Found Small Turtle in Yard

[Sandy Martinez]

Step dad found this turtle in his yard...or I should say the dog found it. Don't know what kind it is as I don't know much about turtles (I have tortoises) and don't know where it came from, there are no ponds around the neighborhood. Anyway, it looks young maybe 3 inches. Help! What do we feed the little guy? Sorry, not a very good quality pic. He has little yellow lines on the sides of his face and some red also.

 

[Sara G.]

Clearer pics would be better but I might guess that it's a red eared slider.
Where do you live? Usually with any turtles/torts you find you're supposed to leave them alone and let them go.
But RES's are non-native species in a lot of areas and are actually invasive now.
If it's a RES its gonna require a pretty decent sized indoor tank for swimming (or a pond outside).
Usually they'll much on store bought pellets (Reptomin is good though my guys have shedding issues so I give hikari wheat germ pellets) and red leaf lettuce along with aquatic plants like water hyacinths and water lettuce.

 

[Sandy Martinez]

I live in San Antonio TX. He was found in a residential area in my step dads back yard. Can't imagine where it came from. Like I said no ponds or creeks in the area just residential. I'll take some better pictures later this evening. I have a water fountain I haven't turned on yet for the spring and I have him there with water and I put a rock so he can climb onto. Picked up some aquatic turtle food at the grocery store and gave him 2 pellets. I actually caught him eating that. I have an old aquarium that I can clean out and house him there this evening. How big do they get?

 

[SarahChelonoidis]

Not a great photo, but looks like a RES to me too. They are native to Texas. I am not sure what the legality of keeping him is.

 

[Sara G.]

Could be a Rio Grande Slider maybe?
I'm not sure how big they get but if they're anything like RES's then the females usually get around 12-14inches long. Males get around 8-10 inches.
It's usually recommended to have 200 gallons for one female slider. So they're gonna get big.
Might've been dropped off by a bird or something that was going to eat it or it was someone's escaped/dumped pet.
If it's a native species then you should bring it to a local pond/freshwater body and release it. But again, I don't know for sure what species it is.
While I love love love my RES's, I don't really recommend keeping aquatic turtles as pets simply because keeping them in tanks is a lot of work with upgrading and making sure they have enough room. Unless you have a pond that is safe from predators and totally enclosed so they can't escape. RES's are crazy escape artists.

If RES's are native to Texas and not an invasive species then I would definitely find a pond to release them or even talk to a local rescue and see what the best procedure is for them.

 

[Yvonne G]

It looks like he's not had the best of care. His shell should be green.

Anyway...he probably escaped from one of your neighbor's back yards.

 

[ZEROPILOT]

Dropped by a bird would be my guess.
He's a lucky little sucker.

 

[Sandy Martinez]

Thx to all...you were right. .i got home to find an empty fountain where i put him yesterday. ..luckily i found him heading toward the side gate where im sure he would have gone right under. That fountain is about a foot deep but he got out. Ive decided to keep him in an aquarium i have and take care of him for a while then release him later this summer in our san antonio river. Ive seen several turtles swimming in there. Im just afraid a bird will take off with him cause hes so small. I also know if a rescue just outside sa that i can also call. Thx again to all!

 

[Alex Z]

Thx to all...you were right. .i got home to find an empty fountain where i put him yesterday. ..luckily i found him heading toward the side gate where im sure he would have gone right under. That fountain is about a foot deep but he got out. Ive decided to keep him in an aquarium i have and take care of him for a while then release him later this summer in our san antonio river. Ive seen several turtles swimming in there. Im just afraid a bird will take off with him cause hes so small. I also know if a rescue just outside sa that i can also call. Thx again to all!

Any updates on the lil guy?