Wild Adventures with Steve: box turtle gets a new home

[BPCnom]

The turtle is missing a big chunk of shell in the back. But it looked like the turtle was still happy so good luck small turtle.

[edwin65914]

Yea I had one box turtle i let it go because i know they need more beautiful animals out there. but i still have 3 aquatic turtles but yea i love turtle and try to keep them safe as much as i can. but i miss that Beautiful little box turtle hope he's safe. thanks for the upload

[kingbabolos]

i had a turtle when i was 8 and i had her for like 2 years... she ran away! i miss her so much still to this day and i want another one!!! can you give me some tips on how to find them in the wild? i found mine in the wild. these are some of my favorite animals ever. she had so much personality and was hilarious! thanks for posting.

[snakesteve68]

@kingbabolos

Hello, I am so glad you like turtles and had a great experience keeping one. However, I am unable to offer you any advice on finding a wild turtle because it is just the wrong thing to do. The right thing to do for the turtles is to leave all of the wild turtles wild and enjoy them when you cross paths with them. Help them across the street when you find one crossing, work or volunteer with your local wildlife commission as a turtle advocate or even a citizen scientist.

[snakesteve68]

@kingbabolos

Wild turtles need to stay wild. One of the biggest threats to their existence is people taking them out of the wild to either make pets of them or trying to "help" them by taking them to a park or other place where the human feels that the turtle will be happier--both of these practices often lead to the death of the turtle.

[snakesteve68]

@kingbabolos

Taking a turtle out of its home removes a breeding member of the population and therefore reduces the populations ability to remain stable. Captive turtles are often not fed an adequate diet and are malnourished and weak--they eat waaaay more than the lettuce and strawberries that many people feed them and they have very specific diet, housing, temperature and humidity requirements in order to be healthy.

[snakesteve68]

@kingbabolos

Turtles also have a very strong homing instinct and if they are taken to new places such as parks or if they are pets that escape they will often try to walk home. These turtles may then die crossing roads in their search of home. If you really want a turtle as a pet the best thing you can do is learn all about the care requirements of species of turtle that you want then look for a breeder who sells captive raised turtles and buy yourself one leaving the wild turtles wild.

[snakesteve68]

@kingbabolos

Also, please do not release a captive raised turtle into the wild because it may not be able to survive. I hope this helps. Thank you for being a turtle advocate.

[snakesteve68]

@kingbabolos

Also, in many states keeping wild turtles as pets is illegal so you only option is a captive raised animal. Good luck.

[kingbabolos]

i had a turtle when i was 8 and i had her for like 2 years... she ran away! i miss her so much still to this day and i want another one!!! can you give me some tips on how to find them in the wild? i found mine in the wild. these are some of my favorite animals ever. she had so much personality and was hilarious! thanks for posting.

[txrottie]

I found a small turtle and it is getting cold. He really seemed too small to survive on his own. I am trying to keep him interested in eating and I want to release him in the spring so he can just be a turtle out in the woods. Hopefully he will stay healthy until then. I have looked all over and can't find a vet who knows anything about turtles. Odd huh?

[snakesteve68]

I'll msg you privately about this one...

[amazindan]

What state did you find this in?

[snakesteve68]

North Carolina

[atl1192]

i cought one of those in my backyard

[snakesteve68]

Did you leave it in your backyard or keep it as a "pet"? Box turtles do not make good pets. They have trouble adapting to captivity and have a very extensive diet that is often expensive to duplicate. If you have this turtle in captivity please release it where you found it in the spring so it can continue to play its role in your backyard ecosystem.

[rodriks1]

awsome

i likeed it

[tjack31]

It looks like something took a bite out of his shell, probably when he was younger. ouch! But he looks cute and healthy now.

[WWBZT1]

probably a lawn mower, probably recent too

[snakesteve68]

The area where this turtle lives is a dense forest. There are no mowers anywhere nearby and since a box turtle has a very small homerange I lean more towards a predator causing the shell damage.