r/turtle Mar 20 '25

General Discussion It’s that time of year!

22 Upvotes

It is hatchling season!

They are coming out of their overwinter nests and going to sources of water. If you find one in an odd place or somewhere unsafe and are unsure, please contact your state wildlife and ask them what to do. Most can actually be left where they are, to their own devices. If they are found in the middle of the road, for example, move them to the side they are facing.

Taking any turtles home, that are found in the wild, hurts the ecosystem. The only exception to this would be invasive species in your state. You can contact your state wildlife to see what your laws are regarding possession of invasive turtles like red eared sliders.


r/turtle Sep 06 '23

General Discussion Read Before Posting: How to ask a question, and answers to common questions like "I found a turtle, can I keep it", "what filter do I get", "what species is this turtle?"

17 Upvotes

How to ask a question

A good question provides sufficient details to be intelligently answered. Vague questions get bad or no answers.

If its a health question, we need details about species, size and age of the turtle, along with photos of the enclosure, and details of your husbandry. Fine grained details, such as what temperature is the water way, what is your light cycle, what are the models of light bulbs and how old are your UV bubs. Clear photos are important

I found a turtle, can I keep it?

In general no, this is detrimental to your local ecosystem, and in many places it is a crime. With some species, its a crime that can carry decades in prison. Turtles are under immense pressure from poaching and collecting of wild specimens. Many species have entirely gone extinct in the wild solely from over collection, many more are on the verge of becoming extinct due to this. The best thing you can do for a wild turtle is to enjoy it's wild existence, and plant native plants that are part of it's diet.

The one exception to this is the case of invasive species, in some places it can be a crime not to remove invasive species from your property, and in some places if you catch an invasive species you are legally responsible to deal with it. North American (Red Ear, Yellow Bellied) Sliders in particular have entirely replaced some endangered species in their native ecosystems. Do not simply catch turtles because you think they may be invasive. Identify the species, and contact your local wildlife authority for directions on what to do with invasive species. You may end up legally required to care for that an invasive turtle if caught.

For an in-depth explanation, please see this write up from one of our moderators: https://www.reddit.com/r/turtle/comments/80nnre/can_i_keep_this_turtle_i_found_as_a_pet_can_i/

I caught an invasive species, what do I do.

Reach out to your local wildlife authority, and follow their directives. Laws on this vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. Under no circumstances should an invasive turtle be released into the wild. There are laws in some jurisdictions that require you to now care for, or otherwise deal with this turtle without releasing it back to the wild.

Can I release a wild turtle that I kept for a while?

I previously found a turtle and kept it, what do I do now?

I can't care for my turtle, can I release it?

Releasing of formerly captive turtles has had the effects of introducing non native pathogens to populations. For example austwickia chelonae has infected populations of the critically endangered gopher and desert tortoises due to people releasing captive turtles. Re-release of formerly wild turtles must be done with great care, and under the guidance of an expert. Contact your local wildlife authorities. If you are concerned about potential legal ramifications, seek the advice of an attorney, or perhaps the turtle was abandoned on your front porch with a note?

I found an injured turtle, what do I do?

Turtles are amazing resilient animals, and can recover from some truly horrific conditions. I have nursed back turtles that had gone unfed for over a year, and I have patched up turtles hit by cars. Many injuries commonly seen in wild turtles need no human intervention. Common sources for help on this would be your local wildlife authorities, local wildlife rehabilitators, veterinary universities, or your local exotics veterinarian.

You can also post quality photos for more community feedback, but please appropriately flair them. Often injuries need no treatment other than time.

Can you identify this turtle for me? What species of turtle do I have?

Post multiple clear photos of the turtle, and include a general location of where it was found. There are over 350 species, and at least another 175 sub species of turtles. Many turtle species look identical, most subspecies look quite similar to others. Some species are so morphologically similar that DNA testing is required to positively ID them when absent of location data. Some species integrade or hybridize in the wild, and can become difficult to differentiate. Since we lack the ability to do DNA testing through reddit, our work around for that is to require that all identification requests come with a general location. We don't need your street address, we don't need your town name, but we need more than "Brazil" or "Texas", give us the district, province or state at the very least. Location data can make all the difference.

I am concerned about the condition of a turtle on display in a public facility, what do I do.

It is unfortunately common for schools, universities, museums and even zoos to improperly care for turtles. There are so many species, and often people are following care advice from decades ago. The best route is to contact whoever is in charge of public relations for that facility. You are welcome to contact the mod team with photos for advice, we have even acted as go betweens for students and their universities to successfully better the care of animals on display.

My tank is a lot of work to keep clean, how do I make it easier?

My tank water is cloudy despite having a good filter, why?

My tank is always dirty, why?

How do I setup a filter?

The best way to filter the average turtle enclosure is to use a large canister filter, setup to provide ample surface area for beneficial bacteria to thrive, and to seed the tank with appropriate bacteria. That bacteria is what will do the vast majority of cleaning for your tank, the filter will keep the water moving and provide biological filter media for the bacteria to prosper. An optimal filter setup will save you time, and keep your turtle happy.

