Habitat - Outdoor :: Guest or new Turtle??

[birdlady]

And here is my newest "visitor". He just popped up out of nowhere yesterday. He's a bit damaged as it appears as though something has tried to eat him (note shell damage)




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Hope he/she/it gets along well with my current residents..
Holly

[missibsu]

He's cute, damage and all. Are they native in your area? How about the RES? In reference to your earlier post, I was just curious if they resided in the wild together... but then I guess they do in other places, even if they don't where you are. None the less, he's cute.

We have a box turtle that live out in the field behind our house. Dad hit him with the lawn mower one year and it left a nasty gash in the shell. Before dad could get back to him he was gone. A year later when dad mowed for the first time of the season he saw him again. He had significan scaring but other than that...he was still looking good. Are the wounds on the painted still open? or have the healed?

[birdlady]

Painted turts ARE a native to Michigan but the RES's are in the wild but a non-native species (pets dumped according to the DNR). They do live together in the lakes around here.
As for his "wounds"..he appears to be healed up around the shell. Just those chunks missing. Our guess is that a coon or something got him a while ago. He appears happy living in the pond so I guess he's gonna stick around.
I'm thinking it was someone's pet and they threw it out as he doesn't look like a "wild" kind. He comes up to the water to greet me (not something a wild turt would do), his shell is remarkably clean and algae free (not something one would see in the wild). He LOVES the spring mix salad I threw to him (don't think many wild turts would eat it..lol). Has no great fear of anything I've seen so far (come on, I have 5 kids, 1 cat, 3 dogs, and a zoo full of other critters here).
The kids have named him Red Firebelly...unique if you ask me.
Holly

[steve]

How is his temperament? It's possible someone abandoned him and males are less likely to roam away from a pond. I wonder how he could sneak in... it may also mean that it is possible for your RES to sneak out.

[missibsu]

Sounds to me like you just got one more critter to add to the list!

[Andrew7769]

i love painteds i have 2 myself good luck!

[marisa]

What a sweet face. I love RES, but love painteds as well. Good luck with him (can't see the tail, but those nails look pretty long).

[birdlady]

Well when I seen his nails, i automatically said it's a Male...oh boy!! 2 females and now this male?? What next? lol
He seems intent on staying...he moved to the stepping stones to bask today but hopped back into the pond when I came out. He ate, he swam, he basked, he's just enjoying life.
My Girls have no intentions of leaving the pond. They won't even climb up onto the stones to bask. They stay in the water or on the logs laying across the pond. If they do leave, they will have to scale the chicken wire to get out and/or squeeze under the fence.
Seems as though I found out how the Painted really got into my pond. He was at the fence on the other side attempting to get past the chicken wire and the kids seen him. They picked him up and put him on the other side and he then jumped into the pond. Either way, he made it into the yard and was determined to hit the ponds. He just got a helping hand over the fence..lol

[marisa]

Sounds like he's got it made. And why would he want to leave with two lady friends around?