hi i found a turtle?

Question

i was in minnesota and i found a turtle, my brother he is 7, wants 2 keep it and i dont know what kind it is and what 2 feed. he has a long tail, just a little turtle and has spikes on its back, please help, the poor thing needs some food.

Answer 1

Sounds like a baby snapper. Return it ASAP! When they are full grown, they have the ability to bite through bones (eg. your hand), and are not cute and cuddly. It is also against the law to keep wildlife, and keeping it will only stress it out and possibly kill it. Take some photos of it, go online and learn about them with your brother. But don't keep it - it is NOT a pet.

Answer 2

It sounds like a young snapper. Snappers can be great pets, but they are a bit dangerous as they get older.

I'd put it back.

a.) Wild animals do very poorly in captivity. The stress of being captured and the change of diet induces illness easily.

b.) Turtles are not easy pets, even though a lot of people say otherwise. To do this right, you need a big tank (at least 10 gallons for every inch of turtle), heating, the right lighting, a really strong filter, and the right diet.

c.) If you cannot care for a pet correctly, it is not fair to it to keep it as a pet.

d.) In most states, wild animals are protected by one law or another. In my state, snappers are covered by fishing laws, by game laws, and by city ordinances. I doubt anyone will get arrested for picking up a turtle, but the laws exist to protect the animals and should be at least kept in mind.

e.) Young turtles often carry Salmonella- a common toxin that causes food poisoning. This is not a big deal if you practice good handwashing, but why chance it?

The website below can teach you more about snappers and their care if you decide to keep it.

Answer 3

Its a common snapping turtle. They get big and grow fairly fast. They are very high maitenance and like some others said, once it gets big it can do alot of damage if it bites you. They need a basking light over a land area where it can bask in the heat to digest its food. They also need a flourescent uvb bulb that emits 5 percent or higher uvb rays. Without this, the turtle wont be able to absorb calcium and will develop metabolic bone disease and the shell will develop soft spots and the turtle will die. Good brands of the uvb bulb are Reptisun 5.0, 10.0 and Repti-Glo 5.0 and 8.0. The bulb needs to be replaced every 6 months and it is a fairly expensive bulb, about 20 bucks. You will also need a good filter because all turtles are really messy. Even with a filter i still had to clean my snapping turtles cage every 2 days. It gets that bad. For food i fed my snapper Reptomin sticks, feeder fish, earthworms, crickets, cichlid pellets, and baby mice. I aquired my snapping turtle one early november day in my yard. His shell was 1.5 inches long, he was cold and lethargic, i didnt think he would make it. I set him up and he did very well, ate within the 3rd day of having him. I named him carnage. Knowing full well how big they get and that he would need a pond i had planned to release him and i did, the following May. In 7 months he had grown to 10 inches. He was an awesome turtle and i wish i could have kept him and someday i will have another common snapper, ima gonna start saving up for an albino one tho, those are sweet looking. Here is a pic of a beast i rescued off of the highway before i let him go in a nice swampy area.
Dont let his smile fool you, he wanted to spill my blood. ANd he tried to do so many times.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v704/ladycrotalus/snap4.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v704/ladycrotalus/snap3.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v704/ladycrotalus/snap2.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v704/ladycrotalus/snap1.jpg

Answer 4

A proper turtle set up takes a lot more time and money than most people are willing to spend. It's better for the turtle and you if you let it go where you found it.

Answer 5

Snapping turtles do not belong in captivity as a pet. Never take any wild animal home as a pet.. simply because they are WILD.
You already don't know how to care for it, you don't know what kind it is... and you want to give it to your little brother, who probably knows less than you?
I had an ex husband that brought anything and everything home. He kept an alligator snapping turtle he found in Tennessee, and brought it to Indiana with us. Nothing I could do would change his mind to turn it in to wildlife preservists. Instead, he doomed it to either die in a strange environment, or alter the environment species where he released it in Indiana.. VERY irresponsible.

Answer 6

sounds like you have a snapping turtle. you don't want to keep it because it will bite and it can even take off a finger. best thing to do is to let it go were you found it. if it is a baby turtle than the mother is not that far behind.

Answer 7

Without seein a picture I couldn't tell you for sure but with a long tail and a spiky shell...it sounds like it's probably a common snapping turtle. They will eat fish, try goldfish in the water with it.

Answer 8

i live in bye superior Wisconsin so i live pretty close to min and i know its probably a snapper i have found a lot of them before a matter of fact i found two about two months ago and had them for pets for a while but you can keep it and if you do you will probably need a pump with filter thing and they eat worms bugs and fish and don't let it bite it can take a chunk with him i have never had one bite me but i know they can and if you let it go make sher you let is go in water and by the way make sher it has a half water and half land tank and i really know a lot about turtles i have had a lot of them wild and domestic to well hope it goes good bye

Answer 9

go to a pet store, they should have turtle food. in the meantime look up turtles on the net for him to find out what type of environment it needs from ur brother; i had one when i was a kid n it died on me not long after. its best to let it go but i know that would be hard to do being ur lil bro n all

Answer 10

Turtles have all kinds of nasty germs and you should wash your hands after touching it. It would be best if you turned it loose, but if you won't do that feed it tuna packed in water with no salt.