Turtle lovers?

HI all- Just wanted to know if there are any other active turtle-lovers around. I see by the threads several people have turtles on the forum.

I currently share space with three turtles: AkaI (Ah-kie), a painted turtle- rescued from my rural road- ordinarily the right thing to do would be to move him off the road, admire the beautiful little guy and go on one's merry way, but AkaI had been clipped by a car and has a crack in his shell which might have proven fatal in the wild. He came to me from a friend who found him. With the combination of the crack and not knowing exactly where to return him to, I felt he was safer here, and indeed he has thrived in captivity.

Kame (Kah-may) was a gift (peace offering) from my now ex-husband. The ex went on a hunting trip... and Kame was one of many three-toed box turtles on the grounds of the lodge he and his buddy stayed at. He picked Kame up from the porch where the little guy was bumping along the door, trying to find his way inside. (A habit he still retains). Although I was charmed by this special little guy (My first turtle), I was furious with my ex for removing him from the wild. Long story short... he traveled a long way and I have no way of returning him, so I'm doing my best to give him a comfortable and very spoiled life.

Finally, Squirt is a Southern Mud Turtle. He was another sad case of "OMG SO CUTE let's take it home!!"... A friend of mine works in a LFS. A woman came into the petshop one day with this tiny turtle in a cup. It seems relatives of hers had come home from a southern trip, with this surprise "gift"... and she had no idea what to do with it. My friend who works at the petshop took it in but didn't really want to take care of it... and knew I had turtles, so asked if I wanted him.
Since then, Squirt has doubled in size. He's now the size of a half-dollar, and just as aggressive as the day is long. lol.

So... that's my turtle "family". Anyone else have and love turtles? I love all my guys, even if they're not of the mutant ninja variety.

 

Me. Deff love turtles.

 

I think turtles are so cool. I wanted to get one, but found out they get too big for me to keep in the house (read that as "hubby is not too keen on having one in the house")

 

LOL Oscarbud... well Southern Mud Turtles only get 4 inches long...
Honestly I find tortoises and land turtles (Box Turtles) easier to keep. Kame quite often comes out and cruises around my office... they're surprisingly good climbers! lol

 

There's a large gray turtle at my LFS named Jeremy and I love him. My spouse wants me to take him home. I would if I had a 300g tank.

We have to say hI to Jeremy every visit we make, he's so friendly.

 

Love the little guys. Don't have any myself. Not enough $ right now. Probably will in the future though. I like Muds. I have done a little conservation with the wild species, always fun to work with. You can always tell when a Red Ear has been kept captive and released, and when it is wild.

 

Well this morning we have a new addition to the crew- My son has a terrarium, a 37 gal hex tank that I managed to chip a corner on a few months back... We put a good 6 inches of potting soil in the bottom, planted it, added some driftwood and smooth river stone substrate to cover the soil, a heat rock and voila... A nice little habitat for 2 long-tailed grass lizards and 2 Bahaman anoles.

I guess the lizards are doing better than we expected... Because this morning we found a 1-inch long anole clinging to one of the plant leaves! This is a COMPLETELY unexpected, but not unwelcome addition to our collection. Thank heavens the local Petsmart carries wingless fruitflies!

I feel as if someone's put a fertility curse on my house...

PS Yes turtles are made of win. lol I can't get over the personalities... And while I absolutely do not advocate removing any animal from the wild unless you're a rehabber, I do love my crew.

 

I love turtles but I don't want one again... if I do get another it will be a tortoise

 

Although I don't have any, I sure like them. Maybe one day if I get a place with a basement again, I will get a turtle tank going. I looked into them at one point, and would really like to have some.

 

I did once rehab a turtle.. it had been clipped by a car, and had a damaged shell. My son was pretty young at the time, so I thought it wold also be a good lesson in knowing that wild things needed to be wild even if we take care of them for a little while. It wasn't the turtle's fault that a road was built where he needed to cross! Anyway, we kept him outdoors in a large children's pool with rocks and wood to climb on.. had the vet check him and released him again once his shell had healed.. he was fun, loved his night crawlers more than anything. He was a red ear slider and totally native to our area.

 

Shayla, how long did it take his shell to heal? Akai's is getting there but it's a slow process. He had quite a large crack in proportion to his length.

 

It took many months.. it wasn't a terrible crack, he had apparently been nicked by a passing car, but it was near the center of his back, 2-3 scutes were damaged and he was bleeding between them.... I bought some turtle vitamin drops for his water and asked the vet if anything more should be done.. he told me other than washing hands against salmonella (most turtles carry it), the rest took time. For this guy, it took all of the summer and into the fall.. we found him early spring when the water was beginning to thaw. I'm guessing a good 7 months or so.. we released him around October so he could find a nice spot for the winter before the water started to freeze. My son had wanted to keep him, of course, but I convinced him our turtle friend would be happier finding other turtle friends.