General Care Discussion :: releasing a rehabilitated turtle

[whereswares]

hi, my first time writing on here, i usually just get info. i do wildlife rescue (mainly fawns, raccoons, skunks) and i'm a vet. asst. ( cats and dogs, limited exotics) somebody brought us a turtle that was hbc about 8 months ago and we repaired the shell with fiberglass and epoxy. we nursed him through and because of this site, i bought him a 120 gal. tank, has a fluval fx5 and built him an atba. he has healed very well, will always have the fiberglass ( i think) on his shell and is a very happy western pond turtle. i was planning on releasing him in the spring when the weather gets better but i'm afraid he will be too tame by then. he's about 6" and doesn't get frightened when i come near him. actually, i'm ashamed to say, he's pretty tame already. my question is, will he revert back to his old ways? or should i release him in a friends pond that can feed him? or do i keep him in his tank for life? thanks for the help and the very informational site.

[Sassamo]

Your tank is definatly large enough for him too live his entire life in(saying that I'm not sure how big Westeren pond turts get) . Since he knows your feeding him I'm afraid that he would see all humans as a place too get free food and not all humans are nice to animals. If it was me and I do live in Canada(-22c outside right now) I would keep him in that tank for life(if he stays smaller then 12Inches). Is your friends pond set up for a turtle? Is there a fence too keep him in and preditors out? Does she know that if there are fish in there (big or small) they may become turtle snacks? ect

I would love too see pictures of him, I'm sure if they shell grows back where the firberglass is he should shed it off eventually leaving a nice new piece off shell.

[TheComputerGremlin]

Yeah, he's probably going to need to be a pet for the rest of his life. However, there are some good options if you don't want to keep him.

1) Give him to a friend or family member. Teach them how to care for him.
2) Give him to a local hospital/university/school/etc. and also teach them how to care for him. Turtles are really low maintenance and enjoyable to watch.
3) Find a local turtle rescue group and they will try to place him in a home for life.
4) The pond will work if it's set up for a turtle as Sassamo says.
5) Keep him as a pet, not necessarily at the vet's office but as your own pet.

[megcornell]

You could revert his diet to a natural one of aquatic plants and fish, but the damage in terms of taming might already be done.

I'm horrible with weather- with you are does it get cold enough for turtles to hibernate? If he goes this year without hibernating, I'm not sure he'd easily kick right back into it if he were re-released.

If you have no problems keeping him, it sounds like you've established a great tank, I'd just keep him. It really would be sad if after all that work the poor guy didn't make it. I used to work in wildlife rehab as well, and as you know, the stats for re-introducing wildlife are not great.

[whereswares]

thank you sassamo, jax and meg. if i can figure it out, i'll get some pics. on here of him and his home.
i do have him at home, i took him home after about 3 weeks because i couldn't stand how miserable he was sitting in a stainless steel cage. thats when he hated everybody.
my friend does have a pond but no fence around it, he could "run" away if he wanted to:)
thanks for the other thoughtful releasing options jax, much appreciated.
i'm not sure if they hibernate here, it can get down into the teens, but mostly the coldest is 30-40 degrees.
and yes meg, unfortunately, i know all too well the risk i would be taking in releasing him. it's definitely hard on the heart. most of them don't make it this far. actually, i didn't think that he would. thanks for your time and advice.

[whereswares]

oh, and yes, of course i can keep him:) i just want to do what is going to make him happy. what if all the other turtles make fun of his fiber glass?

[mikee]

I was curious how the fiberglass was going to work. They need to shed their scutes and grow. Turtles will revert back to their old ways if they can make it a week or so it put back in the wild. NOW!! If you think that your turtle will be more comfortable in the wild rather than being fed on a regular bases in a tank with warm clean water and cleaned up after you need to rethink that. In the wild he will be hunting for food 24 hours per day. I can only think in human terms and with that in mind the tank is better. Good Luck!! m.

[marisa]

You didn't say how big he was, but I'm assuming he's an adult. Given that he was from the wild, he could easily adapt to life in the wild again. If you choose to release him, you could help him by gradually acclimating him to the habitat he'll be in (and not giving him much attention until he is released). I'm going to be doing this with two hatchling snappers that are overwintering with me. First, though, you might want to have that fiberglass patch and turtle checked out by a vet to see if he's fit to go back into the wild.

If he were deemed to be able to live in the wild, possibly finding out the area he was taken from and returning him there would be the best.