What a Face!!!

[kyukidojen]

Thought I'd share this photo of my turtle... i actually have four of them, and I find that they have the most incredible (AND BIZARRE) faces i've ever seen!

[JHTROCK]

That Is Awesome, You Are Right About Thier Faces.

[BirdLuver288]

aww, what a cute softshell turtle:) what size tank do you have him in? it must be pretty big to keep him in there and all lol

[jojoalexis]

She's beautiful! I've always been fond of turtles

[kyukidojen]

They're not an entirely legal bunch. We were camping, and while walking across the sand dune, looked behind us and saw a bunch of eggs rolling down the hill into the water. We grabbed them out, and figured we couldn't hurt them any more than we already had. Stuck them in a bucket and brought them home, not really expecting anything. Well, two weeks later, in the first week of october (a little late, really), we had seven little softshells. They were actually bright green when they hatched... three of them didn't make it (they all died at once). After they died, got in touch with the local dnr, who gave some advice as far as temperature ( i guess i had them too cozy :( ) and strongly urged us to release them come spring. Nice guy that he is, he didn't fine us or turn us in... for now, they're in a 50 gallon aquarium... they're only about as big as tennis balls, but that's a far sight bigger than the size of a nickel (when they hatched). In may, we'll let at least three go... may want to keep one, we'll have to see.

[StarAG0903]

He looks nice and yeah

[Shockadine]

I've never seen one of those before. They look pretty cool. I like their faces.

[kyukidojen]

Seeing as how the face is interesting to say the least, i thought i'd show you the rest of them... they are definately STRANGE looking little guys!

[jrtlover]

I think they are lovely :D

[critter1992]

WOW! were do you live? all I have around me is box turtles and painteds, and snappers.

[JustJo]

WOW! Your turtles are awesome! What a face is right! :D

[jojoalexis]

They are beautiful, and as hard as it seems, they need to be free. If you keep one alone wont he be sad? they also get sick very easily. whatever you decide, I wish you luck. They are amazing! what an experience.

[Pepsidoodle]

Aren't they cool! I love em. Their faces look like little old men. haha. We have Gopher turtles around here and they are at the top of the endangered list. I found a teeny tiny one in the back and decided not to keep him. Poor little guy. Their survival rate is like 1 in 20. If somebody found out I had him in the house and ratted me out I could have been in trouble.

[jojoalexis]

they are pretty awesome. I wonder if they are released back where the eggs were found, will go back to the same place to lay their eggs?

[Pepsidoodle]

Yeah. They have like a 10 mile territory range. They know how to get back to their den. Pretty neat. What is even neater is they share their dens with diamond back rattlers!:D

[jojoalexis]

That would be really cool - gosh, I hope they are released so they can be free but it would be so hard to let them go.

[Riosmommy]

Beautiful faces and just intresting to look at. Great pictures.
RIo&Nickysmommy

[kyukidojen]

I live in Wisconsin... the river here freezes mid november... accoreding to what i've read in the DNR publishings an' such, softshells are SUPPOSED to hatch in July, not in October! So I really don't think they'd have made it if we left them there (neither did the man i talked to about them who's the head of the mississippi wetlands group). So really, while it isn't so nice to keep them, at least i'm giving them a fighting chance. The one i'm thinking of maybe keeping around is a loner... likes to be wherever the other three AREN'T. I probably won't keep him though, because unless he had a health issue, I know he's better off wild. Plan is to head back to the same island, take 'em up the sand, and let them go. We'll watch to make sure they make it into the river, and call it a day! I'm excited though... 50% survival rate on those eggs. If I'm remembering right, naturally there's about a 20-25% survival. Hah, take that nature! Now, what to do with their giant aquarium....

[kyukidojen]

WOW! were do you live? all I have around me is box turtles and painteds, and snappers.
What's intersting is that lots of people around here have never seen one of these either. They're INCREDIBLY quick... When i was a turtle catching kid, they were the only kind i couldn't catch... they burrow into the sand on the bottom and hang out - lots of times the only thing that's exposed is their little pig snout (they use this to sniff out food; at feeding time, they look like little puppies sniffing around :p ). MOst of the grown ones i've seen are about 14 inches across (another reason to let them go)... and they are VERY mean. THe one time my friend and i managed to get one (we were quite mean, we snuck up on them with nets while they were basking), it hissed and bit more than any other turtle i've seen. They've got a decent range, so I think they're probably more widespread than people know... After all, how likely are you to actually notice the little nose sticking out from the sand???

