new critter // pics to come later

[ele funk]

So about 3 a.m last night a customer comes into the store and he is carrying an orange sand castle bucket, the kind shaped like a castle, you know what I mean.

Anyway, he comes in and sets this bucket down by the counter and says I brought you something. Looking into the bucket I see a baby turtle no bigger than a quarter. I think its maybe an Eastern painted but at this time I am not entirely sure. Definitely not a red ear slider. The shell is nearly black on top with no other markings. Underneath, it is a very light tan(?) color with a bit of red around the edge.

He spotted this little guy crawling across his driveway and almost ran him over. He has no water source on his property, but there is a river that crosses some property about a mile away so the little guy had been crawling for quite a while. I'm surprised he didn't get hit by a lawnmower or something else equally destructive.

My plan at this point is to keep him for a bit until he's a bit bigger then release him into the river he probably came out of. The terrapins and red ear I currently have as pets were about his size when I got them almost a year ago, now they're almost 3 inches.

I will post some pics in a couple hours after he settles in a bit. Tentatively named Donnie after the guy who saved him.

 

[cellodaisy]

I have an eastern painted and she's a surprisingly active and inter-active "wet pet."

The survival rate for turtle hatchlings is very low, so you probably would be helping that individual turtle by growing it out a bit. You might want to check your local regulations, though, about keeping and (more importantly) releasing turtles. Even though it's a local native, it might pick up a non-native disease or parasite from other aquarium inhabitants, or cross-contamination from another tank, which might not show symptoms in the turtle and would then get transferred to the local ecosystem.

Whatever you decide, good luck, and enjoy the little squirt while you have him!

 

[ele funk]

You make good points, hadn't thought about the future release yet. I will definitely look into it first.

My first thought when I saw the little guy was, "How did he get along so far? So small." Natural order would suggest that he wouldn't survive long in a natural setting, that's why I figured to raise him up a bit. He will have his own tank for a while.

If I can just figure out how to upload pics from my camera I will put some up here.

 

[Bushtech]

Your turtle will do fine. I have had many turtles in the past. I always fed them in a separate tub and after about an hour returned them to their main tank. Then discard the feeding tub water. This is to reduce the samonella factor (what happens in water where they chomp and rip up a earth worm or piece of fish). Plan to release the turtle before the weather gets cold so as to allow it to climatize and find a suitable place to over winter.

enjoy

 

[cellodaisy]

Your turtle will do fine. I have had many turtles in the past. I always fed them in a separate tub and after about an hour returned them to their main tank. Then discard the feeding tub water. This is to reduce the samonella factor (what happens in water where they chomp and rip up a earth worm or piece of fish).

I also use a separate feeding tub and it's great for keeping down the mess in the tank. However, I don't think it has any effect on salmonella; it's just something that most reptiles (including turtles) carry, regardless of where or how they eat. Here's a good write-up:

http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?c=17+1796&aid=623

Most, if not all, reptiles carry Salmonella in their intestinal tract and intermittently or continuously shed these bacteria in their feces. Studies have shown that 85% of all turtles, 77% of lizards, and 92% of snakes carry one of the 500 serotypes of Salmonella.