Reptile & Amphibian Forums

A couple of weeks ago in a creek near a chinese restaurant my sister and I found a softshell turtle in the mud. I recognized that it wasn't native and that the creek was full of all sorts of cruddy nastiness, so I took it home. I put him in a bin full of water with sand at the bottom for him to hide in. He's about 6 inches across the shell (ROUGH estimate) he's light tan. He has a speckled body but no spots on the shell at all. I'm not really an expert, but I've been doing some research lately and all the softshells I've found look similar but not the same and have spots. I've checked his tail and he's definitely a male, even though I've read that they're usually snappy I haven't been bitten by him, and he seems pretty docile. Can you help me indentify him? I don't have a picture right now.

Sounds like an escapee from the restaraunt. Lucky turtle. It would be a good idea to have him checked by a vet for parsites, especially considering where you found him.