Aaron Silverman
Senior HTF Member
Hey gang,
Tropical Storm Isaac washed a hatchling turtle up to our house (there's no way he could've gotten up the front steps by himself!), and we've adopted him (I *think* it's a him, anyway). . .I'm pretty sure it's a red-bellied cooter. I did some reading, talked to the folks at the local pet shop, and decided to keep him and take care of him properly -- got a tank, filter, UV light and heat light, etc. It's been a little over a month, and he seems to be doing OK.
One strange thing, though. . .he never comes out of the water of his own accord. There's a floating "dock" that he could climb onto, but he never does more than hang on the edge of it. (It has a ramp that goes into the water, so he *could* climb up if he wanted to.) I think he's just still shy due to being a baby (he's still under 2" upper shell length). He's getting a little less shy, only rushing down to hide from approaching humans about half the time instead of all the time, and he'll come right up and eat when we give him food. We try to take him out and let him run around outside on our screened-in patio for 30-60 minutes a day, since my understanding is that it's important for him to dry out and get some sun every day.
Just wondering if anyone knowledgeable about turtles has any advice. I realize that he'll eventually grow to over a foot in length and will need a huge tank or a backyard pond, so we're aware of the commitment. We were a little unsure at first, but he's really ingratiated himself.
You might imagine what happened when, without really considering the consequences, I typed "how to take care of a cooter" into Google. . . :jawdrop:
Tropical Storm Isaac washed a hatchling turtle up to our house (there's no way he could've gotten up the front steps by himself!), and we've adopted him (I *think* it's a him, anyway). . .I'm pretty sure it's a red-bellied cooter. I did some reading, talked to the folks at the local pet shop, and decided to keep him and take care of him properly -- got a tank, filter, UV light and heat light, etc. It's been a little over a month, and he seems to be doing OK.
One strange thing, though. . .he never comes out of the water of his own accord. There's a floating "dock" that he could climb onto, but he never does more than hang on the edge of it. (It has a ramp that goes into the water, so he *could* climb up if he wanted to.) I think he's just still shy due to being a baby (he's still under 2" upper shell length). He's getting a little less shy, only rushing down to hide from approaching humans about half the time instead of all the time, and he'll come right up and eat when we give him food. We try to take him out and let him run around outside on our screened-in patio for 30-60 minutes a day, since my understanding is that it's important for him to dry out and get some sun every day.
Just wondering if anyone knowledgeable about turtles has any advice. I realize that he'll eventually grow to over a foot in length and will need a huge tank or a backyard pond, so we're aware of the commitment. We were a little unsure at first, but he's really ingratiated himself.
You might imagine what happened when, without really considering the consequences, I typed "how to take care of a cooter" into Google. . . :jawdrop:
