I found a baby painted turtle in my backyard, should I release it, or can it make a good pet?

Question

I found a tiny baby turtle, I'm pretty sure it's a painted turtle after doing some research, in my backyard. He is a little smaller than a quarter, we don't live near any ponds and I was wondering if I should release it, or if it is safe to keep him as a pet?

Answer 1

Painted turtles make great pets. Obviously you have to take proper care of them, but, once you've spent the money and effort on getting their setup ready, they're pretty easy to care for and they become pretty tame.

Basically, they need a tank with plenty of room to swim and a dry basking area with a UV light. You can start with a 10-gallon tank for now (you'll have to upgrade as your critter gets bigger), or you can just go ahead and buy a huge tank now and save yourself the expense later. (Paints get up to about 7 inches in shell length when full-grown.) I would recommend starting with a small tank because there's always the risk of your turtle dying young. Then you would have spent a lot of money on a gigantic tank for no reason.

Having said that, a couple friends of mine and I have kept several wild-caught painted turtles that were freshly hatched (which yours is), and they all grew up just fine. Ultimately you'll want them on a good reptile food (like Wardley Reptile Sticks), but you'll probably have to start him out with small feeder guppies and worms. Even the little baby paints are pretty good at tearing up big prey into manageable bites.

Don't pay too much attention to the knee-jerk people who insist that you immediately release the turtle because "animals are always better off in the wild". If you provide good care for your turtle, it will be better off than in the wild because it won't have to deal with predators and weather changes and such. (This is why animals in zoos usually live longer than wild animals.)

Answer 2

I have done some reading on wild caught turtles (and other reptiles) and have found that there are many considerations to keeping wild caught species. First, you will have to pay particular attention to diseases and feeding problems. I would strongly advise against it unless you have the turtle checked by a vet...or at the very least do very thorough research on the internet about keeping wild caught turtles. I have 6 captive-bred snakes and 1 captive bred tortoise and I can tell you that the tortoise was a mistake! I have had him to the vet twice recently with eye infections and he has a problem with shell development. I paid $100 bucks for him a very reputable reptile show. Good luck!!!

Answer 3

While Painted make excellent pets, there are a few caveats to tell you about.

1. Wild caught turtles never do as well as captive bred turtles do- the sheer stress of captivity messes them up.

2. It takes a little money and work to set up a good habitat. They run $150 easily. You need a BIG tank, BIG filter, heater, dock or log, basking light, UVB light, timer, thermometers, siphon cleaner, etc.

A good site to look over before deciding is http://www.austinsturtlepage.com

As far as living near a pond- a drainage ditch or semi-hidden creek is all they need!

(Oh, and for the record, I'd recommend releasing it.)

Answer 4

I would suggest you keep him if there are no ponds nearby, since he is an aquatic turtle. If you leave him, I fear he might become someone's dinner. If you intend to keep him, make sure he has a large area to live in. Make sure he has lots of water to swim in and a dry place where he can bask beneath a heat lamp. Also, since he is young, try feeding him reptile pellets. If you're lucky, he'll take to them quickly because he's young and then you won't have to worry about switching him over from other foods to pellets. I know an adult painted turtle, taken out of the wild, that refuses to eat pellets. Hopefully your new little guy will like pellets. Also, he will grow quickly and they can be somewhat high maintenance, so prepare yourself for that.
I would also prepare yourself for the fact that there is a chance he will die because he is so small and he lived in the wild. Try to give him a home much like his natural habitat would be like. Best of luck!

Answer 5

I think is safer for the turtle to be with you until it grows, since most animals in the urban environment (cats, dogs, rats, etc) can kill it. Try to find what his diet is (with a vet, internet, veterinarian encyclopedia, etc) and check its health with a veterinarian. Also, remember to NEVER use water with chlorine, since it can blind turtles. Use purified water (bottled water is very good) for it, and turtle pellets for food, that you can find in any animal store. Oh, and turtles need to have some calcium and copper in their water to be healthy. Do this by addying a penny or other copper coin to the water they are (oxidation will progresively give the turtle the nutrients it needs) and by addying a calcium source (there are specialized calcium tablets or similars for turtles in animal stores, if not you can use a chalk, but it most be a small piece of chalk, like a nail in long ,and the chalk must be a solid, compressed type, those that never write because they are too hard but that way they never dissolve quickly).
Once it is bigger you can release it, search with a vet for its natural environment to do that. Also you can try to find a natural reservation where specialized vets can take care of it until it is ready to reenter its environment.

Answer 6

It would probably be better it you kept it. If there is no near-by ponds the that limits the chance of its survival. But its good that you've done research already so that should be enough. Oh and good luck with raising it and I hope it all works out.

-Jake

Answer 7

keep him for now. otherwise he will be a meal for some bird or such. get an old fish tank or of that size. Put what you found him in;dirt, leaves and etc. Get some turtle food from a pet store. Try to release him when he gets older. If you handle him too much you won't be able to release him. Oh of course put some water in there too. They don't swim that much so make it a water dish - low enough for him to drink but not fall in.

Answer 8

this is a real contraversal quiestion, for if u let it go, it could die since you said there were no ponds near, i would keep it or take it into a chelter. something very important is to get it checked up, cause turtles can carry some pretty bad diseases, so if u get him checked, then he should make a good pet, (very good for young children since they cant escape to easaly)

Answer 9

release it. he will get too stressed out and die prematurly.
if you do keep it you need to buy a uvb bulb, an aquarium, a heat bulb, and a basking bulb, youll need a filter for the water, and it should be 2/3 water 1/4 land..... you will not be able to release him once he gets older, he will die cause he can not take care of himslef. go to wnyherp.org and get a care sheet for him.

Answer 10

Just go to the store and buy a small package of turtle food or fish food.