Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I've had my res Leonardo for 2 years now, he lived in a highly modified 90 gal. tank. I made a platform from plexiglass covering 3/4ths of the watersuface so he had plenty of room to hang out outside the water. A friend of mine cracked the tank when I was trying to move it and now I can't afford another one. Where I'm living is changing soon too because of a job lay-off, so Leonardo is currently living in a big rubbermade storage container.

I can't keep him any more, and I was wondering if anyone knew his chances of living in the wild after being spoiled for the past 2 years? Any suggestions on what I should do?
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rosy boa - ms piggy
cornsnakes - koopa & bowser
slider - leonardo
african cichlids
gobies & blennies
caique
husky

You can't release him -- especially if he is a non-native species. There is a chance he could be haboring disease that could be spread through the native population of turtles. Or even that he could contract something that he cannot fight off.

Where are you located? There are many turtle rescue organizations out there that would be able to help you find him a new home. Please do not release him. It is not the responsible thing to do. You seem to have taken great care of him all these years so I know you wouldn't want to do anything that would potentially hurt him or other turtles.

Steve

I'm in Memphis, Tennessee. He was originally found in a lake about 10 miles from where I live. I worked at Petco and some kids wanted to keep him, he looked like maybe a hatchling. So when I found out they were keeping him in a fish bowl I asked if they would leave it with me since they couldn't take care of it. So he is originally found here, I was just wondering about his ability to find food, or the possibility of him getting run over by cars.

I appreciate the help
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rosy boa - ms piggy
cornsnakes - koopa & bowser
slider - leonardo
african cichlids
gobies & blennies
caique
husky

fyi, just because the turtle was 'found' there doesnt mean that they are native to that area! it could mean that someone who was also a negligent owner decided to tose their full=grown turtle out because it got TOO large for the tank that they had (or the death bowl) and they could have tossed it out as well as all of the other people do. And this full-grown turtle could have mated with another RES which was also tossed out by some other negligent owner. the process just keeps going on and on until someone finally puts a stop to these people illegally releasing their turtles to the 'real world'...
* sorr for the ranting... just tired of those people out there that think their commitment to a living thing was not 'real'
but anyways, i am honestly not sure if RES are native to your area, you could easily do a search on www.google.com for RES and find out where they are native to. If they are native to your area, then feel free to release him back into the wild, but just keep in mind that 'no one' can say for sure if this turtle will get hit by a car, or get eaten by some larger animal... anything is possible!
if i were you, i wouldnt worry so much about the 'ability' to find food because pretty much anything they find, they'll eat! it's more about the human population and the threats that the turtles face because of overpopulation of the over=building of different cities or areas!
if you find that RES are NOT native to your area, the biggest mistake you can make is to release this turtle. RES are pretty durable and in most places (because of ignorant/negligent past owners of RES) they have let these turtles take over and they actually end up killing off the native turtles to a particular area and the next thing ya know, there are turtles becoming extinct...
good luck in whatever you decide...

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~ Evie

Pets:
RIP 0.1.0 German Shepherd {Dusty}
0.1.0 German Shepherd/Collie mix {Shadoe}
0.0.2 RES turtles {Booger & Snot}
1.0.0 African Clawed Frog {Bingo}
0.0.2 Snail {Gary & Larry}

Hey ieatsnails -

All the ranting of the turtle obsessed individuals aside -

If he is wildcaught in your area and has not been in any contact with other turtles while in captivity -- he should be able to make it on his own just fine. Be sure to find him a safe place that is not frequented too much by kids so that he can have time to get "wild" again.

What I posted to you on site was just if Red-ears do not naturally range in your area.

His instincts will get him through. Just be aware that he is will still be subject to all the things that being wild can bring. (predation, kids who may find him and use him for target practice and whatever diseases there are out there). Sliders are tough creatures though. Lastly, I might just make a inquiry as to the DFW policy on releasing native species back into the area.
You wouldn't want a some officer catching doing something would be illegal and slapped with a fine.

Good luck
Stever

One of the reasons I wondered if it was a possibility is because I'm positive that they are native to this area of tennessee and mississippi. There's a period of time that it seems almost every child of memphis comes into my petstore with little quarter sized turtles and wants to keep them. There are lakes around here that are breeding grounds and what seems like a discovery channel show.. hundreds of hatchlings and adults come out every day at dawn and dusk.

I'm the last person you need to be talking to on commitment to an animal, that's the same thing I preach all day long to people.. about the animal living longer than they probably will and how large they actually get.

I guess I didn't make it clear that when the child gave this turtle to me, he was the size of a half dollar.. no full grown turtle. He had a bad eye infection and I didn't want the kid to just let him go in our parking lot like most did when we told them to put the turtle back where they found it.

Being that I've only had him for 2 years his shell isn't much bigger than 4 or 5 inches now.

I appreciate the advice. I just want what's best for him and right now I can't afford an unexpected $500 to get another aquarium set up how I did. He's in a 5 foot long rubbermade container with everything he needs and he seems happy for now.. so I'm just trying to decide what should happen around the spring time for him.

Thanks again
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rosy boa - ms piggy
cornsnakes - koopa & bowser
slider - leonardo
african cichlids
gobies & blennies
caique
husky