Reptile & Amphibian Forums

i have a yellow belly slider probably about two years old from shell size.. someone brought him into the petstore i work at with a fishhook in his mouth.. with some wirecutters and the help of another employee i managed to get it out and took him home with me.. i gave him baytril and kept him in a clean tank ... ive had him almost a month now and im fairly sure he is completely healed. hes is eating well (minnows, ghost shrimp, crayfish and anacharis.. didnt want him to get used to pellets) and swimming fine.. i cant even see the place where the hook was caught anymore... what i am wondering is... would it be too late in the year to let him go and have him survive? i live in athens, ga.. the nights right now are getting down to 61-64 degrees.. and days are still around 90. i just want to make sure he will be able to hibernate and all that... if its ok to release him i am going to do so asap.. before it gets much colder ..

i was also wondering if they often breed with red eared sliders? he looks exactly like my other yellowbelly except he has red above his eyes like a red ear... does this occur in yellowbellies? or might he be a cross?
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my pets: clown treefrogs, reed frogs, big eyed treefrogs, tiger leg monkey frogs, gray treefrogs, milk frogs, cuban treefrogs, whites tree frog, green treefrogs, squirrel treefrogs, blue webbed gliding treefrog, chameleon treefrogs?, dusky salamanders, tiger salamander, veiled chameleon, box turtles, mud turtle, map turtle, yellowbelly slider, florida softshell, two saltwater tanks, four cats, two chinchillas, and a boyfriend.

im not sure about the cross breeding. you should be fine to let him go now. if you know where he was found that would be the best place to release him, otherwise i would just go to a good sized river or lake/pond. or you can release him where you see others like him.

It would be fine to release him now. I've heard that painted turtles and RES can cross breed....and if yellow bellied sliders are as closly related to RES as RES and painteds then i would say yes.

>>It would be fine to release him now. I've heard that painted turtles and RES can cross breed....and if yellow bellied sliders are as closly related to RES as RES and painteds then i would say yes.

I dont know what laboratory experiment youre talking about with crossbreeding RES and painted turtles. They are different Genus, and very unlikely that crossbreeding occurs. Cross mating perhaps, as Ive seen a RES have sex with a rock, but no viable offspring were produced.

As for releasing, I reccomend you speak to your states wildlife and parks representative to find out if its even legal. They may want to do a more complete medical exam before putting that turtle or other wild turtles at risk.
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iturnrocks.com

Agreed. I would just check what legal issues may be involved before you do something that might get you in trouble if you get caught (an unlikely scenerio but still not impossible).

Also if you have exposed this turtle to your turtles DO NOT release him. This would not be a responsible thing to do.

If the animal has been exposed to other turtles while in your care he may now be carrying something that could be released into wild population where you released him.

I would also be hesitant to release him anywhere but where he was originally caught for just the same reason. Though this would most likely not happen it still best to release in the same body of water where the animal was originally caught.

Again -- agreed that painteds and sliders do not produce anything viable from a mating. Yellow belly slider X red eared is a very common cross. I have seen many come through our rescue. Nice looking turtle too. Just a little bit of both features combined.

Steve