I work in a childcare center in downtown Atlanta, and today our kids found a turtle on the playground. I think he (she? Not sure of sex either!) may just be a RES after looking at ALOT of pics online. It is a big turtle, probably 10 - 12 inches from the front of the shell (head) to back (tail). The top of the shell has no markings, it is completely black. The head, face, legs, everything are pretty solid grey/black color, without the stripey pattern that makes me think of RES. There is definitely no red on his "ears" or anywhere. The only color is on his bottom shell, which is the normal yellow/black pattern. So can he be an RES? I'm going to try to get some pics to post tonight.

I think our director wants to keep him, but if he is an RES I assume he needs a fairly large water environment. I'm hoping to persuade her to only keep him for maybe a week or two and then release him. What would be the best way to keep him? I'm taking him home and putting him in my bathroom for the night, as the little bucket they wanted to leave him in is WAY too small. And what do I need to know about releasing him? Does he need to stay in this area? I don't know where there even is a body of water around here. My family lives on a lake where I could release him, but it is about an hour away. I just don't want to take him out of his territory if that's the wrong thing to do.

I guess I'm getting ahead of myself a bit - please let me know what kind of turtle he is. If you can answer any of my other questions, that would be great too! Photos hopefully tomorrow - Thanks!!!

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