Painted Turtle Found and I have a Red Eared Terrapin

[RydaPeelBack]

i found a painted turtle crossing the road and i would like to keep it. the problem is i have a 75 gallon tank w/ a red eared terrapin. i caught him in the wild when he was approximately a week old.( smaller than a quarter) he is about 8 or 9 yrs old and never had anything in the tank w/him that was not food. the painted is about 1/2 his size and i would like to put them together. i am planing on moving up to a125 gallon tank regardless but does anyone think that putting them together would be a good idea?(before or after i move up to the 125g) or should i just put this guy(painted) back in the lake that is close to our house. or is the best idea to just go buy a turtle of a different breed that is the same size like a Florida red belly or a cooter peninsula turtle? i know turtles do not have great immune systems and would died if my red eared died.

[kaitlin]

please please let the little guy back in the wild where he belongs.. there are plenty of turtles you can buy (or better yet--ADOPT!) that have already been domesticated.. ik where i live (ny) its illegal to keep wildlife as pets, and its illegal to keep a turtle any smaller than a baseball.. that is the law for a reason! they are wild animals and should remain that way!

[RydaPeelBack]

it is not illegal to keep wildlife in my state. it is illegal to sell native species thought. as far a adoption i don't know a good way to go about that. i was looking for more of an answer to the questions, not the opinion of a person. but thank you very much for your response.

[Kkye]

"wildlife belongs in the wild" is not an opinion, it's a fact. You asked if you should put the painted turtle back in his lake, and you should.

Coming from the wild like that, he could make your other turtle sick. What does he eat in his natural habitat? If you absolutely insist on keeping him, try to mimic the life you took him from as much as you can.

I know nothing about turtles, other than they can make people quite sick. I do know about wildlife though, and he should really allowed to go back to his home, not put in an unfamiliar place with a different, larger species of turtle who may have something you are not aware of and make painty sick.

Please excuse my bluntness, but what's wrong with turtles that were bred to be pets? Why take wild ones? A week old baby turtle, wow. What is wild should stay wild.

[kaitlin]

i actually did answer your questions.. lol

[That_girl]

"wildlife belongs in the wild" is not an opinion, it's a fact.

No, it's not a fact. It's an opinion. I have 3 wild geckos in my house. Every animal was wild at some point. Are you going to start telling people they can't have chinchillas and ferrets now too?

To actually answer your question, and not debate the ethics of keeping a wild animal, yes, those turtles will be fine together. Of course they will always enjoy more space, but will be fine in the smaller tank. :)

Depending on your state, you could be talking about non-native invasive turtles anyway. So taking them out of the wild where they are competing for resources from native species is actually a good thing.

[RydaPeelBack]

Well thank you That_girl you seem to be the only one who has real information not opinions. i do know quite a lot about reptiles and amphibians and was looking for a response for someone who might know a little more that i do. i don't know a lot about reptile sickness; habitat, food, breeding and mimicking seasonal changes those r the things i know a lot about. i am not a person who does not do research on the animals he keeps. and a person who says "I know nothing about turtles" should maybe go answer a question about an animal they know something about. i did not take this animal from its home i found crossing the road and more than a 1/4 mile from the closest pond/lake. there is a sewage creek closer to my house and it has been raining for days my guess is that overflow put her into a polluted creek and she was trying to find a place she could survive. if i would have not stopped my car and picked her up she would without a doubt be a turtle pancake not wildlife but dead! so please ppl do your research before u give an opinion as "fact". to That_girl thank you for being helpful and not a tree huger. and just for the record i will more than likely release the painted b/c from my close observation of her from the past few days she seems to be a little sick, and the best chance she has to survive is on her own. once again thank you That_girl for giving facts doing your research and taking good care of your reptiles.

[kaitlin]

LOL good greif.. taking a WILD animal out of the WILD in my opinion is wrong.. there are many reasons why i think that.. one.. your turtle you already have could easily catch whatever illness this turtle has broughten into your tank.. two.. there are many many many homeless animals of all types waiting for their forever homes.. it seems the turtle is doing fine in the wild..i do not want to start a conflict over something so silly... i was giving advice.think of the little turtle.. he used to be able to roam where ever he;d like.. now hes got to share a 75 gallon tank with some other turtle. IN MY OPINION that is not fair.

