They are farmed raised. They are Chinese Softshell turtles.

The males are a bit smaller so you may want to look for one of them (longer thicker tail). They are not cold hardy so they will need to be kept indoors during the Winter months if Chicago is where you will be keeping them.



It's really hard to say how they will do. Sometimes they do just fine -- other times you can have a host of problems. I am currently rehabbing a diamondback terrapin (NOT Farm raised these are harvested from the Chesapeake Bay) that I got in Chinatown (NYC) that I have been working with for over 9 months now. She looked perfectly normal when I got her but within a short period of time she developed, fungus, shellrot and SCUD (an ulcerative condition).



You can always wait until the warmer months to rescue a few. They are always there and so you can pick one up anytime. One taken in as a pet is always one less in the soup pot. There are conflicting views regarding this but I believe that if you understand that this is NOT a cheap way to get a nice pet (you may be in for a long haul of treatment before the animals is sound) and that you will devote the time necessary to give it a good environment you have done a good thing.



The food industry for these farm raise softshells will always be there so your taking one or even 100 will not encourage the flow of them into these food markets.



Steve

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