Found a turtle while mowing the grass

So I was mowing, and sitting by the fence in my backyard was a red ear slider, very dry, so I put him in a small kiddy pool, with a little bit of water, plenty of dry space too. Now my problem, I know it can't be wild because the closest body of water is a good 3 miles away, through city streets, the ditch by my house is very dry and hasn't had an abundance of life since the late 90's. it has to be a pet, but one) how would it have gotten away, two) its more likely that someone put him out on purpose. Now I like turtles but don't really want one, can't release a pet turtle cause that isn't right. But don't know where I could take it. I'm gonna post signs on local mailboxes around me in case it's an escapee, any and all recommendations on what I should do here would be very appreciated?

Check around and see if there's an animal rescue that takes reptiles. That way, if you can't find an owner, you can at least give it to a place that will care for it until it can be adopted or where it can live out the rest of its days in peace.

Check to see if there is a herp society in your area, the one I belong to takes in dozens of red eared sliders every year.

Are red eared sliders native to your area? They've established colonies in many parts of the world where they are not native and are considered an invasive species. It's never a good idea to release a red eared slider outside of it's natural range even if the local pond has dozens of them.

They are native here, it's just cause of my area that I'm sure it's a pet, called the local animal shelter but they take furry not scaled. Well worse case I have a new project, lol. Thank you for the fast replies!!

It may well be wild especially if it's been raining a lot. Last year I found some hatchling snappers near a bone dry drainage ditch with no ponds, lakes or rivers anywhere even remotely nearby. I'm guessing the mom laid the eggs after spring rain or melted snow filled the area with water. So if it's been wet down by you it may have just ventured out too far and everything dried up.

That being said, if it is someone's pet I hope they come claim him. Best of luck with him if no other shelters will take him in.

Check out the Turtle and Tortoise Club, they might be able to refer you to a group in your area. The one chapter here does a lot of turtle rescue, including red-eared sliders that are removed from the wild (as an invasive species).

Wow guys!! Thank you for the responses!! So I've thought long and hard about this, it drove me crazy at work today, I've got a 10 gallon with filter and lights, figure I will use this till next payday when I can get him a proper enclosure, 55 gallon or bigger. Any advice about turtle care in general?

Turtles are VERY messy, you basically have two options in keeping the water clean. Get the biggest filter you can afford OR the other option (and the one I went for) is to do a complete water change once a week.

What I was thinking was go for something between 55 and 90 gallons, and use a filter system for 125+, that should allow a good flow and 20% per week change out should work out great, I'm researching options now

So to update, the turtle is eating and doing well, I will be setting up his new 50 gallon home tomorrow, complete with an above tank basking area so he can have as much room to swim as possible, I'm thinking of adding some fish, any ideas? I know they might get eaten but it will add a lot of life to the tank.

I can guarantee they'll get eaten. They make a nice addition to the turtle pellets. I get my fish from the bait shop.

Sucks in air circa Ace Ventura Pet detective.

-The turtle may outgrow the 50 but it should suffice(75E is what I would've recommended, it is a great size for a single turtle or fish IMO BTW). ;-)
-A lot of hardcore turtle keepers recommend 90 gallons minimum for a male and 125 gallons for a female. They also use rubbermaid tubs for enclosures that farmers use as water bowls for horses. They are nicely priced and you can pretty much make a mini indoor pond for your house. :-D
-A 50w or 75w basking bulb should suffice for the ATBA(above tank basking area).
-Filtration to the max is a must if you don't want to do water changes every couple days to a week. I have a 2 Filstar XP3s on a 125gallon tank and clean the filters every 6 months with small water changes every 2 weeks and 1 XP3 on a 75 gallon. Got mine from Drsfoster&smith.com. The hardcore hobbyists recommend the Eheim brand if you can afford it(they are ridiculously pricey but are apparently THE best filter ever!) with the filstars as second best.
-I'd guess it's probably an adult? Say 6inches long and bigger for GP. Adults are more herbivorous and less carnivorous, Romaine or red leaf lettuce is good and Anarchis(aquarium plant) is a good treat. If you feed it fish, go with the minnows from a bait shop or guppies which also add to the tank, try to stay away from feeder goldfish from pet stores. Supplement with pellets, I recommend Zoomed cause that's what I use and mine like it. You should be able to feed every other day or lettuce one day and pellets the next, it's up to you. For a treat, give them night crawlers as it's fun to watch them slurp down the raw and wrigglers.
-Water temperture can be kept between 75-82 degrees.
-Easy ways of distinguishing male sliders from females: males have long front claws and long somewhat thin tails. Females have short front claws and stubby tails.

:let's out air:

I think that is all I have for now. Hope it helps and I didn't come off rude or snotty, wanted to be straight forward and to the point. :D

Good luck with the little guy. Gratz on the "rescue". Welcome to the hobby of turtle keeping. :gj: :)

Congrats on the find! I remember my brother kept red-eared sliders when he was younger. I don't remember how he cared for it (it was his pet) so I can't really offer you any advice :rolleyes:

However, you have a picture of the turtle?

Thanks for the responses!! I know I'll need to upgrade to a larger tank but this one will do for the next few months, he is only 4 inches right now. I do have pics but don't know how, I'm off work tomorrow so I'll read the how to sticky and get some pics up of the turtle and my pythons! Thanks for all help, advice, and good will!!

He's still a sub adult. Throw a bunch of guppies or minnows in there and let him chase them for awhile. Probably at the stage of life where he is still mostly on protein but starting to balance between proteins and plants. Either way, a balance of pellets, greens, and fish or night crawlers sounds about right.

Good luck with him. :D

Thank you! I've seen him hunting the fry from the guppies and mollies I hAve in there now, it's awesome to see cause he works around the few decorations and sucks them in lol

Ok, here are some pics of Turtle the turtle!
http://i1276.photobucket.com/albums/...psdfee7939.jpg
http://i1276.photobucket.com/albums/...psdde30350.jpg
http://i1276.photobucket.com/albums/...ps59493f87.jpg
http://i1276.photobucket.com/albums/...ps91988f1c.jpg
http://i1276.photobucket.com/albums/...ps141991ba.jpg

Thanks for the pics. Looks like she found a happy home. :gj:

Aww, nice happy ending! All the best with him...turtles overwhelm me to no end, lol.


Oh, and don't they need UVB? Just curious. :confusd:

Oh yes. I knew I forgot something: a UVB bulb. I think they come in different forms now but the most common is the flourescent tube. A standard flourescent aquarium strip will work with a UVB 5.0 bulb. The light is usually good for 18 inch penetration into the water, but lose potency after 1 year(from what I've heard). I'm not up on the latest UVB technology but there could be something better/cheaper/more efficient of applying UVB to the enclosure.


Thank you Anya