T-P it was on the side of the road it proably would have died if she didn't take it home with her.



Oh and Messenjah you remind me of the time my mom told me that her freind had had a tortoise but lost it when she took it out to show it to her.For me the story is SAD.

This post was last modified: 10-14-2007 07:55 AM by Rees2.

Since I posted this, I've read that there's a convention that's been used for a while which states that if the animal lives mostly in the water (which mine does) then it's called a turtle. I guess this is the wrong forum for me then, eh?

Yeah, if I'd not moved it, he would have probably been run over. And, by the way... I'm a guy.

Hi, its not the point whether it was gunna get killed or not.
You should never keep a Wild caught Turtle, Tortoise or any animal for the matter, Its not the wrong forum, cuz its in the introductions.
im not being mean, so please dont think i am.
I am just looking out for a turtle thats wild, your best bet would be send it back into the wild, maybe find a nice pond for it to live in, or if you wanted make your back garden a wild home for the turtle. Build a large pond, with rocks, a few fish for food and other things for it to eat and swim in.

You could of just moved the turtle into a pond near by, maybe of travelled out abit more, and found a big pond or lake side for it to live in miles from a road.

EDIT - Also, theres many many people that preach about tortoises and turtles being taken from the wild by all people, and they try and stop it all, and then theres the ones they cant stop such as yourself, im not saying it is wild. But if it is it should be placed back out into the wild.
We have enough of petstores ordering wild caught tortoises AND turtles, never to mention the millions of people who take from the wild anyway.

This post was last modified: 10-16-2007 03:54 AM by T-P.

Ok, Preachy. I get your point. I looked at his mouth, and the algae is growing above his jawline, so his mouth is fine. I fed him some roaches last night, and they're all gone this morning, so I assume that means that he's eaten them. He's looking healthy and the algae is starting to dissipate by itself, so he's looking cleaner every day! I still need to change his water once every few days, though. I probably will for a few weeks.

Good job, Messenjah! Sounds like your looking out for him and doing the best you can for him!!!! Way to go!!!!

Sounds good that his mouth is fine, and movable.

If your going to keep this lil fella, you best look up Snakeneck turtle care, such as dieting, housing.

I know they need alot of water. so i guess a huge tank or pond template is gunnabe needed?

I think there is a time and a place to take a wild caught. He thought it was needed to save the animal....to me that is one of the right times.

I look at all the turtles and torts I have and think, "Hmmm when were these animals not wild caughts? If not the actual animal, then atleast it's parents were." How can I condem somebody else, when I own these animals myself? For some species, whose habitats are vanishing or they are being eaten into extinction, being brought into captive situations and breeding programs may be their only chance.

I do agree that if your taking from the wild just to have a turtle/tortoise of your own or to not pay the cost of acquiring a captive bred or long term captive, it's almost always wrong.

As for taking it back now, it's only safe if he can take it back to it's own native range. Even then, not knowing what diseases and things it might have been exposed to while in captivity, it's not a good idea to make a blanket statement it should be returned to the wild.

But also, let's not start lowering ourselves to name calling each other...okay? We should be mature enough acting to give and take thoughts and opinions without lowering to that level.

Thanks for the support

When I came home with him, the first thing I did after making sure he was as comfortable as possible was research his care, diet and other requirements. It's what put me on to this forum.

I'm moving in a couple of weeks, and the place that I'm looking at has a huge back yard, so I'm going to build him an enclosure. I can get plastic baby pools over here for about $25 and they're plenty big enough to house him. I'll use that as a base and build around that... I'll probably add some sort of bushes and some other stuff for him so he is comfortable. I'll plan it more carefully closer to the date. I'll probably need some help then, so do you mind if I contact you? You obviously have more experience than I do, so you'll be invaluable to making this guy as happy and comfortable as possible.

Thanks for ending that discussion, Jacqui. It was a bit of a diversion from the original intention of this thread. I think that everything that needs to be said has been, and we can now lay it to rest... I'd rather focus on making my little turtle as happy as he can be.