Anyone Know Anything About Turtles

[lizbud]

A neighbor across the street from me found a turtle about
a week ago. He said he didn't want to keep it as a pet or anything, but was afraid it would be run over by a passing car,
so he's been keeping it in an old fish tank on his front porch.
I noticed the tank from my front porch the other day & thought
it was a gerbil or hamster. I went over to ask him about it & he
told me how he found it walking down the sidewalk.(the turtle).
Anyhow, the turtle has a flat shaped shell & red & black strips
on it's underside. He said it might be a "pippen". He's
feeding it bread and baloney. I 'm thinking about asking him to
let me have it & then releasing the turtle in one of our state
parks. It really bothers me to see it in this tank day after day.

[Desert Arabian]

IMO, that turtle needs to be released ASAP. The turtle hibernation period is coming up, and if the turtle is kept in captivity with someone who doesn't know anything 'bout turtles- it is not going to be able to hibernate. Wild turtles also have harmful bacteria such as salmonella, you need to wash your hands right away after holding/touching the turtle. Turtles are not herbivores, so it should not be eating bread. Worms, hamburger (raw), insects, bugs, etc. should be fed to the turtle if it is wild caught.

Also if it is in a non-covered tank, it won't be long until a hungry raccoon decides it is time for a tasty turtle snack, and since the turtle can't run away, it will be eaten guaranteed.

I think the person needs to drive around and find a slow moving river/stream or pond near by, away from tons of traffic and release the turtle, it is the best thing to do.

Here is an EXCELLENT article on wild caught turtles kept in captivity, I suggest it be read: CLICK HERE

[Karen]

Good post YLL - what she said!

Poor turtle! S/he needs to hiberate any day now, unless your neighbor is planning on keeping him as a pet - which may or may not even be legal. Time for a turtle-napping so the turtle can start napping!

[Twisterdog]

The advice given by YellowLabLover and Karen could be the perfectly right thing to do ... or it could be a horrible mistake!

It all depends on one thing ... is the turtle a native species to your area? This is crucially important!!

If it is a wild turtle that is a native species, and it just happened to be wandering in the road, then by all means, it needs to be released where other members of its species lives, and ASAP, too.

BUT if it is a pet turtle, from a pet store, and not a native species, there are several things that could happen, none of which are good. First and most likely, the turtle will just die, being in a wild environment ina potentially different climate than it is suited for. Second scenario: the turtle lives long enough to infect the native turtle population with whatever disease it may be carrying from the pet store or it's native area. The native turtles/reptiles/amphibians may not have immunity to a different disease, and be decimated quickly. Third scenario: the turtle thrives, maybe meets up with another of its kind that also got "released" by a well-meaning but uninformed pet owner. They breed. They eat native species with no natural defense/awareness to them. They take over. They wipe out natural species. This is a HUGE problem in many parts of the world.

Please, please, please NEVER release ANY pet into the wild, and only release a wild animal when it has been checked by a licensed wildlife rehabber first.

[Nibbles]

Wow another darned if you do and darned if you don't. My money is on that it just another wild turtle who has lost its way. I vote turtle nap and take to new turtle habitat and release. Are you sure it's not a tortoise? Hmmmmmmm

[lizbud]

I don't know if it's a native species or not. I know nothing
about turtles. I've tried google to find some info on type,etc.
and the nearest it sounds like is a painted turtle by the description I read on some sites. I did read that they hibernate
and thought this critter needed to get out of the tank, if only
for that reason. The fish tank was not on the guy's porch this
evening. The weather has changed a lot since yesterday. It's
dropped about 30 degrees to the 40's. This neighbor is not a
mean person, just about as ignorant as I am about turtles. So
I thought I'd just tell him what I thought was best & buy the
turtle or have the guy turn him over to me.I'll ask him tomorrow
if he has brought him inside or whatever. Thanks, Liz.

p.s. He thinks he is a land turtle. He's definately not a box
turtle.

[Twisterdog]

If you can get the turtle from him, call a wildlife rehab center and they will pick it up.

Does this help to identify him?

http://www.duke.edu/~jspippen/herps/eboxturtle.htm

http://www.duke.edu/~jspippen/herps/paintedturtle.htm

[lizbud]

Twisterdog,

Of these two, it looks like the 2nd one. The shell is flat like
and the vivid red & black stripes are there. I'll try to see what
the guy did with the turtle today after work. Thanks for your
help here.

