I am 9. My granny found a "painted" turtle in the field today, and brought it to the house to show me. She said I could keep it for a while if we could find out if it would be ok for the turtle, and if we could find out what to feed it, what to keep it in, and how to keep it safe, and any other information. The turtle is about 4 1/2 or 5 inches across the shell, and about the same front to back.

Will a wild turtle do ok as a pet? It seems to like to have it's throat gently rubbed.

Thanks from Gran & Chase for all help.

-- Chase (Chase9901@aol.com), April 23, 2002

Answers

Every summer we find a turtle, keep until fall and then let it go. We bought some recommended food from the pet store. It was NOT expensive and the turtles LOVE it.

-- DW (djwallace@sotc.net), April 23, 2002.

Dear Chase,

I know you are curious about turtles (that's good!) and it must be very tempting to try to keep this one as a pet! I bet it's fun to rub it's neck and they are very beautiful. but it really is best to leave wild creatures alone.

I would suggest that you take the turtle back to exactly where it was found, first thing tomorrow. In the meantime make sure it has a dish of clean water.

-- Kathy (catfish201@hotmail.com), April 23, 2002.

Chase, go to this website and learn all about the Turtle you have, then decide what you will do with the little fella, they are surely the cutest things, huh? http://www.kingsnake.com/forum/turtle/ If you do keep it you want to do it right and not kill it. Turtles are actually quite delicate so read up. And have fun! LQ

-- Little Quacker (carouselxing@juno.com), April 23, 2002.

Find out what kind of turtle you have. I am not familiar with what you call a painted turtle. If it is a water turtle, they make food for it called fingers, yours, so I expect that you have what we call a box turtle, that is, a tarrapin. Those fellows are fantastic. If you are willing to take real good care of it, keep it for a while and then release it. If it is already letting you rub it's neck, someone else has already done this. It will eat lettuce, tomatoes, berries - especially strawberries. Have fun, keep it clean, with fresh water and fresh food. If a giant caught you, how would you want it to treat you? Like a guest.

-- Robin Downing (Southpawrobin1@aol.com), April 24, 2002.

Hi Chase! We love turtles, too. We found a tiny hatchling (size of a quarter!) last week! I agree that the turtle should be kept only briefly, like maybe a week, before you let him go. Any longer, and you might invite troubles for the little guy. (Disease, loneliness, improper diet, etc.) He will probably eat worms for you, maybe other small bugs too.

Have fun!

-- Shannon at Grateful Acres Animal Sanctuary (gratacres@aol.com), April 24, 2002.

I didn't see that anyone had mentioned salmonella to you yet - turtles carry salmonella, so please make sure you're washing your hands! But, my first instinct would be to take it back where you found it & let it go.

-- heather (h.m.metheny@att.net), April 24, 2002.

Turtles harbor salmonella bacteria and in many states it is illegal to keep them as pets. I know that it sounds like a silly law but the salmonella is the reason for it.

-- Emil in TN (eprisco@usit.net), April 24, 2002.

WIld turtles can be good pets. I'm assuming that it is a box turtle or terrapin, and while I've never kept those for more than a few days I kept three fist sized snapping turtles for several months. They got tame enough they would take food from my fingers gently and with no loss of fingers. I would definitely feed the turtle a store bought food as they are nutritionally balanced. I know that Walmart carries some as well as most department stores. As I said I can't tell you specifics but if you find it dificult to get info let me know and I hunt through my library and find what you need. Also take notice to see if the turtle opens it's eyes. Once I had a terrapin I found whose eyes were closed and I applied water directly to the lids and they broke open after several applications. I assumed that the turtle suffered from dehydration.

-- adam (adwats2@uky.edu), April 24, 2002.

Concerning salmanella, my father owned a pet store and by KY regulations any turtle had to be over three inches in diameter. The reason for this is at this size it is unlikely a child would place the turtle in his mouth, I know it sounds stupid but it's true. Someone said some states outlawed turtles as pets due to salmanella I haven't heard this but any reptile from iguanas to snakes to turtles and lizards CAN all carry salmanella so it would require the banning of all reptilian pets to truly safegaurd from the salmanella threat. Additionally while a wild creature the majority of reptile species are wild caught somewhere in the world. Certainly you've seen the red-eared slider in a pet store, these are wild cought in the US and sold domestically. I feel that as long as a species isn't protected and the person has the abitlity to adequetely care for the animal they have all the rights in the world to have a pet even if it is wild caught.

-- adam (adwats2@uky.edu), April 24, 2002.

Hi Chase,

As with any new pet the potential owner needs to research its specific needs before taking the pet home.

Captivity can be bevery stressful for normally shy and secretive box turtles. Stress frequently leads to a refusal to eat. Box turtles are omnivores and need a variety of fruits and vegetables as well as some live food, such as worms, crickets, and meal worms. They will not do well at all on a steady diet of lettuce. Most wild box turtles have a few intestinal parasites, but the numbers are low enough that they do not cause a problem. Due to the stresses of capture, and often being confined in unsanitary conditions, most wild caught box turtles have a much heavier parasite infestation than they could normally handle.

Improper housing can also adversely affect the health of captive box turtles. Not all types of box turtles come from the same environment in the wild so it is important to know what specific type of box turtle you are dealing with. The ideal situation for a captive box turtle is an outdoor pen with exposure to unfiltered sunlight, places to burrow, and a shallow pool for soaking.

If you can not provide the correct housing and food to the turtle you've found, the most humaine thing you can do is let him go in a quiet area, and wish him well.

-- Patti (cl.p@rcn.com), April 24, 2002.

What area are you from? here in IL we have Painted Turtles. i have kept them as a pet to for a month or two. i would becareful my gramdma had one once that we had thought was tamed. i went to pick him up one day and he took my knuckle off with his mouth. this though has not kept me form taking the ocasional turtle home for a while. we feed them a worms and they will also eat hamburger. make sure (if it is a painted turtle) that you have a place for it to swim and a place and a place for it to get out and get in the sun. sunlight is important for them. I myself am 14. Good luck!

-- Lindsey (lindsey_sham1@hotmail.com), April 24, 2002.

In Okla, turtles are protected under fishing laws, so they don't get harvested for food or pet stores.

-- Thumper/inOKC (slrldr@yahoo.com), April 24, 2002.

Hi all, This is Chase's Granny. He was very excited about the turtle, and his little sister even more so, . . . . . . . . . however. . . . .

I read all the messages, and went to the turtle site. It took very little time for me to decide the turtle deserved to be returned to where it was found, and that was done today.

I asked Chase how he would like it if a huge giant picked HIM up and decided to keep him for a play thing, ( as someone on the forum suggested) and we thought about it, and decided the turtle should return to IT'S life, and do the things which made IT happy.

So, Gran enjoyed giving Chase a new nature experience, and we both felt good about giving the turtle back his own environment.

Very good advice, and very well presented here. Thanks

-- Chase (Chase9901@aol.com), April 24, 2002.