Help, Tortoise randomly stumbled into my house.

[mugen003]

Hello everyone, I'm really looking for guidance here with a very unusual situation, my dad found this little guy/girl hiding outside our house and we are confused as to what to do because we live in an area where tortoises are just not a thing (Central Mexico in what is basically a forest), we don't live near a coast or river known for having any similar wildlife, my dad has been living here his whole life, over 50 years and has never seen one, now, I did a little research and found out that some tortoises do live in forest or at least similar areas but then again I think that my dad would at least would have heard of them in one way or another but he just hasn't so we're almost certain that this little fella was either someone's pet or someone just happened to let it go on purpose and it made its way to our house, also, we live relatively far away from the main roads so I'm assuming that it has been living in the wild for at least some days, which leads me to a bunch of questions (since you may noticed by now I know nothing about tortoises, I didn't even know that there were differences between tortoises and turtles so I might even be in the wrong sub, I apologize for that if that is the case), can someone help me identify the species? maybe I'm completely wrong and it actually belongs in the wild in that case I'll just let it go on its own, if that wasn't the case, what can I do for him/her in the meantime, basic stuff like food that can eat (I offered it some lettuce but I'm uncertain if it even tried to eat it) and maybe some ideas for a temporary enclosure, I say temporary because, while I would love to keep it I don't feel confident enough to take care of it and wouldn't want it to get hurt in any way, my plan at the moment (if it turns out that it doesn't belong in my area as regular wildlife) is to keep it for some days while I try to find someone who can actually take proper care of him/her, my last resort would be to try to give it to my local veterinary, but, I call it my last resort because the place that I'm talking about specializes on cows, horses, chickens, etc. and also, from what I have seen they don't have a clear reputation when it comes to animal care for pets since they mostly work with farm animals but then again that may ultimately be my only option since any other clinic is out of my budget and pretty far away from where I live.

I'm really looking forward for any advice that this community can offer, and sorry for the wall of text.

(It's pretty late over here so is going to take me some time to respond, I'll try to respond any comment as soon as posible once I get back from work)

NOTE: I also posted this on the r/tortoise subreddit in case that someone sees this on that site

 

[Ink]

It's a box turtle. Someone will be able to help identify it for you

 

[TeamZissou]

This is actually a mud turtle, not a box turtle or tortoise. It looks like it could be a Mexican mud turtle, kinsternon integrum, @Markw84 is great at mud turtles and will probably correct me.

It likely came from a nearby pond. I would search around and return it to the water.

 

[Tom]

@mark1 also knows his turtles.
@Rodriguez Chelonians know their stuff too.

 

[TammyJ]

It's a sweetheart! love its face.

 

[Yvonne G]

I agree with Team Zizzou that it is a mud turtle and belongs in the water.

 

[Markw84]

It is a mud turtle - Kinosternon. From your picture and location it is most likely the Mexican Mud Turtles Kinosternon integrum.

That would be a native turtle, fairly common in your area. They live in shallow water and feed on insects, crustaceans, anything they can find animal matter wise.

 

[wellington]

So, seeing it is a native turtle, please let it go in a safe area where you found it.

 

[Sarah2020]

Hello everyone, I'm really looking for guidance here with a very unusual situation, my dad found this little guy/girl hiding outside our house and we are confused as to what to do because we live in an area where tortoises are just not a thing (Central Mexico in what is basically a forest), we don't live near a coast or river known for having any similar wildlife, my dad has been living here his whole life, over 50 years and has never seen one, now, I did a little research and found out that some tortoises do live in forest or at least similar areas but then again I think that my dad would at least would have heard of them in one way or another but he just hasn't so we're almost certain that this little fella was either someone's pet or someone just happened to let it go on purpose and it made its way to our house, also, we live relatively far away from the main roads so I'm assuming that it has been living in the wild for at least some days, which leads me to a bunch of questions (since you may noticed by now I know nothing about tortoises, I didn't even know that there were differences between tortoises and turtles so I might even be in the wrong sub, I apologize for that if that is the case), can someone help me identify the species? maybe I'm completely wrong and it actually belongs in the wild in that case I'll just let it go on its own, if that wasn't the case, what can I do for him/her in the meantime, basic stuff like food that can eat (I offered it some lettuce but I'm uncertain if it even tried to eat it) and maybe some ideas for a temporary enclosure, I say temporary because, while I would love to keep it I don't feel confident enough to take care of it and wouldn't want it to get hurt in any way, my plan at the moment (if it turns out that it doesn't belong in my area as regular wildlife) is to keep it for some days while I try to find someone who can actually take proper care of him/her, my last resort would be to try to give it to my local veterinary, but, I call it my last resort because the place that I'm talking about specializes on cows, horses, chickens, etc. and also, from what I have seen they don't have a clear reputation when it comes to animal care for pets since they mostly work with farm animals but then again that may ultimately be my only option since any other clinic is out of my budget and pretty far away from where I live.

I'm really looking forward for any advice that this community can offer, and sorry for the wall of text.

(It's pretty late over here so is going to take me some time to respond, I'll try to respond any comment as soon as posible once I get back from work)

NOTE: I also posted this on the r/tortoise subreddit in case that someone sees this on that site

As suggested please release it and let it continue its free life. Trying to manage it will require funds and set up and once in captivity it can not be released.

 

[mugen003]

Hello everybody, I follow everyone's advice and released the mud turtle back into the wild (I put it back close to where I found it which is near some crops that we are watering and also close to the forest where it may have come from) I'm glad that it wasn't someone's pet that was just missing because I didn't want it to deprive it of its freedom.
I also now learned that there's turtles where I live and for some reason that makes me very happy, anyways, thank you everyone for the advice, and have a good day/night 👍

(I'm unsure as to how to notify everyone who comment here so I'm just going to leave this comment here and update the post, once again thanks for the advice)

Edit: I can't seem to find how to edit the original post, hope this message is enough :/

 

[Cathie G]

Hello everybody, I follow everyone's advice and released the mud turtle back into the wild (I put it back close to where I found it which is near some crops that we are watering and also close to the forest where it may have come from) I'm glad that it wasn't someone's pet that was just missing because I didn't want it to deprive it of its freedom.
I also now learned that there's turtles where I live and for some reason that makes me very happy, anyways, thank you everyone for the advice, and have a good day/night 👍

(I'm unsure as to how to notify everyone who comment here so I'm just going to leave this comment here and update the post, once again thanks for the advice)

Edit: I can't seem to find how to edit the original post, hope this message is enough :/

It's really lovely that you tried so hard to protect that turtle and did the right thing. I have a tortoise but something similar happened to me. My neighbor brought me a turtle that was crossing the street because he thought it was mine. So I kept her contained overnight and fed her. I was told by our fish and wildlife that the females will travel long distances to lay eggs. So the next day I released her very close to the place she was picked up. It's funny that she remembered coming to my front door because she came to it and scratched on the door. Then she played around in my flower bed next to the door and finally she left. Hopefully she won't try to cross our street again and learned her lesson. It was a beautiful experience.☺️