Hi! Introduce yourselves here. :: Where did you get your turtle?

[Aqua&turquoise]

Just Curious about where you bout your turtle(s). I got mines from Pacific place mall in Toronto, Ontario from some little stand near an elevator selling live fish. The guy sold them for $10 each (cnd) no tax with a free plastic cage. He didn't tell me what species it was but after seeing som pictures, I am 99.99% positive that they are both RES. They are about an inch long and I suspect one is a female and the other is a male. my dad purchased them (without my mom's consent!!!) and we weren't prepared at all!!! Overall, I think mine are healthy and happy and am glad they didn't confiscate them at the airport security. (my mom bought a 250ml bottle of soy milk through security unintentionally, and they didn't even notice!!!

[Diamondbacks4Life]

Petstore
Reptile Show
Internet
Bought from a private breeder in person.

[slider_keeper]

Reptile store
Gas station (illegal)!

[Andibenn]

My turtle has kind of a cool story. He was found by my boyfriend's aunt wandering around her elementary school over the summer. There's no telling where he came from or how long he had been away from water so it is very lucky that she happened upon him. He was about the size of a 50 cent piece and she brought him home in a coffee mug. She knew that I had a lifelong dream of owning a turtle and she gave him to me. That was two summers ago and he is now close to five inches long and doing well, not bad for a lost little turt

[AquaticLuv]

Flea Market

[happycamper]

My friend worked at a local vet clinic and someone brought him in then failed to pick him up. They told me my 29 gallon tank was perfect for him. Now I have a 100 gallon aquarium in my living room...lol

[steve]

Street corner. I had no idea about the laws but I do not regret it.

[devilduck]

I went on a blind date with this girl. She owned the turtle. I married her, now I own a turtle and she owns half of everything I own.

[trancenstuff]

Devil duck that made me laugh allot!
Mine were a pair that a lady had raised from babies..had them on a strict pellet no UV diet, in a40 gallon tank with over 10 inches of turtle....when the scutes started retaining, and the shells pyramidded, she put them on craigs list, requesting someone to help them..all this time later they are health(ier) and think I'm daddy and they think they are my puppies.

[adbritta]

I got mine in Myrtle Beach, from one of the places that only has them "for educational purposes". About ten of the little guys were in one of those round fish bowls, and who knows how many were in the back. I wish I could've helped more of them but I just couldn't afford to care for more than just Flippy. It was one of those situations where you don't want to pay the $30 and support the trade, but you know if you don't they're probably just going to all die or be "set free" in the ocean. Where they'll die.

[Linus]

RES-CHINATOWN
Belize Slider-Breeder in Florida

[jwinters]

I got my RES from my parents (who picked her up at a mall) and my musk turtle from a local petshop.

[Kansasslider]

I went on a blind date with this girl. She owned the turtle. I married her, now I own a turtle and she owns half of everything I own.

[sweety10189110]

Adopted mine from a friend.

[ljapa]

Picture the scene: a Sunday in mid-July, coming back from visiting relatives. I'm driving. My wife in the passenger seat. My son in the back. An hour long drive home.

My son starts in with a familiar and frequent refrain. He doesn't expect any new result. He's just killing time.

"Mom, can I get a hamster?"

"No!"

Brief comment: he knows Mom is the one to convince, not me.

"A gerbil?"

"No!"

This runs through a menagerie of animals until...

"A turtle?"

There's a pause in the response. One beat. Two beats.

"Sure."

He's taken aback, as am I. He follows with a tentative, "Really?" My wife assures him that if he takes care of it, he can get a turtle.

The rest of the ride back he's so excited.

Once we get home, he's begging me to go to a pet store and get a turtle. I explain all the work we need to do and that I want to research what's needed before we purchase one.

My wife has the week off, but I have to work. When I get home Monday, he's begging to go get a turtle. I say I still want to research and say that we'll get one on the weekend.

Tuesday, when I get home, I find a big Tupperware storage container next to the sink with an inch of water, a not quite 1" RES and an 8" painted turtle in it. My son and his friend caught some turtles in a local pond. I tell them we're just keeping the small one. I call my neighbor who keeps fish and has spoken highly of a non-chain fish store. Call them and they close soon. We release the painted turtle where they caught her on our way to the fish store.

The LFS, turns out to give bad advice: you don't need a UVB and this 20 gallon kit with a waterfall filter is perfect!

Not too long after, I found this site. The 20 gallon, half-filled aquarium turned into a full aquarium with an atba and a big canister filter.

Now, the 20 gallon on my son's dresser just houses fish, and the 55 gallon with a refugium containing fish and red cherry shrimp is in the basement. There's no question my wife regrets saying yes to a turtle and that I now hope my son loses interest in Toby so he won't take the turtle with him when he leaves home.

The truly ironic thing is that when I researched my state laws after the fact, about the only way we could legally acquire a RES is by taking one from the wild.