Rescued Baby Turtle

[Bronwyn (Premo)]

Hubby found a baby turtle at work covered in Polymer. He cleaned it off and brought it home to show our 4 yr old son. We thought we might try to keep it as a pet. Its only about the size of a quarter, and hubby says it's a box turtle. I've never owned a turtle, only snakes and an Iguana. Need some advice. 1st is should we really be keeping it or will it be better off if we put it out in the woods?

We set it up in a cage. Water, food, wood chips etc. I take him out every day and set him in a large shallow pan, slightly tilted, with a small amount of water that pools at the lower end. I put in some food. I just need to see how he's doing, because when he's in the cage, he burrows under all the vegitation. So far I have observed him eating and drinking. He is pretty active when I put him in the pan.

Anyone ever cared for a turtle before????

[Bronwyn (Premo)]

I sent a PM'er to Inkpen.

[cattitude (Premo)]

I'm not supposed to butt into other people's business, but I'd let him go.

[Bronwyn (Premo)]

Originally Posted by cattitude

I'm not supposed to butt into other people's business, but I'd let him go.

That's what I'm looking for. A little advice. Keep him? Let him go? Turn him over to a rescue service?

Either way. I'm glad hubby saved him and we got him cleaned up.

[stlrnd4]

Originally Posted by Bronwyn

Hubby found a baby turtle at work covered in Polymer. He cleaned it off and brought it home to show our 4 yr old son. We thought we might try to keep it as a pet. Its only about the size of a quarter, and hubby says it's a box turtle. I've never owned a turtle, only snakes and an Iguana. Need some advice. 1st is should we really be keeping it or will it be better off if we put it out in the woods?

We set it up in a cage. Water, food, wood chips etc. I take him out every day and set him in a large shallow pan, slightly tilted, with a small amount of water that pools at the lower end. I put in some food. I just need to see how he's doing, because when he's in the cage, he burrows under all the vegitation. So far I have observed him eating and drinking. He is pretty active when I put him in the pan.

Anyone ever cared for a turtle before????

We've had turtles, my husband kept picking up the ones that were crossing the road and bringing them home. 3 three females layed eggs in our yard. I do know the babies eat more meat than the adults, mine liked worms (not too many) and the japaneze beetles sp? tomatos and fruit. When it starts getting cold out you should let him/her hybernate, let the tank get cooler and the lighting should follow the lighting outside. Only a few websites we found about baby turtles, not a whole lot is known. I just recently let my babies go to be wild again.

[huntr1]

Originally Posted by Bronwyn

Hubby found a baby turtle at work covered in Polymer. He cleaned it off and brought it home to show our 4 yr old son. We thought we might try to keep it as a pet. Its only about the size of a quarter, and hubby says it's a box turtle. I've never owned a turtle, only snakes and an Iguana. Need some advice. 1st is should we really be keeping it or will it be better off if we put it out in the woods?

We set it up in a cage. Water, food, wood chips etc. I take him out every day and set him in a large shallow pan, slightly tilted, with a small amount of water that pools at the lower end. I put in some food. I just need to see how he's doing, because when he's in the cage, he burrows under all the vegitation. So far I have observed him eating and drinking. He is pretty active when I put him in the pan.

Anyone ever cared for a turtle before????

If you want to keep him, be aware that turtles have a VERY VERY LONG lifespan. Once you domesticate him, he can't be released. You could do what a buddy of mine did as a yute. Put the turtle outside and build a large frame around it (in excess of 8' to a side) where the turtle can be "free" but provide it with natural food (worms) in a single location. It will still have the benefits of being "free" but will come to expect to find food in that location, but will also know to go other places to find food. He did tht with a turtle one year and it came back every year for atleast 5 years. After the first year, he did not put the frame around it.

A family in California (I think) had a turtle that took up residence under a shrub. They would feed it. This went on for like 10 years. When they sold the house, taking care of the turtle was a rider on the contract.

You could also give the turtle to me. I'd like to show it to my kids, and take it to a cub scout meeting to show off, and then release it in the woods behind my house.

[Gwydion]

A couple things to note.

Box turtles when hatched are not nursed or cared for by anybody. So, if you were to release it, its not like it would be condemned to death without the care of its mother.

If you DO decide to release it, have your husband put it back close to where he found it. If you don't it can have detrimental effects on the turtle because it will spend a lot of time trying to find its way "home". Turtles usually try and stay very close to where they were born, so that they can have almost guarunteed mates.

Box turtles average life is 40 YEARS, some have lived to be over 100. IF you do commit to having this as a pet, understand you are commiting to something for that long. If you are NOT commited for something that long....release it now.

But, they do make fun pets, and they are always fun to watch scurry around. When I was younger we had 4 that we kept in a chicken wired fence in my back yard. We built a small pond and put in sme nice foliage. They do require a decent amount of space when they get larger. You have reptiles already, so I am sure you are aware of all that goes into caring for pets.

Choice is yours, I loved the ones I had when I was younger.

[baileydog]

Get a dog, they sound easier to care for.

Originally Posted by Bronwyn

Hubby found a baby turtle at work covered in Polymer. He cleaned it off and brought it home to show our 4 yr old son. We thought we might try to keep it as a pet. Its only about the size of a quarter, and hubby says it's a box turtle. I've never owned a turtle, only snakes and an Iguana. Need some advice. 1st is should we really be keeping it or will it be better off if we put it out in the woods?

We set it up in a cage. Water, food, wood chips etc. I take him out every day and set him in a large shallow pan, slightly tilted, with a small amount of water that pools at the lower end. I put in some food. I just need to see how he's doing, because when he's in the cage, he burrows under all the vegitation. So far I have observed him eating and drinking. He is pretty active when I put him in the pan.

Anyone ever cared for a turtle before????

Have you looked it up on the internet to make sure its a box turtle? Are you sure its a box turtle? Because we have a lot of different species of turtes here. Can you post a pic of the turtle?

[Woodyspda]

Originally Posted by Mousebaby

Have you looked it up on the internet to make sure its a box turtle? Are you sure its a box turtle? Because we have a lot of different species of turtes here. Can you post a pic of the turtle?

I've only come across numerous box turtles and one very large snapping turtle(St. Mary's City)....

what other species are there around here???????