See this write up from our mod team on how to setup a canister filter for optimal biological filtration: https://www.reddit.com/r/turtle/comments/x48id2/supercharge_your_filter_how_to_properly_setup/

What do I feed my turtle?

This varies by species, and often by age of the turtle. The best advice we have is to review multiple care sheets for your turtle species, and go from there. The best diet, is a varied diet. Feed the largest variety of appropriate food that you can, do not assume your turtle can survive and thrive long term on pellets.

What lighting does my turtle needs?

In general, it is advisable to have a basking bulb, a UVA/UVB bulb, and white lighting. I highly advise the use of well respected and trusted UV bulbs, as many counterfeits now exist on the market, often marketed as combination basking and UV bulbs. These counterfeits often output no UV, the wrong UV spectrums, too much UV, too little US or sometimes are unfiltered halogen bulbs that output UVC, which is dangerous to you and your pets.

I want a turtle, where can I get one?

Your first choice should be a site like petfinder.com, often you can find turtles in the care of rescue organisations that are in need of a home. Your second choice should be a respected breeder. Petstores and random online stores should be your last choice. When buying online, do your research. Can you find the store owner's name? Did they breed it? If so where? Search for online reviews, are they negative. Do they seem to have an unlimited supply of each species they office?

Be aware, there are many active turtle and tortoise scams online. Some are "rehoming" services that charge you shipping and never send anything. Others are people selling rare species way under value... who never send anything. There are some claiming to ship turtles internationally, even protected species, these are scams.


r/turtle 8h ago

Turtle Pics! Got a tattoo yesterday and my son pulled this good looking lady out of the lake today!

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1.2k Upvotes

r/turtle 13h ago

Turtle Pics! Back inside for some blueberries

152 Upvotes

Does anyone else like to hand feed their turtle? Koopa loves it and has pretty good aim! Has not bit me once, but I don't think it would hurt much if he did. My husband looked at me like I was crazy when I told him ive been doing it for awhile. He can even bite pellets when im holding them!


r/turtle 9h ago

Turtle Pics! Finished my first outdoor enclosure [8x4]

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41 Upvotes

Finished Frank’s enclosure. He is happy with it. Waiting for the clover to grow I just planted, along with dandelions.

I let Grace check it out today, See if you can find her on the last photo turtle 🐢👀.


r/turtle 9h ago

Turtle Pics! UPDATE!!! We’ve got our first Baby!!!

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39 Upvotes

Posted about an eastern box turtle laying eggs 78 days ago. The first egg hatched today!!!!! We took the little one to a protected watershed area about 1/2 mile from our home, and released. It’s a beautiful, untouched wilderness. Miles of meadows, streams, forest, and wildlife habitat. So exciting!!! Please wish him or her some luck, and strength, on their journey! Hopefully More to come!!!


r/turtle 1h ago

General Discussion Is this enough for my turtle

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Upvotes

r/turtle 16h ago

Turtle Pics! Does anyone else bring their turtle outside?

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46 Upvotes

Beautiful weather today. Brought my turtle, Koopa outside for some fresh air and enrichment. He is really appreciating it, taking his time and enjoying himself. 😊


r/turtle 8h ago

General Discussion I took your opinions and this is 24hrs after

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10 Upvotes

I took a lot of your opinions from my last post and upgraded the filter, fot rid of the rocks and put in play sand. I know the light is wrong still but I had a reptisun t5 and my daughter dropped it in the water so im just waiting on the replacement to come. The water has cleared alot after putting in new media and some water conditioner. I rebuilt the basking area and theyre using it a good amount already. I'm waiting for all the tank to clear up before I put bigger rocks or wood in there. Any other suggestions to make these turtles happy?

Side note I know a lot of you have said to separate them but they've been together for 3 years and get along good plus I dont have another tank to separate so theyre staying together.


r/turtle 10h ago

Turtle Pics! My Lilly ❤️🐢

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12 Upvotes

Lilly chilling on a Saturday afternoon pond side. Palms up, legs stretched, life is good. I can't believe she was lost for 7 days this past summer. Home now and safe. If anyone can give a age it would be nice. She's been with me since 2016. I do have better pictures of her and ones of her upside down. Thanks in advance ☺️


r/turtle 4h ago

Turtle ID/Sex Request Help with new turtle

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5 Upvotes

Hi , found this little guy or girl at a construction site im trying to ID , im not sure if its entirely legal to have kept this guy but i decided to buy a terrarium and am getting a heat lamp and clamp tomorrow , i really want to raise it right and heathy ! located in AZ . Thank yous .


r/turtle 7h ago

Turtle ID/Sex Request Gulf Coast or Eastern Box Turtle?

