Tony G.

I think I would have a heart attack if I fed them bones haha

okami789

i think our neighborhoo might be overrun with these guys 'cause my dad found ANOTHER ONE (he almost ran it over with his bike) and we named it Leonardo (Lennie for short) Pookie. the second ninja turtle - my dad really has to stop takin' 'em home.

they seem to be getting along fine - we can tell them apart becase Lennie's shell has a yellowish streak - and hang around eachother.

i gotta say, this is going just a biiiiit too far. (but i stilll luv them both <3)

Tony G.

so have you talked to your dad about taking them back?

MaddieLynn

Like I said at first, a nest probably hatched out. Though it is a weird time of year for them to hatch.

sirdarksol

It could also be that there were ideal breeding or hatching conditions earlier in the year and that something (drought, pollution, lack of food) is now driving the younger turtles from their previous homes.

That being said, I've seen female turtles laying eggs in July. Eggs incubate for about 10 weeks, so that wouldn't be too far off.

Mystic54

If your having trouble taking care of the first one how will you take care of two? Snapping turtles require alot more than what you can provide for them.
I agree with everyone when they say the turtle(s) need to be released back into the wild.

okami789

GAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!! WE LET RALPHIE AND LENNIE GO!!!!! ):&(: at the same time..... also with a pinch of ...

we took them down to the shallow end of the pond where the older, bigger snappers wouldn't... well, snap them up. but there still is the danger of birds.... will they be okay??
omgomgomg what if they DIE?? D:

btw their names are RALPH and LENNIE. not TURTLE. like Ralph Roberts from Insomnia and Lennie from of Mice and Men. or the ninja turtles. (Raphael and Leonardo)

bolivianbaby

You did the right thing. Be proud of yourself and know that nature will take care of them the way she was meant to.

okami789

i know i should feel happy and relieved, but i just.... well, dont.

sirdarksol

No matter how long or short their lives, they will be happiest in nature. It may not feel like it now, but you did the right thing.

turtleguy81

Ok first I'm going to address, okami789. If you found a baby turtle and want to know more about it and how to take care of it properly, check the internet there are PLENTY of sites ( other than forums ) to find what you need to know.. I for one, am sorry to hear that you let ur lil Ralphy GO..... I was surfin the net and some how I came across ur post and was literally ! I like you, found a snapping turtle.. and found him as a hatchling and he is in a 35gal long tank.. and it took him about 3 days to acclimate to his surroundings but he is doing great and is the bigger than golf ball... and eating like a horse!
Why be soo against someone who wants to enjoy one of Gods creatures in his/or her own home.. Yes I know they might be happier in the wild and if you don't know about the animal you own its always better off in the wild. But if u want to see how they live and observe them in a smaller environment and ur willing to learn about them to raise them ... then I say go for it... go hiking find a lil critter "make sure its legal to raise them" and do it...

I'm almost 30 and have raised turtles from when I was jus old enough to hold them and have had everything from map turtles to eastern box, painted, softshell, and musk aka stink pots... none of them have died and all were released in the wild after they grew older... I don't see a problem with people raising turtles in fact I'm for it.

All wild turtles carry salmonella but with proper hand washing after you handle them can prevent you from catching this disease.

Shawnie

Hi turtleguy81...giving and sharing advice and experiences is great here on fishlore..but please remember to respect others as doing so ..thank you

turtleguy81

I didn't mean to come of as disrespectful... and for this I apologize...

I jus noticed everyone ganging up on this person who is looking for info on a harmless pet.. and there wasn't one person that was positive about their findings... If I were in that persons shoes that could deter me from coming back to a forum for answers... * I don't want to come off as a expert cause I'm not, but we all learn from our experiences... and if we don't jus reach out to new things... then how will we learn.. ? Snapping turtles can be VERY aggressive and I've helped more off the road the proper way rather than jus picking them up by the tail.. " that wanted to eat me rather then my so called help" But on the Flip side my lil snapper can be hand fed and takes the turtle pellets and fish meat I give him after I clean my fish I catch right from my hands.

Shawnie

I dont think anyone "ganged up " on this member..they offered advice, as we all do, and support no matter what decision is made ...we learn from eachother and coming off the way you did by op of "not looking on forums" is what we all do here..we enjoy eachother, make friends, and look for experiences from all members....the longer you stay, you will see this

aquarist48

Hello. Here is a link to what I call my turtle:
A friendly Turtle
I live on a creek bank. He visits 3 or 4 times a week and it's done so since the first of April of this year. Some days he'll sun himself right there for hours.

BB..I too have a feeling the turtle you saw over those 3 years was indeed the same.

Okami I think you can feel good about what you've done. You kept it for a while, I'm sure you've learned from it and you let it go. Maybe you'll see them again sometime! There is no better care giver than Mother Nature.

Ken

sirdarksol

So do you still know they're alive? Raising an animal the way you suggested in your posts and releasing it into the wild generally doesn't work. They become accustomed to being fed, being in a more stable environment, and tend to lack natural resistance to wild diseases, leading them to die in the wild. By releasing the snappers so soon, Okami and her father gave those little snappers a much better chance of surviving.

Three things:
We weren't ganging up on Okami. She asked for advice, it was given. Sure, we could have said "yeah, it's okay to keep an animal (no, wait, two) that will not only grow to be too big for the tank it's in, but will actually grow to be bigger than the tank it's in," but then we'd be giving bad advice.
Second, a snapping turtle is about as harmless of a pet as a moderate-sized crocodile. Even the babies can take chunks out of fingers. I've seen a young adult bite through the leather of a heavy-duty work boot.
Third, we were all very positive, in both senses of the word. Number one, we're positive that a snapping turtle doesn't belong in a 20g tank (and that it will eat the other fish in the tank... which it did) and number two, we were emotionally positive in that we wanted Okami to get the most out of her tank, which none of us think would involve watching an animal like this die because it's in too small of a tank. Snapping turtles don't belong in anything smaller than a pond. It's cruel to keep them in anything smaller.

Was it pleasant for her to have to get rid of the snapping turtles? No.
Was it the right decision? Yes.
By flinging accusations the way you have, you not only insulted a number of people who gave excellent advice (by the way, if you read the thread, you'd also notice that many of the posts include "if you're going to keep the turtle" advice), you also reopened Okami's recent wounds of having released the two turtles.

MaddieLynn

If okami had decided to get a snapping turtle, done all of the research (and there is TONS to do), bought a properly sized tank and proper equipment, and then captured a baby snapping turtle, I don't think anyone would have had a problem with that. What everyone was saying was that okami didn't have the means or the knowledge to take care of 2 snapping turtles. It's usually not a very good idea to get an animal before doing the research. I think that everyone was just trying to prevent the little turtles from being poorly kept. If you have done your research, have ALL supplies needed, and it's not illegal in your state to take that certain species of turtle out of the wild, you can actually give a baby turtle a better chance to survive by caring for it, but ONLY if you have the proper equipment and know-how.

Lucy

Opinions were given, both pro and con.
Since okami decided to return the turtles to the wild any other post would be repetitious.
This thread is now closed.