General Care Discussion :: found a turtle! what should i do?

[biskittins]

i found a turtle by the road today, and took it in just in case someone ran it over. i'm not sure what kind of turtle it is or what i'm supposed to do with it. i filled a small bucket with water, put in some lettuce and rocks, and hopefully it'll survive until i can take him to some shelter.

here's a photo: http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/20/pict1012t.jpg/

i'm pretty sure it's a slider just going by photos online. can someone tell me what i should do with it? i'm not really looking to own a turtle, but it seems a little cruel just to leave him back outdoors. i live in south cali; are there any reptile rescues that anyone knows of? i called a few that i found on google but they all had voicemail on. thank you so much! :

[rsour24]

you shuld probably ptu it back in the wild where it came from

[Diamondbacks4Life]

Seeing as your in south cali and res arnt native there. The correct thing is to actually take it to a shelter like your doing rather then releasing it back into the wild since it really isnt susposed to be there in the first place.

[Love of Animals]

Look for rehabbers in your area. Since it is not native some places may put it down. Ask questions first. I'd hate to see a perfectly healthy turtle put to sleep. A rehabber may try to rehome it.