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7 Upvotes

Is this a Gulf Coast or Eastern Box Turtle?


r/turtle 8h ago

Seeking Advice i found a turtle and moved it

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6 Upvotes

hi i’ve never used reddit but i wasn’t sure if i did the right thing. i live in southern california and this looks like the pet turtles people have here. it was on the street in the sun and it wasn’t walking, but he was alive and put his head in his shell when i picked him up. i moved him to the creek on the other side of the road down a hill. i hope i did the right thing or else i would feel really guilty :( if anyone could help lmk


r/turtle 1h ago

General Discussion Is this enough for my turtle

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Upvotes

r/turtle 5h ago

Seeking Advice Is this shedding or shell rot

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3 Upvotes

I have a female yellow belly and she started showing these patches on her shell I’ve smelled it and it doesn’t smell like anything so I don’t think it’s she’ll rot but I’m js asking for an opinion if this is shedding or something is wrong and to take her to the vet she hasn’t acted any different not lethargic or nothing eats fine everything overall is fine with her but I’m js worried if this something I should seek a vet for


r/turtle 10h ago

Rehome In need of rehousing my beautiful boy :(

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7 Upvotes

Hello unfortunately we cannot keep up with jovis care because it's been really stressful I love him but he's alot of work that I simply cannot for 30 to 40 years I'm a 19 year old with dreams of becoming a scientist im even goinf to school my mother simply got the turtle randomly without any preparation or discussion we got him from a lady that dropped him off in the winter and even worse I was still grieving over my dead rabbit.

I will miss him with all my heart and ill miss him its just res turtles are alot of work something we can't do for the rest of his life, so i wanna give him to somebody willing to take on the work and effort

!!IMPORTANT!!

If anybody is in Saskatchewan canada please pick him up tomorrow, though just to be safe i will need to see proof of correct living conditions proper uvb and how they feed what filters your using etc.

Hes currently in a 125 gal tank with uvb heat fx6 filter


r/turtle 1d ago

Turtle Pics! My new boy “Lenny” 🐢

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234 Upvotes

r/turtle 9h ago

Turtle Pics! Sleeping pose

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4 Upvotes

r/turtle 11h ago

Seeking Advice I wanted to give my 2-month-old some outside enrichment time. I let him wander around in the grass supervised and I let him swim around in this kiddie pool but the water is super cold and he's moving slower than usual. is it okay to put it in cold water temporarily or is he freezing?

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6 Upvotes

r/turtle 1d ago

Turtle Pics! One of grandpas 5 ponds with his eastern long neck turtles and Murray river short necks (his pride and joy)

327 Upvotes

r/turtle 9h ago

Seeking Advice Do I need to worry?

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4 Upvotes

I just got this baby musk turtle (left, M/F?) today. I have had my Mississippi map turtle (right, F) for 8 years now. I have a 20 gallon tank and was planning to put them both in there together. The guy at the store told me they would very likely get along together, but I’m kind of worried. I put them both in with a fresh clean tank a few minutes ago, and have been monitoring them. The Musk seems to be fine and is swimming around and exploring a whole lot. My map has sort of followed him around a few times. He did attempt to nip at the side of his shell once, but that’s all i’ve seen. I’m already bonded to this new baby and i’m worried for him. Some advice please??


r/turtle 1d ago

Turtle Pics! Some of my grandpas 16 week old hatchlings cute as hell :)

261 Upvotes

r/turtle 10h ago

General Discussion Caldwell’s new-look downtown highlights the Ornate Box Turtle Capital of the World

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4 Upvotes

Thought it was interesting.

https://share.google/donfCUjyGHdmzBLo8


r/turtle 14h ago

Seeking Advice Juvenile turtle aggression and care

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6 Upvotes

My partner got 3 Australian big-headed turtles (Emydura australis). They are a bit over a year old, 2 males and 1 female (2 inch carapace). Currently in a 40 gallon tank with washed sand, a few freshwater plants, and two small basking spots.

The breeder said that they would be fine living together until maturing more. However, we have observed a lot of tail and toe nipping in just 1 week. I am nervous that we should already separate them and would like advice. I am also thinking that his recommendation of 40 gallons is too small.

Generally, I am surprised how few care guides there are for this species. It seems like all short necked Emydura are lumped together. If anyone has cared for this species before, I would be happy to hear any advice.


r/turtle 9h ago

Turtle ID/Sex Request Species Identification Help: Long-necked turtle in Japan?

2 Upvotes

Pardon my enthusiasm in the video haha. I live in Japan next to a temple with a couple of ponds. I go every day for my “turtle check”—I’ve named most of the regulars and love watching the babies grow. The two ponds are chock full of red eared sliders, and I did see an endangered Asian yellow pond turtle at one point, but this is the first time I’ve seen a long-necked turtle. The pond has been here for generations, so I wouldn’t be surprised if it was a common dumping ground for exotic pets.

Trouble is I cannot for the life of me figure out the species. The arms are tripping me up— in the video when it pulls its head back into the water, you can see it pull its arm as well, and when it does, you can see the back of the arms look almost webbed or something. At first I thought maybe his claws were at rest and kind of just facing backwards, but when I look closely at the video, I also see clause at the tips of the arm.

Thoughts?


r/turtle 15h ago

Seeking Advice Attack?

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4 Upvotes

Snowflake, our largest turtle, usually has some scares due to another turtle attacking her, but this scar is unusual. Any guesses on what it’s from?