Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My 4yr old res Teapot was recently stolen from the backyard pond that I keep her in during the summer by one of my step-grandson's friends. All attempts to get him to return her have been futile and since he does not have the proper setup for her her future seems bleak. I am very upset by this violation and am quite angry. I rescued her from Chinatown in NYC when she still had her egg sack. The police have talked to his parents but they feign ignorance what do I do?

I'm sorry to hear that. Was your RES in the open like in the front yard (or something?) Or was it in the backyard? I don't know who would go into your backyard to steal a RES because I got my RES from chinatown NYC when I vistied and I can say they are very cheap. The thing is did you have a cover over the turtles? If you didn't theres a good possibility it ran away.

Here's a story of my friend who lost an adult RES. He had 2 RES and he was cleaning his tank. He figured he would keep it in a cooler since he didn't have a rubbermaid. The water was about half way and there was about 8 inches from the top to climb out. But still the turtles climbed out! Both! I helped my friend look for it and we found one hiding behind some bushes. We didn't find the other and not sure what happend to him.

So basically turltes can climb stuff that we can't imagine them doing if they wanted. Then there's the possibility of a bird or cat or other animal getting to your RES. If you don't have a cover over it that is a good possibility.

Sorry to hear it and I really think the only thing you can do is go and get another RES and hope nothing like this happens again.

If you know for a fact that this child took the animal (you have a witness) then you need to be persistant about it. Is there someone who actually saw this child take the turtle? If not there is really not much you can do.

His name is Leonard and he came to visit when we allowed my step-grandson who is 14 have some friends over for grilled hot dogs and to sing karaoke on the back deck. The turt was in a deep outside pond. While they were back there my turtle came out several times to bask on the rocks that were in there and Leonard had to be repeatedly warned to stop attempting to poke her with a stick. When he refused to stop bothering her he was asked to leave. Two days later she was missing from her pond and my grandson's mutual friends have reported leonard in possession of the turtle and also bragging about stealing the turtle. He also asked his brother to come and ask me for turtle food.