Turtle Help

*Fl_Gulfer* · 10-17-2009, 01:09 PM

I was just out mowing my lawn and almost ran over this little guy so I stopped and looked all around and found another. The question I have: Does anyone know what spieces turtle they are? What can I feed them for now? I'd like to fatten them up a little and take them to wherever they like to live.

Thanks

*Ratmagiclady* · 10-17-2009, 01:52 PM

They look like they may take little bits of raw hamburger, ...maybe some local plant matter from wherever the nearest wetlands. If your intention is to let them go, though, sooner might be better. Odds are good they're going to be solely focused on escape for a while, and that won't make them any stronger.

There are a lot of turtle-lovers on the Internet, though. If you find one of their boards you can probably get an idea what the best thing to do is. Odds are they were on your lawn for a reason. The nearest cover to where they were found might do for now.

That Nikonian friend I keep referring to found a turtle out on the road, and we looked for some resources. I don't know the variety these ones might be, (From the shape of the shells they may be females, if I'm remembering properly) ...One thing of interest is that some turtles will only take food which is submerged. I don't know if these are among them. Just in case they actually are hungry, try some of both, above and below the water you give them. I guess some species have their specialized feeding habits and that's that. Sorry for the generalities. But there's people out there as interested in turtles as we are about Pentaxes.

**Damn Brit** · 10-17-2009, 02:23 PM

You might want to contact a zoo or aquarium for positive ID. For one thing they could be an exotic species that someone dumped (Florida has enough problems in that area) and for another (equally important) they could be a threatened or endangered species so would best be dealt with by the professionals.
Good job for spotting and saving them.

*wildlifephotog* · 10-17-2009, 02:27 PM

Those appear to be baby gulf coast box turtles. Here is a site on caring for them.
Gulf Coast box turtle care

*raymeedc* · 10-17-2009, 08:54 PM

Eathworms & small feeder goldfish from your local petshop.

Ahab · 10-18-2009, 10:08 AM

Originally Posted by raymeedc

Eathworms & small feeder goldfish from your local petshop.

They also love crickets.

*Ratmagiclady* · 10-18-2009, 11:21 AM

They are also teh cute.

seacapt · 10-18-2009, 11:32 AM

Hard to identify from picture because they are soo young , probaly just crawled out of the hole. They do look pretty woodlands terepin / box turtle ish , I don't think they are a water species so give them some dry land to hang out on. Box turtles like to eat worms available at the bait &tackle store.

*Blue* · 10-18-2009, 10:33 PM

Certain sub species of Terrapene carolina can be tricky to tell apart as adults much less the juveniles. However, those are probably the gulf coast box turtle as suggested or 3-toed. They shouldn't be in that water! You can offer them canned dog food, some raw hamburger. They are omnivorous and also eat berries etc. These critters can live for 30-40 years!

*Fl_Gulfer* · 10-19-2009, 07:08 AM

I took them down the street to a marsh area where the grass wasn't too tall and let then go, I figured they wouldn't get mowed up there.
Thanks Everyone.

*raymeedc* · 10-19-2009, 08:52 AM

Originally Posted by Fl_Gulfer

I took them down the street to a marsh area where the grass wasn't too tall and let then go, I figured they wouldn't get mowed up there.
Thanks Everyone.

Good move..... that was the best thing you could have done for them.

*deadwolfbones* · 10-19-2009, 09:00 AM

Definitely box turtles. Had a couple as pets when I was younger in Florida.