[Fox-Gal]

Originally posted by lizbud
He's feeding it bread and baloney. I 'm thinking about asking him to let me have it & then releasing the turtle in one of our state parks. It really bothers me to see it in this tank day after day.

If for some reason he doesn't let you have it, please tell him to feed the turtle Veg. and more natural things. Not a sandwich,
It's a turtle not a kid. LOL And have him fill the bottom of the tank with sand so the turtle can dig.

But my hope is he lets you have him and you will do whats right for the turtle.

[lizbud]

The tank & turtle were back out on his porch tonight.
Darn, I thought he released it. He must bring it inside at night.
When I saw the tank he had a little water in the bottom with
small white pebbles covering the bottom of the tank. He had
a large flat rock that the turtle could stand on to get out of the
water. It gets dark within 45 mins of my getting home, so I'll
have to wait till tomorrow, but I'm going to offer to buy this
turtle & bring him to a large state park. There's one about 40
mins. from me. (Eagle Creek State Park) Indy is going to get
a hard freeze over the weekend. (27 degrees) It's not a tiny
little hatchling or anything & he/she will at least be able to
eat bugs , hibernate or whatever they would do naturally.
Geeze, I don't need this hassle. I wish I would never have seen
it in the first place. I just can't forget about it & see it there
day after day. Know what I mean? Tomorrow's independance
day for this turtle.

[Twisterdog]

So ... what happened?

[lizbud]

I saw the turtle back out in it's tank yesterday, so I went
over to talk to the man & his wife about it. I fibbed a bit &
told her I knew someone who would take the turtle.She said
it would be alright as long as it went to a good home. She then
held the turtle and talked to it & said her goodbyes. That
turtle responded to her voice just as a cat or dog would. He
was so calm. I took the turtle in a open box & drove to the park.
The turtle acted very scared & stressed the whole way there.
I felt so bad & really questioned whether I was doing the right
thing letting it loose in the wild. It's clearly been raised as a pet.
After driving around for about a hour, I took him back to her &
told her that this person I had in mind couldn't take him right
now & I apologized. We got to talking about turtle food, etc.
I mentioned that I shop at PetsMart at least once a week & I
could pick up some for her. Long story short, I went to the store
and bought several types of turtle food for her & she repaid me
what it cost. I told her that I'd be happy to bring more wentever
it's needed as I go there every week.They don't have a car, so
I've decided it's better to help them & the turtle this way than
to release it in the park.

[subwayseries]

If this turtle is kept as a pet, it's important that it have the proper environment, or it will be miserable, get sick and die. There's plenty of free turtle care info on the net (try About.com for starters). Print out a fact sheet for these folks (at the very least). The turtle deserves it.

Turtles need a specific amount of space, light, and heat. If this is an aquatic turtle (most flat shelled turtles are) like a painted or a slider, they can't eat unless their food is in water. Aquatic turtles need water in their habitat, and also need a place they can dry out, or they'll grow fungus. I could go on, being the turtle daddy that I am.

It's pretty easy to care for a turtle once you know the "rules". Let us know how it turns out. Who knows? That turtle might wind up as the POTD one day. Good luck.

[lizbud]

Originally posted by subwayseries
If this turtle is kept as a pet, it's important that it have the proper environment, or it will be miserable, get sick and die. There's plenty of free turtle care info on the net (try About.com for starters). Print out a fact sheet for these folks (at the very least). The turtle deserves it.

Turtles need a specific amount of space, light, and heat. If this is an aquatic turtle (most flat shelled turtles are) like a painted or a slider, they can't eat unless their food is in water. Aquatic turtles need water in their habitat, and also need a place they can dry out, or they'll grow fungus. I could go on, being the turtle daddy that I am.

This turtle certainly does not have a proper environment.
These folks are not cruel people at all, but the guy made it quite
clear to me yesterday that he does not want to keep it. I guess
he doesn't know what to do with it. I thought that providing the
right food would at least keep it from starving. I didn't know
about the fungus issue. It does have a spot on it's shell that
is lighter that the rest of it. Sort of like a powdery like spot.
I guess their having good intentions are really not enough here.
I think I should re-think leaving him/her with them. I wish I knew
the right thing to do for it. The park I was going to take him to
is a city park, but it's over 4,400 acres & has a large lake & many
streams. Should I take it there?

[luckies4me]

I wouldn't release it unless you know that it is for sure a wild turtle. Have you tried contacting a Wildlife Rehabber to see if they can care for him? That would really be the best. Can you take the turtle? Hope all goes well.