General Care Discussion :: Hatchling Found - new pics!

[AllisonChains]

I get home this afternoon and the neighbor kids come running up telling me about this hatchling that was almost mowed over a few houses down.

The little kids are friends with my daughter so I told them to PLEASE have their mom come talk to me tonight... and she did.

I think it goes without saying that she had the look of a deer in the headlights when I was explaining short and long term care to her. I also told her about this site.

I posted pics below, he is just a tiny little thing. SO CUTE! I can't figure out where he might have come from, but we have had rain the last 6 days non-stop (literally) and the closest thing we have is a long ditch under a bridge which is about half a mile from where we live. We have seen at least one turtle there. I just wonder if there are more and where they are?

So, turtle gurus.... what do I do? I didn't know if we should take him back to that ditch or not since we don't know where he came from and because he is SO tiny. We also have a park here with about 18 sliders in the ponds, could we take him there or is he too tiny to survive with all of them?

She said she is going to think about it and let me know tomorrow if they want to keep it or not. I am thinking they probably will, but if not I told her I would take him as we have the old 10 gallon and the whole set-up from first getting Izzy and I told her that she could have all of that since we can't use it anymore if they do decide to keep him.

Now, I can't keep him long term, much as I would LOVE to because he IS SO CUTE! I just can't financially, especially after the new adoption of Bella and I won't take on something I can't properly take care of.

Hell, I was just happy that I could explain everything (mostly) to her because, of course, they were going to keep him in a (small) rubbermaid dish with a little water. She came over and saw Izzy and also had no idea that he would get that big and I told her that he would get a lot bigger than Izzy even!

Anyway - here are pics of the little one.

[PcBuilder14]

Cute turtle!

[Rexamus]

I suggest you take him back to the ditch. I know it sounds horrible and I would have a hard time doing this myself but since you already have a turtle you know the financial burden another would be. All you can do is hope for the best! He'd be better off in the wild and probably wouldn't get along with your turtle anyways. After seeing the pictures of the tiny hatchling it would be a very hard decision but there really is no other choice. Do you know of any lakes nearby that you could set him free in?

[LeslieMW]

ah i'm so glad it didn't get mowed down..it's so cute!!

are the people who found it financially able to take care of it? cause i think that would be the best for the turtle.

i don't see how it could survive in a tiny ditch.

let us know what the family decides!

[AllisonChains]

We don't have any lakes close, but we do have a park here with a huge pond that has about 18 RES in it. I posted pics in the gallery of our last visit there. It is beautiful.

Update: My daughter came home a bit ago from their house telling me that the step-dad was making noise that he had a slider for 2 years and NEVER had him in any water and that I didn't know what I was talking about. I guess it caused a little tiff between hubby and wife as she proceeded to tell him that I had mine in water and just where was his? That's right - he died.

I guess I started WWIII.

[PcBuilder14]

Yeah just because it lived for 2 years doesn't mean it was happy or healthy.

[Rexamus]

Before your neighbors end up in divorce court over this I would strongly suggest you set it free in the lake you said that was nearby. That is the most humane thing to do for this little guy. Then your neighbors life will return to normal and you wouldn't have the burden of an extra turtle to financially support. I know it sounds harsh but you have to think about what is best for the turtle. What turtle wouldn't want a huge lake to swim in with lots of turtle friends around?

[Daniel3507]

haha. if this leads to a divorce, i dont think it was gonna last anyway.

[SpotsMama]

I'm in agreement that the best place to the sweet little turtle is the lake. I'd worry about polution in the ditch, besides which it probably dries up from time to time. I surely hope you're able to swing it because the neighbors house doesn't sound promising....at all.

[untsmurf]

If you do decide to release it, make sure and release it somewhere where RES are already at. That way you don't infest any new waters with unwanted turtles.

[AllisonChains]

The ditch does dry up, or at least has a lot less water than it does now. I didn't think about that. duh.

I absolutely would let him go as I know that is what would be best for him. I did strongly suggest to the wife that it would be best to let him go (hoping that was the right thing to say at the time), but I can't make that decision for them.

I almost wish that I would have offered to keep him here and then I could have let him go at the park, but they took him home overnight to think about it.

[RESnTX]

My sister and I found a baby slider in her backyard one day while our turtles were out playing. She has a ditch type water way near her house. Knowing how much it would be to take another turtle in, we didn't have a problem at all taking him back to where he belonged. Funny thing is, I just remembered that. lol

[JimmyJam]

OMG I wish I could take him! I really wish I could take a baby RES to watch it grow up, but sadly I can barely afford to save Crush but it's happening piece by piece. I'm a dope for saving animals sometimes

[ScrewZoo]

a snake will eat it in a ditch.

[PcBuilder14]

Okay.....nice of you to bring that up.......but hes got a point.