I have had red ear sliders for years and always kept them in the house. Now i have 1 Eastern Painted, and 2 Southern Painted, and they are outside in a pond. I will bring them in as soon as the weather starts to turn..before the fall comes. I never let my water turtles hibernate. I am sure others do, but I never did. I would never release that baby back into the wild after caring for it until it got older. It will never know how to find food itself, and will be looking for you to come with his food. Terry