releasing painted turtle.

Question
i have a painted turtle that my boyfriend found at the river.  he brought it home because i thought i just had to have one.  i believe he wasn't very old when we got him.  he was quite small.  we've had "Scooter" for over a year now.  he's living in front of a window in a ... container/tote (no lid of course) with a good sized rock to stretch his legs in the sun (sooo cute).  i know, not the best living conditions.  he mainly eats the turtle sticks.  i try to catch him flies as much as possible.  occasionally, he will get minos, but our bait shop only sells them by the scoop, which is way more than needed so all but six of seven go to waste.  i love my turtle but he doesn't get much interaction and the guilt is kicking in big time.  i've been thinking about putting him back in the river for quite some time now.  i'm just afraid he's going to be gobbled up by the first big fish that he runs in to.  so question...
what do i do with my friend Turtle Turtle... AKA... SCOOTER!

thank you for reading this.
Sincerely,
Somer & Scooter.

Answer
Somer,                                                                 Turtles aren't really supposed to be handled too much so don't feel guilty.The problem with letting him go now is that you took him out of his environment so young he might not have built up the immunities to the natural diseases that will be around him. Though if you are going to keep him you need to change his housing abit. While he is little a 10 gallon tank should be fine. You need to keep his water VERY clean. You should keep his water about 75 to 80 degrees. You can go to the petshop and buy a preset submersible heater.  I would filter his water as he gets bigger. Tetra puts out a great submersible filter for turtles. If you don't mind the sound of the overflow you can get a fishtank filter that hangs on the back, but the filter fiber on both will catch solids and the carbon will take the ammonia out of the water from his wastes. The MOST important thing is a uv light. Which in a ten gallon may be enough to heat the water right now. I know you have him in the window , but it filters out the uv light he needs to make calcium. All reptiles and amphibians are prone to MBD (metabolic bone disease) they can not make enough D3 to create enough calcium and it can cause deformities or broken bones. A 75 watt should be fine in a 10 gallon tank. Make sure that you have a floating dock or a big rock to get out and dry off all the way to prevent shell rot. Floating sticks are fine , but you need to add some veggies to his diet. You can feed him all kinds of things. Romaine is fine, but better mustard greens,collards,dandelion leaves,even bok choy.  To keep his tank clean feed him in a separate container. Just make sure the water is deep enough he can swallow it while he eats. He can live 30 yrs if taken good care of. As he gets to his sexual maturity you can sex him. Males have long front nails and a fat short tail. If there is anything else you need to ask feel free....Good Luck, Tina