So, I know this is a tortoise forum, but I figure people around here know stuff about turtles, too 
And I know I should post this in the turtle section but it's kind of an urgent situation.
At any rate, I work at Petco. Today, some IDIOT brought a painted turtle in in an icecream bucket with an inch of water in it. He had caught it at a pond about two hours away, and "wanted to keep it" (of course). I hate seeing a wild animal forced into a captive situation, so I tried my hardest to deter them, and I guess it wasn't that hard. He wanted to keep the poor thing in an 8" by 12" critter container thing. I then showed him a three year old RES that we have for adoption that someone brought in to the store, and told him it wasn't even full grown (I honestly don't know if it was, I don't know turtles) and showed him the 40 gallon tanks and their price tag, as well as the filters. I told him he could always release it back into the wild, he seemed a little unsure, and the idiot girl with him said (and I quote) "just keep him for now and when he gets that big you can throw him away or whatever". It was then that I decided there was no way in hell this guy was leaving the store with that turtle. So, I used my last resort and showed him the UVB bulbs and explained how he'd still have to buy heat lamps and everything.
Needless to say, I won. He asked where the closest pond, and I told him that I lived close to one and would release it on my way home from work... well I actually don't have a pond anywhere near my house, and will be making the drive out to one tomorrow.
I have two questions:
- The turtle is in a twenty gallon tank, with about 3 inches of water on the bottom, and a rock that he can get out of the water on. I also have an infared bulb over the rock to at least keep part of the tank warm. Is that a good temporary thing?
-What is the *ideal* wild habitat for a painted turtle? The lake I'm planning on is stocked with fish and I've seen plenty of red eared sliders there. There are a lot of people there, but it's a huge lake and most of the people hang around the big dock that I will probably not be releasing him anywhere near.
Sorry for posting this in the wrong place, but I want the best for the little guy (even if he isn't mine)
And I know I should post this in the turtle section but it's kind of an urgent situation.At any rate, I work at Petco. Today, some IDIOT brought a painted turtle in in an icecream bucket with an inch of water in it. He had caught it at a pond about two hours away, and "wanted to keep it" (of course). I hate seeing a wild animal forced into a captive situation, so I tried my hardest to deter them, and I guess it wasn't that hard. He wanted to keep the poor thing in an 8" by 12" critter container thing. I then showed him a three year old RES that we have for adoption that someone brought in to the store, and told him it wasn't even full grown (I honestly don't know if it was, I don't know turtles
) and showed him the 40 gallon tanks and their price tag, as well as the filters. I told him he could always release it back into the wild, he seemed a little unsure, and the idiot girl with him said (and I quote) "just keep him for now and when he gets that big you can throw him away or whatever". It was then that I decided there was no way in hell this guy was leaving the store with that turtle. So, I used my last resort and showed him the UVB bulbs and explained how he'd still have to buy heat lamps and everything. Needless to say, I won. He asked where the closest pond, and I told him that I lived close to one and would release it on my way home from work... well I actually don't have a pond anywhere near my house, and will be making the drive out to one tomorrow.
I have two questions:
- The turtle is in a twenty gallon tank, with about 3 inches of water on the bottom, and a rock that he can get out of the water on. I also have an infared bulb over the rock to at least keep part of the tank warm. Is that a good temporary thing?
-What is the *ideal* wild habitat for a painted turtle? The lake I'm planning on is stocked with fish and I've seen plenty of red eared sliders there. There are a lot of people there, but it's a huge lake and most of the people hang around the big dock that I will probably not be releasing him anywhere near.
Sorry for posting this in the wrong place, but I want the best for the little guy (even if he isn't mine
)
