General Care Discussion :: Do I release the turtle or give it away?

[SebastiAn]

Hi, everyone. I recently found a baby red-eared slider. It was inside of its shell in the middle of where I live...not sure how it got there other than maybe from the sewer pipe.

ANYWAYS, I was going to release this turtle into a turtle pond that is about 20 minutes from where I live, but long story short, I've now had this turtle for about a month.
I'm worried that if I release it, it won't be able to survive since it's used to be being fed by me...but then I wonder if it can learn from the other turtles (I'm pretty sure they are red-eared sliders)?

My other option was to give it away to a pet shop.

What do you think is the best/safest way? Should I let this little guy go in an area where there are other turtles or should I give it to someone else?
I don't want him/her to get hurt.

[ljapa]

After a month of dependency, learning to catch the typical diet of a young RES, live food, isn't good.

A pet store can't sell a turtle less than 4" long in the US, so you aren't likely to be able to give it to one. Plus, it may be illegal for the store to take a locally wild caught one anyway. Many states have turtle rescue organizations. You might see if there is one nearby.

[justatwinturbo]

After a month of dependency, learning to catch the typical diet of a young RES, live food, isn't good.

A pet store can't sell a turtle less than 4" long in the US, so you aren't likely to be able to give it to one. Plus, it may be illegal for the store to take a locally wild caught one anyway. Many states have turtle rescue organizations. You might see if there is one nearby.

This is not entirely true, it depends entirely on what state the OP is from. Some states allow the sale of turtles under 4" if it is clearly labeled "for scientific or research purposes only" some states don't. Others don't allow the sale of turtles at all. Also, turtles never lose the instinct to hunt, there is not such thing as a domesticated turtle. If you released a turtle that was captive born, and raised for 20 years, it would know exactly what to do. The only problem I have with releasing it, is whether or not this is the turtles natural habitat, or is it the product of already introduced red eared sliders mating.

Where are you from, and can you post pictures?

[swiltz]

I would suggest putting it up for adoption

[SebastiAn]

I'm from Texas.
I attached some pictures of the turtle. They are from the first day it was found.

This is the turtle pond that I thought of releasing it in: http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-zzEHFkdx2wc/T ... G_2782.JPG

[slider_keeper]

That is a good looking little turtle, why can't you keep him? If you can't keep him I'd say try a rescue center. I''m not sure what the legal issues are for releasing a turtle into the pond, but then again he was found in your yard. I'm sure that would change everything. Is that the closest water source to your house, not including the sewer? I don't know about giving him to a pet store, they tend to not care much for the animal and just wanna make money off him.

[SebastiAn]

Well, there is a pool (doubt he came from there, haha). It takes me like 2 minutes to walk there, and then there is a park with water, but I can't remember how far away it is. Definitely have to drive there, though.

And yeah...the pet store idea isn't my favorite...unless I gave it to this exotic pet store that always seems pretty nice when I visit it. Also, I will look into turtle rescue centers.

I still wish I could release it in the "real world" with other turtles, though...Is it really that unlikely for the turtle to learn in a turtle pond? I thought that maybe he'd see the other turtles and learn from them or they'd help the turtle out...but maybe I'm just making up stuff in my head.

Also, I think I've had him for about 2 months (I checked when those pictures were taken)...but even though he's not scared of the food, I think he's still scared of me if I get too close (he swims away if I try to grab him to clean his water; he swims away when I put food for him; lately he's been trying to climb out...but if I just pass by, he's alright with that). Maybe he won't be scared of the turtles since they are his own kind. I don't know. I'm just scared to keep him because I'm worried I won't do a good job at keeping it happy/taking care of it.

[justatwinturbo]

They are native to Texas, you could release him without any worries. I would pick a spot with plenty of plants for him to hide in. Other animals (even larger turtles) would eat him.

[Jea]

Since he was wild-born in his native range and has only lived with you a couple months...as a wildlife rehabber, I'd say let him go home. Sounds like you've already found him a suitable habitat. He'll have a little adjusting to do, but since he's so young and was originally wild, I bet he could handle it. These guys operate largely on instinct anyway. It's a good time of year to release, mild temperatures and plenty of food. Finding good long-term captive homes for turtles is such a challenge that I'm always in favor of returning runaways to the wild when possible. It's really the best place for them.

[SebastiAn]

Thanks for all the advice, you guys.

Today, I went to look at the turtle pond again, and I decided to let the turtle go there. There are lots of plants everywhere, and the pond has a little fountain. There are also so many red-eared slider turtles (I saw one softshell turtle) and so many tadpoles and tiny fish. The turtles there also seem to get fed by people sometimes, because when I was crouched over to make sure the baby turtle was doing alright in the water, some big red-eared slider turtles came up to my feet. It was really weird. I've had ducks do that but never a turtle.

Anyways, they didn't seem to mind the baby turtle. They saw him, and the baby turtle saw them, but he didn't seem to freak out, and they didn't do anything to him (I was ready to dive in and save him, haha)...and then they came over to see if I had food. I'm sure there are other baby turtles around there, too. I saw some last time.

Anyways, that's what happened today. It was sad, scary, and then happy.

[Turdle]

Hi guys. Kind of on the same topic, however in my case we found a lil 1.5" guy only 3 days ago. I have been waiting for the flooding to go down and now wish to release him. What would be the best option?

Should he be released into a feeder creek, or in the Neosho River? I am in Allen County Kansas.

Thanks in advance for your help!

[ljapa]

At three days, they should be fine. They generally like ponds or very slow moving water. You want something with aquatic plants and water that can get a few feet deep at a minimum.

Has his belly sealed from the egg sac? If not, don't put it in water yet.