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What kind of turtle do I have?!

22 16:30:28

Question
found a turtle today walking along the road. It is fairly big, dark in color with red spots on the shell, face and legs. It looks like it has webbed back feet and non-webbed front feet with claws.  Red eyes and very active.  Though it hasn't snapped at me, everyone is telling me it may be a snapping turtle.  Please help!  I just didn't want the big guy to ran over and now that my kids have seen it they want to keep him.  What should I do?

Answer
Knowing the part of the country you are in would help with the identification, but I am thinking it is an Eastern Box Turtle (http://www.austinsturtlepage.com/world_of_turtles/Eastern_Box_Turtles_-_Terrapen...)

Now, there are a few things to understand...

1. In many states, most wild turtles are protected by law to one degree or another. Box Turtles are VERY protected in most of their ranges.

2. Wild caught turtles tend to make terrible pets- parasites, stresses, diet changes, etc. usually mean they do not do well and often pass away after a few months.

3. I would apply the 'Weekend Pet' rule- find a pet, keep it a few days in decent condition, release it as close to where you found it as is possible and safe.

I know your heart was in the right place, but you really did not 'find' this turtle, you basically kidnapped it from its real life and are holding it captive. The stresses you would feel in this situation are similar to what it is feeling.

If you see a similar situation in the future, the better option is to just move the turtle along away from the road a bit- taking photos if possible.

A good overall site for further research would be http://www.austinsturtlepage.com