, I've pretty much just adopted the week long rule. If I were gone longer than that, I'd ask a neighbor to feed her, I suppose.
My turtle loves to burrow. If I let her loose in the yard, she'll dig into the mulch and bury herself. So what I did for a "toy" is toss an old t-shirt onto the lanai, and she likes to burrow under it.
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