[kyukidojen]

Here's from when they first hatched - the pics are blury, I still had my old camera with no manual focus, so it was a nightmare trying to photograph through glass... we weren't prepared for them to actually hatch, so we had to improvise a bit on the basking platform... have found that legos work WONDERFULLY. For those of you who know how small those little knobs on legos are, you can get a pretty good idea how tiny these guys were when they hatched.

[Pepsidoodle]

they are pretty awesome. I wonder if they are released back where the eggs were found, will go back to the same place to lay their eggs?

Oh I didn't get it at first. I thought you were talking about the gopher turtles doiduhwha LOL. I am not sure about soft shells. My old house had a brackish lake/pond in back with soft shells and they would migrate it seemed. They used my side yard as the path-really neat. I am not sure how the juveniles would do if put back after this long. I am sure if you put them near a good spot of water they would know what to do though. Sometimes it is best to give them to the local Marine sanctuary in you area. Here we have Harbor Branch oceanographics (sp). They save dolphins and turtles daily. Very cool place.

[Cat&Dog mom]

Wow, they are very strange looking, but cute too.

[jojoalexis]

I live in Wisconsin... the river here freezes mid november... accoreding to what i've read in the DNR publishings an' such, softshells are SUPPOSED to hatch in July, not in October! So I really don't think they'd have made it if we left them there (neither did the man i talked to about them who's the head of the mississippi wetlands group). So really, while it isn't so nice to keep them, at least i'm giving them a fighting chance. The one i'm thinking of maybe keeping around is a loner... likes to be wherever the other three AREN'T. I probably won't keep him though, because unless he had a health issue, I know he's better off wild. Plan is to head back to the same island, take 'em up the sand, and let them go. We'll watch to make sure they make it into the river, and call it a day! I'm excited though... 50% survival rate on those eggs. If I'm remembering right, naturally there's about a 20-25% survival. Hah, take that nature! Now, what to do with their giant aquarium....

I think they're amazing and the fact that you were able to hatch them and they made it is awesome. I'm just torn and although it would be extremely hard, I would release them when time. Someone once told me that they caught and released turtles before - but not until the following year (like this type of situation) but they marked their shell with nail polish to see if they would cross paths again.

[kyukidojen]

Pepsidoodle:
When I contacted the DNR mid-winter about some health questions, they gave me two good reasons NOT to turn them over.... Number one is the incredible fines I'd be dealt after the surrender, and number two is the fact that they'd simply release them into the wild in the spring anyway! The gentleman i spoke with assured me that as long as I haven't handled them lots, have kept them on a regular schedule, and made sure they're healthy, it will be fine. I was a little concerned about them being able to find food, but have found over time they can catch and eat ANYTHING! They love little fish - we don't often get them, seeing as how it results in re-doing the WHOLE tank afterwards! Before our ground froze, they ate any sort of insect that we put in there. Right now they're on a mix of turtle food and river shrimp, as they apparently need a bit higher fat content than some species. The DNR guy (who asked that we not quote his name as he chose NOT to report and/or fine us;) ) assured me that when they DO get little ones turned in, the softshells and map turtles apparently do VERY well when reintroduced.

Now, if my husband sees a MAP baby, i don't know what we'll do - they're the cutest little buggers!

[krazy4birds]

That is quite a fasinating story Ky....they are very awesome looking and I see under your name you are in Wales! I can relate to wanting to keep one and I know nothing about turtles except they always go back where they were born. I would be very very tempted also...let us know what you decide and thanks for sharing!

[Pepsidoodle]

That was cool of that DNR guy. I have read up on some of the Florida endangered species laws and punishments for breaking them. You are probably best off to keep them as well as them being better off. I am in agreement with most of the interference laws with wild animals but some of them are a little overboard. We are an animal/mamal also and if we interfere buy helping them survive, buy all means do it. California is crazy with these laws. I just saw on TV the Beach Patrol show. There was a baby seal attacked by a shark and he was beached and badly wounded. They would not help him. Could not because of the strict laws. It was heartwrenching to watch him crying in pain. It has bothered me so bad I am sick over it. That is wrong. When an animal is going to die and we can save him I don't see how it will harm the species. I don't believe that they will be tainted buy humans helping them. Are they going to rely on us from attempting to save their lives? No.