[Kkye]

I replied to this yesterday, but it apparently didn't post.

That_Girl, I was referring to captive-breeding programs, which I'm sure you're aware of.

No, I'm not going to start telling people not to own chinchillas and ferrets. Lol, whoever catches a wild weasel for a pet must be crazy. Ferrets and chinchillas are bred for the pet market.

RydaPeelBack, you obviously only want to hear that it's okay, you're doing the right thing, keep it. Unfortunately, the "opinions" you don't want are there whether you like it or not.

As a website, we are all trying to be more civil when dealing with things we don't agree with. Your comment "and a person who says 'I know nothing about turtles' should maybe go answer a question about an animal they know something about." offended me. I did state that "but I do know about wildlife" but you can discredit that too if you want, I only worked at a wildlife rehab centre for years and am starting school for Environmental Studies and Fish and Wildlife Conservation.

And if you know so much, then why are you coming on here asking questions, and then being rude when you don't get what you want? Call me a tree-hugger all you want, it's true!

We as humans always feel the need to "intervene" with wildlife. We used to get so many calls about abandoned seal pups, and half the time we had to take them anyways even if their mom hadn't abandoned them, because too many people are around trying to "help it", momma won't come back to shore, and baby is starving to death.

Opinions apparently don't matter here, but mine is to leave it alone. Or, better yet, bring it to a rehab centre.

[RydaPeelBack]

Do u know That_Girl???? BC i didn't see anything in her message that said anything about captive-breeding programs...did u? so unless u know this helpful lady u cant speak for her. as well if u would have read my previous post after several days of observation and feeding i did let i go. in a rather large observation lake ran by my states parks service, the purpose for this lake is for the several near by middle and high school science and biology classes to watch wildlife in there natural habitat. that i did research on too. i also did a little more research on a website that someone from this forum sent me that was very helpful. it informed me that especially female painted turtles which this was, bc they grow much large than males, should be kept in a 125gal tank and an even larger one if there are multiple turtles. as far as knowing so much your right i do,but i do not know everything. i don't know a lot about communicable illnesses amongst turtles. i was looking for someone who might though that is why i came to this page asking questions. but i do have a question for u personally. wouldn't a rehab center just nurse the turtle and release it, which i did, or nurse it and let someone adopt it...for a fee of course? as far as being "rude when you don't get what you want" i was not "rude" bc i did not get the answer i i wanted. i was "rude" bc u presented your answer as fact when it was obviously opinion. which u now concede too. i wish u well in your endeavors with your school and hope you teach yourself about reptiles and amphibians bc in my opinion they are the best pets and wildlife.

[Kkye]

and just for the record i will more than likely release the painted b/c from my close observation of her from the past few days she seems to be a little sick, and the best chance she has to survive is on her own.

I did see this, but I kept my opinion to myself that you shouldn't be letting sick turtles go in places they can get other turtles sick!

Do u know That_Girl???? BC i didn't see anything in her message that said anything about captive-breeding programs...did u? so unless u know this helpful lady u cant speak for her. as well if u would have read my previous post after several days of observation and feeding i did let i go. in a rather large observation lake ran by my states parks service, the purpose for this lake is for the several near by middle and high school science and biology classes to watch wildlife in there natural habitat. that i did research on too. i also did a little more research on a website that someone from this forum sent me that was very helpful. it informed me that especially female painted turtles which this was, bc they grow much large than males, should be kept in a 125gal tank and an even larger one if there are multiple turtles. as far as knowing so much your right i do,but i do not know everything. i don't know a lot about communicable illnesses amongst turtles. i was looking for someone who might though that is why i came to this page asking questions. but i do have a question for u personally. wouldn't a rehab center just nurse the turtle and release it, which i did, or nurse it and let someone adopt it...for a fee of course? as far as being "rude when you don't get what you want" i was not "rude" bc i did not get the answer i i wanted. i was "rude" bc u presented your answer as fact when it was obviously opinion. which u now concede too. i wish u well in your endeavors with your school and hope you teach yourself about reptiles and amphibians bc in my opinion they are the best pets and wildlife.

You didn't need to post this in my comments. I haven't been on for a few days and I hadn't seen it yet on the board.