Can you help me determine the Turtle type

[Kerryann]

My employee has this turtle. She found him on the road a long time ago and doesn't know what type he is.
Can anyone identify the type?

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v485/kerryannjeep/?action=view&current=Franklin3.mp4

 

[cmosuna]

My employee has this turtle. She found him on the road a long time ago and doesn't know what type he is.
Can anyone identify the type?

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v485/kerryannjeep/?action=view&current=Franklin3.mp4

Does it pull its head in sideways? In the 3rd pic it sure looks like an african sideneck

 

[EricIvins]

You need some better pictures, but it looks like a Blandings Turtle to me........They are Federally protected in most, if not all of their range, and have been for quite some time.........Pulling Turtles off the road and keeing them is definately not the best idea........

 

[Kerryann]

There is a video on the bottom

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Are Blandings Turtle native to Michigan?

 

[EricIvins]

There is a video on the bottom

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Are Blandings Turtle native to Michigan?

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I can only tells it's a Turtle in the video, not anything else. Blandings are native to Michigan, and I would suggest turning it over to the wildlife authorities so they can determine what to do with it. Otherwise, who ever owns it would be looking at Federal charges if an investigation were ever to be opened up. I don't beleive Michigan grants private individuals the Permits to keep these animals in captivity.

 

[Zamric]

after watching the video I can tell you that your tank is WAY to small for that turtle! I don't know what type he is, but he needs more room to swim and be able to turn around with out anything in the way.

 

[Kerryann]

I just googled it a bit and they are restricted in Michigan. She is only allowed to bag two a day and own a total of six. She found him and his peeps on the road where his whole family had been squished. She has had him a long time and loves him.

 

[Zamric]

Allowed to "BAG" 2 a day? does that mean they are good eatin'? I have a friend that makes a really good Snappin' Turtle soup! He only makes it when he has a bon fire in his yard and LOTS of guest! I would say it recipe makes about 10.5 - 12 gal of soup. Of course it takes a fairly large snapper to make this much, but in the ponds of Western KY and Eastern Indiana, snapping Turtles are LARGE and NUMERIOUS! (and have been known to decimate fish populations in these ponds!)

 

[Kerryann]

I was telling the girl who owns him this morning that my grandpa used to make turtle soup when I was a kid. I admitted I had eaten it. I am a strict vegetarian now but I remember when he found a huge snapping turtle in the yard and we made a lot of soup.

 

[Zamric]

It's AMAZING how big those suckers can get! The last time I went to a Bon Fire at Toms, he had caught a 40lb snapper that yielded a little over 15lbs of meat. The soup was one of his best and the Upper Shell is hanging on my wall... it's about 24" long and about 18" wide. The BonFire was for me 'cause I was moving to Dallas, that is why he gave me the shell. (the Bonfire lasted the night, the party lasted all weekend! )

 

[ascott]

That is a beautiful turtle. It is absolutely in too small of an enclosure....I agree it is likely a Blandings ....I was greatly sad watching that video...a bit rough. I would, if I were you, strongly suggest your employee handle him a bit gentler and to obtain a much much larger enclosure and that they are semi aquatic turtles.

*head dropped in sadness with all the talk of snapping turtle consumption, very sad*

 

[Kerryann]

I will let her know how to change his set up. She loves her animals so I am sure she was doing what she was told by a pet store.

I eat animals of no kind anymore. I don't wear any animal products either, or use products tested on animals(which is hard).

I grew up with a southern family, so my grandpa ate all kinds of critters. One thing I will say that he taught me was when you kill something to do it as quickly and painlessly as possible.

 

[ascott]

I agree...many folks do get less than stellar information for sure....glad you are able to help her with that little cutie

 

[Zamric]

Sorry to upset anyone about eating animals...

I was a Chef for 15 years and have tried just about everything edible on 3 continants... Personally I like the taste of meat, all kinds of meat! I wont eat a family pet but everything else is possably dinner.

 

[GeoTerraTestudo]

I also think it's Blanding's turtle, Emys (Emydoidea) blandingi.

 

[Madkins007]

Ditto on both the Blandings and the idea that it is not being kept very well in the video. While we do have a good water turtle section here, she may want to check out someplace like turtleforum.com and the associated site austinsturtlepage.com as well.

 

[herpgirl24]

Blandings are very restricted in Michigan. Unfortunately there is no one to "turn" then in to. I had someone surrender a female blandings to me a few years ago. They had thought it was a box turtle?! I called every number I could find, the only person who said she released them into the wild was way up by the Upper Peninsula. I eventually found a vet who had a large pond in his yard where we released her.

I do agree that your turtle needs a larger tank. I put my turtles outside in a kiddie pool in the summer. You can get one at Wal Mart for about $20 that is quite big.