Turtles (1 Viewer)

[Chad Isaacs]

I was out cutting the grass this afternoon and saw something moving... I looked and it was a turtle. It seems domestic enough, it did not resist my picking it up. Right now it is in decent size tupperwear tote. I poured a bottle of auquafina in with it and thawed out some frozen veggies for it to munch on ( corn, carrots and peas) If we decide to keep it what would you reccomend I do for it? It is not very big, just for refrence I have a roll to toilet paper here ( runny nose) and its about the same size if the roll is smashed. The legs have red stripes and the neck has yellow stripes. There are squares on the shell and if I remember right, that is how you tell its age?

I used to keep fish and have had an iguana so I may have some supplies here somewhere, though, no tanks. But I seem to remember some old "friends" having them in a wet and dry set up, some drit and plants on one side and water on the other. What about lights or heat? I did not give it tap water because... as stated above, I kept fish, will the same declor stuff work or is there something else? What about food? I used to give my iguana frozen veggies with calcium powder on it.

The kids really want to keep it so I hope I can make it work somehow.

 

[Michael Warner]

I'm sure you'll catch some grief for wanting to keep a wild animal as a pet but I'm just here to remind you to make sure that you and your kids always wash hands after touching the turtle to avoid salmonella. Also check the turtle for any obvious parasites. When I used to catch turtles as a kid I often found small leeches up in the leg cavities.

 

[Julian Reville]

Not only that, but it is illegal in some states. Some species are protected.

 

[Andrew 'Ange Hamm' Hamm]

Intending no offense, you can count me as the first to officially give you grief for poaching a wild animal.

It's a much better idea to get a turtle from a good pet store than to domesticate a wild one. Even a small turtle could be several years old and well into maturity; confining it under such circumstances is unequivocally cruel, and it's not like it can tell you it's miserable and terrified.

At the very least, bring it to a reptile vet, get it sexed and its species identified, and find out how to care for it. But releasing it is a much better idea.

 

[Jassen M. West]

I thought that a turtles sex can be determined by the shape of its belly. Flat would equal female, concave would be a male. Also sounds like a Painted Turtle.

Every kid has found a turtle or frog and wanted to keep it, just remember any turtle kept in captivity can develop a fungus or soft shell. As mentioned above salmonella is something that can be avoided by washing after handling. Also check you local laws for protected species as kids usually can't keep a secret.

 

[Chad Isaacs]

I have been thinking about just letting it go anyway, the kids have not even menioned it or looked at it today, it will probably "escape" tonight when they are asleep.

 

[Joe Szott]

Turtles like fruit, especially melons like cantalope, honeydew, etc. A little goes a long way for those guys.

I say keep it for a few days. Feed it well, let it take a load off, then drop it by a nice lake/pond somewhere around your house. Your kids would enjoy seeing him take (swim?) off when he is released and he gets some free food out of it.

I used to keep crayfish and turtles all the time as a kid growing up next to a creek, it's no big deal and a little captivity doesn't hurt them.

 

[Bob Graz]

I was reading the paper this morning and coincidentily there happened to be a story on a woman preventing some people from "relocating" a turtle.
http://www.newsobserver.com/682/story/456452.html

 

[Chad Isaacs]

Well after a few cool baths, some clean fresh water and a good meal Ginger made it's great "escape" last night.