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I have a 4 year old Red Eared Slider and sadly, hes been missing in my backyard for about 4 days now, I occasionally put him outside to walk around, get fresh air, and bask in the sun etc, and he hasn't had any issues with getting lost in the past. Although, this time I let him out, he completely vanished without any form of trace, me and my dad have looked everywhere a turtle could possibly be, every crack, under leaves, behind plants, we even checked our garden for any holes that he could've gone into, nothing. It's impossible for him to have been snatched up by any predator since there aren't any hawks where I live, and you just cant miss a hawk flying down into your own yard, I know he couldn't have been taken by a raccoon, my fence is too high to get over, yet alone get out. Hell, we even dug up some dirt under my stairs to see if he had somehow buried himself. I miss my turtle dearly and I just want him to come out of hiding, although i'm staying hopeful, and hoping hes alive and well, It would destroy me if he were to pass, I beg anyone to give advice on where my little guy could be.

Here's our page on it: http://redearslider.com/lost_turtle.html

Just a suggestion.... set up a camera to record the area 24/7 to see where he might be hiding. He could have also buried himself and be wandering around early in the morning, when it's quiet. Good luck!

If he's buried, he isn't in danger of suffocation is he?, can he get his way back out?

He's probably not deep, so suffocation is not likely. He should be able to get out, though sometimes they put themselves in very tight positions.

I've just come to the realization of the impossibility of him hiding via digging, since it was about 15 minutes until we extensively searched our yard, he would've been still visible, since our garden isn't large, or even covered much by leaves or clutter. Even with all of these variables making it unlikely that he would be hidden in our garden, we searched for him in the dirt like a soldier would search for landmines, and he was nowhere to be found, I really don't understand how he could disappear without any form of trace.

Basically the plan is to keep looking, even places where you already searched. They blend well into their environments and are easy to miss.

Hooray!, I found him about a half an hour ago in my garden, in a small pit of dirt, he doesnt seem to be injured in any way, but he was really scared when we found him, I put him in his tank, after I washed the dirt off of him and he seems to be happier than ever and back to normal. Thank you so much for the advice!!!

Although he looks well, im not sure if there might be any issues that I can't see, since it was a bit chilly outside and I didnt see him going out of his position to sunbathe, is there anything that I can do to ensure a full recovery?

Hey, great to hear. Just go back to normal, don't feed "extra" and keep an eye on anything unusual.

I haven't given him extra food, but I have tried to make up for the nutritional value by feeding him a few live earth worms I got from my garden. The only thing I notice is that hes frantically swimming a lot more than he used to.

Does he still have his appetite?

You better believe it, he still eats like there's no tomorrow...

Yup, thats what RES do