redearslider.com

Hi! I just acquirred a red ear slider! Well, it found me! It appeared at our door scarring my mother because it clawed at the door and banged against it-my mom thought it was a robber! Well to her surprise it was a turtle! It is about 11 inches in diameter. I hope I can find help taking care of it here!

Welcome to the site!

Please don't take this the wrong way, but it'd be better to let her go somewhere around your house. If she's that big, and wandering around, she's most likely looking for a nesting spot. The best thing to do is leave her be.

Well, we think she may have a nest in the area she likes to stay in. It is on the porch in a garden area and there are plants for her to hide in. There is a new mound of dirt in there-maybe it is a nest? We will put a pond in the ground for her tomorrow and if she wants to stay, okay and if she leaves, okay. Or do you mean let her go free in our neighborhood? I am afraid she might get ran over, but there is a ditch behind our house.

Where are you from?? Is it normal for RES to be in your area?? What I'm wondering is if it could possibly be someone's escaped pet.

I am in Texas. It probably is an escaped pet, but I don't know who it belongs to. I thought it belonged to a lady who lives next to my friend because her turtle did escape, but when we brought it over she seemed like she really didn't want it and said it wasn't hers. She has two other, smaller RES and did not even know what kind of turtles they were. But as soon as I put it in water and saw its redish orangish cheeks, I knew. I feel sorry for it and want it to be happy.

Where in Texas are you from?

Read the info on the forums to find out what the turtle needs (you already know the turtle needs a bigger pond than you originally wanted to provide).

BTW, can you determine if the turtle is a male or female (I try not to call them "it")? The male will have really long front claws and a tail with a broad thick base and the anal vent closer to the tip of the tail than the shell.

How big is the turtle (shell length from the scute in back of the neck down to the scute above the tail not including the curve of the shell).

I wouldn't adopt the attitude "if the turtle stays, OK if not OK." If s/he wanders off (which most likely will happen without a fence around the pond), s/he could get hit trying to cross a road (I've buried two and brought one to be euthanized this summer that met this fate).

Can you adequately care for this turtle and do you really want to?

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