Just got a turtle!

[Logan's Runt]

A couple months ago I woke up and went outside of my house to check the mail and what do I see? This huge ass turtle walking around my front little pond. I measured him and he was like 11 inches long. He fell into out little gated pond thing and was stuck there. I let him be, and later when I was leaving for something I saw he wasn't there anymore. Little guy got out somehow.

And just recently, my sister got a really really small tiny turtle.

Was it a snapper? They're the only ones I know of that get that big, unless you live in the Galapagos islands.

Be careful with the baby turtles. They carry salmonella, so make sure she washes her hands if she's touched him. As far as I know it's illegal to sell turtles that are less than 5 years old in most states.

 

[Nirvana]

Was it a snapper? They're the only ones I know of that get that big, unless you live in the Galapagos islands.

Be careful with the baby turtles. They carry salmonella, so make sure she washes her hands if she's touched him. As far as I know it's illegal to sell turtles that are less than 5 years old in most states.

I have no idea what type of turtle it was, I just know it was huge and I didn't want to get too close to it since it was hissing. It probably was a snapper, they're pretty common in FL.

Yeah, the little baby turtle is pretty cute. I tell her to wash her hands every time she touches him. She feeds it every two days and cleans his little container every few days. She keeps him in a really small plastic container, like one of those containers you keep left over food in. It's filled with sand, a bit of water and his water and food bowl. The turtle is probably like the size of my thumb. I'm guessing maybe half an inch? I'll have to post pics of him and measure him later. And from what I heard, a friend from school gave it to her. She keeps him by the window, so he usually gets natural sunlight. I'm honestly surprised he lived, she's had him for about a good month now. She's still looking for an aquarium for him.

 

[Logan's Runt]

I have no idea what type of turtle it was, I just know it was huge and I didn't want to get too close to it since it was hissing. It probably was a snapper, they're pretty common in FL.

Yeah, the little baby turtle is pretty cute. I tell her to wash her hands every time she touches him. She feeds it every two days and cleans his little container every few days. She keeps him in a really small plastic container, like one of those containers you keep left over food in. It's filled with sand, a bit of water and his water and food bowl. The turtle is probably like the size of my thumb. I'm guessing maybe half an inch? I'll have to post pics of him and measure him later. And from what I heard, a friend from school gave it to her. She keeps him by the window, she he usually gets natural sunlight. I'm honestly surprised he lived, she's had him for about a good month now. She's still looking for an aquarium for him.

Yeah, that was a snapper. Its a really good idea you didn't try to reach into the water to get him. You'd probably be less a few fingers. They're nasty.

Little baby turtles are hard to care for, as they're kind of fragile, but it sounds like she's doing a good job. You should try to find out what kind of turtle he is and look up specific care instructions.

 

[Nirvana]

Yeah, that was a snapper. Its a really good idea you didn't try to reach into the water to get him. You'd probably be less a few fingers. They're nasty.

Little baby turtles are hard to care for, as they're kind of fragile, but it sounds like she's doing a good job. You should try to find out what kind of turtle he is and look up specific care instructions.

Yeah, it was kind frightening actually. He was on land at the moment when I took out the tape measure and he looked like a mean SOB. I'm already missing the tips of my left fingers, can't afford to lose anymore!

Here's a crappy cell phone picture of him.

Funny story, my sister was cleaning his other container and temporarily placed him in the container pictured. I went up, took a pic and she asked why and I said to show someone. She kept asking who and I said "Oh you don't know her" and she kept asking who so I said "Kitty" and she was like "Does she want him?" and I said no and she was like "Damnit" and she told me she hates taking care of him and that he's annoying. So I offered to take care of it for her. I moved it into my room and I will probably buy a small tank for him and other turtle stuff.

 

[Logan's Runt]

Yeah, it was kind frightening actually. He was on land at the moment when I took out the tape measure and he looked like a mean SOB. I'm already missing the tips of my left fingers, can't afford to lose anymore!

Here's a crappy cell phone picture of him.

Funny story, my sister was cleaning his other container and temporarily placed him in the container pictured. I went up, took a pic and she asked why and I said to show someone. She kept asking who and I said "Oh you don't know her" and she kept asking who so I said "Kitty" and she was like "Does she want him?" and I said no and she was like "Damnit" and she told me she hates taking care of him and that he's annoying. So I offered to take care of it for her. I moved it into my room and I will probably buy a small tank for him and other turtle stuff.

Haha.

He kind of looks like a box turtle, but its really hard to tell. Take a better picture.

You said he's still really tiny- size of your thumb? He'd do alright in a 10 gallon tank for a while. Its actually way cheaper to buy Sterilite tubs than glass aquariums. You have to figure out what kind of turtle he is first though. If he's a box turtle, he needs dry ground like wood chunks, but if he's another kind of turtle he'll need a whole water tank setup.

 

[Nirvana]

Haha.

He kind of looks like a box turtle, but its really hard to tell. Take a better picture.

You said he's still really tiny- size of your thumb? He'd do alright in a 10 gallon tank for a while. Its actually way cheaper to buy Sterilite tubs than glass aquariums. You have to figure out what kind of turtle he is first though. If he's a box turtle, he needs dry ground like wood chunks, but if he's another kind of turtle he'll need a whole water tank setup.

I don't have a digital camera (Shocking right?) so the crappy cell phone pic will have to do for now

Yeah, he's still really small. I'll go measure him now. Okay, he's exactly one inch (awww!) I'll probably take him to a small trip to Petco and find out all the details about him and whatnot. As for the Sterilite tubs, I'll definitely have to keep that in mind.

 

[Logan's Runt]

Good deal. They'll be able to figure out what kind of turtle and how to take care of him.

 

[Girl_Wonder]

*sighs* I used to have a turtle, well technically it was my brother's..I was around 5/6 and since he's older by 6 years he got to take care of it.
anyways we went on vacation and my dad, being the genius he is, left Typhoon(aka the turtle) in a bathtub will with water with one lid thingy floating around, so it could get on it and have some air and eat whatever. I don't remember details....

Well, we came back like a week later and Typhoon was dead.
Drowned.
Like I said, my dad is quite the genius. We buried him in a this container which was then placed in the garden in front of our house. I wonder if whoever lives there now(this was in some place in Germany) dug good ol' Typhoon up. *sniffs* I still have a pic of him on this yellow toy tractor of my brother's. Cute little thing, it stunk a lot too.

Moral of the story: Never leave a turtle in a bathtub filled with water without knowing if it can even survive without land.

 

[Matrixo]

You...you're not serious, are you? Where do you live? Do you know whether box turtles naturally occur in your area?

Do you have any idea what **** like that does to local ecosystems? I'm literally in disbelief. Honestly. If I were standing next to you, I'd slap you. I would slap the living Christ out of you.

You're ****ing ******ed.

You can't be talking about the OP; he needs a kick in the nuts.

x10

Read the rest of the thread. The OP let the turtle go, so he's now probably dead anyway.

I left him were my friend found him. The place is called Clark's Pond, theres a stream that leads to the pond.

Don't see the reason to lash out on me for putting the turtle back were it was found.

 

[Logan's Runt]

I left him were my friend found him. The place is called Clark's Pond, theres a stream that leads to the pond.

Don't see the reason to lash out on me for putting the turtle back were it was found.

When you don't explain that the turtle was stolen from its natural habitat in the first place, most people assume it was a captive born animal.

Obviously box turtles are native to your area if he was taken from your area, which is what people were jumping on you about. Captive born animals rarely survive in the wild, but often have time to do damage to the foreign ecosystem in the meantime.

It's illegal in most states to take wild box turtles anyway because they're protected species.