Question
turtle 2
We found and rescued a turtle on the side of the highway today. It is around the same size as a CD, except not quite so round. His body is a pretty green with yellow stripes like the painted turtle. I tried to look at his ear area to see if he was the Red-eared type but I didn't really see any red. There was a little pink dot on each side but I wasn't sure if that classified enough to be 'red'. The shell is a beautiful red mahogany color under all the dirt. We live in the Central Texas area. The climate here is really hot and dry. We do have plenty of grassy areas and he seems to like grass. We placed him in an area we have outside that is like a flower box. It is all concrete and is filled about halfway with dirt. We have sort of a rock garden there so he can crawl on the rocks and be outside in the heat he was already in. We dug a hole and placed a water box in the dirt and made it so he could get in and out as desired. So far he has spend a lot of time in the water. As hot and dry as it has been this year I don't blame him. If we could find out what type he is we could decide if we would like to keep him as a pet and make a real space for him or if we would be better off letting him go in a safer area than next to the highway. I tried to attached a pic of the turtle and the area we presently have him in. I hope you get them.
AnswerHi Michelle,
I'm afraid your picture didn't enlarge much so I can hardly tell that it's a turtle, let alone what species it is! Can you take another clear picture of just the turtle from the side? Alternatively, you can take a look at some of the pictures on this site and see if you can ID him (you can list by either genus or geography): http://chelonia.org/species.htm Based on your description of the body coloring, it does sound like it could be a slider, map turtle, or possibly a cooter, so look at those first.
It does look like he's an aquatic turtle, which is why he's sitting in the water all the time. Aquatic turtles live in the water, although they do spend several hours a day basking. So they need to be housed in either an outdoor pond (preferable for most species) or in a large indoor tank. Most species will require at least a 50-75 gallon tank at maturity, and some species (or females, which grow larger than males) may need 100 gallons or even larger, with an excellent filtration system. So the setup, if done correctly, isn't cheap, but a good setup will save work and keep the turtle healthier in the long run. Once you ID the turtle you'll be able to find out what's involved in keeping it. You'll also need to check your state laws to see if there are any restrictions. If it's a native species, I highly recommend releasing it in a safe area, because wild populations have been decimated and they need all the help they can get.
If you post another picture I'll try to help as soon as I can. If you manage to ID it from the site I linked for you, let me know what species it is and I'll get some care information for you.
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