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Hello, Ladies & Gentlemen:

I am new to this forum, as my wife rescued a RES from a busy highway two days ago. We know nothing about turtles. I did not measure it with a tape, but my guess is that the shell is about 8-10" long. Not knowing what else to do, we put the turtle in our fish pond; it seems to be doing fine, hanging around a floating island.

The pond is 2000 gallons, designed to be a koi pond but is stocked with a half-dozen bluegill. It is fed by a stream/waterfalls and the water is circulated through a bead filter 24/7. The pond is about 3.5 feet deep and 5 years old. It has a covered bottom drain, fish-safe skimmer, and side jets. There is some moneywort trailing from the pond edges into the water. We do not have string algae. My immediate question is: what should we do next? We feed the fish koi pellets daily but I can't tell whether the turtle is eating any of those, and it doesn't seem to be eating the moneywort.

A long-term question is whether the turtle will be able to winter over. We live in the upper Sierra Nevada foothills. Some winters we get a few inches of snow; others, a few feet. The pond does ice over, say 6" of ice or so in really cold weather or snowstorms, and I use a stock tank de-icer to melt a hole so gasses can escape. The bluegill winter over just fine--they go into dormancy, but begin to get active every March, and we've not had a winter kill. The low air temperatures in winter are typically in the mid-twenties, but can dip into the single digits. This is a liner pond by the way. Any suggestions on what to do for the winter? Leave the turtle in the pond? Try to find another home? We have become fond of the critter and our bias is to keep it if we can do so without endangering it.

Thanks in advance, everyone.

Joel

As to wintering, if it is wild caught and your bluegill survive in the pond, I'm certain your RES can.

I'm in the Chicago area. This winter we had multiple nights in a row of double digit sub zero with days sometimes not getting above zero. The ponds around here aren't more than 4' or 5' at the deepest, and had feet of snow on them for months.

There were RES basking in the spring. Do make sure there is an area to bask.

I can't speak to feeding in an outdoor situation, and it may take some time for your turtle to figure out pellets are food. At that size, in the wild, it will be primarily a plant eater. So, you may want to look for a pellet that has a high vegetable content. I'm sure others with outdoor experience will chime in.

It's possible you found a turtle wanting to nest. Any other pond or freshwater sources nearby?

Hello,

Thanks for the replies, everyone. (1) There are a couple of flat rocks in the pond at shallow angles where I am pretty sure the turtle could catch some rays, if it wanted. (2) I wondered whether it was on the move for mating or some other purpose. The nearest body of water is a large reservoir which is maybe a half-mile or mile from the highway, and the turtle was headed in a direction opposite the lake, where there aren't any natural watercourses. The terrain in the vicinity is hilly and forested with oaks, pines & manzanita. There was a house nearby but no pond or watercourse and nobody home (and, I should add, there was a sizable pot "garden" so my wife was not keen on sticking around). Thanks again, folks.

I wonder if the turtle got lost. For the basking area, can she completely dry herself?

Yes, I believe the basking area is sufficient, though I am clearly new at this. The rocks I referred to are smooth oblong-shaped granite. About 16" x 10" in surface (above the waterline) area. Let me know if you think I should add something else; I have plenty of similar rocks, and wood, to choose from. Thanks!

Just as a follow up, the turtle is using one of the rocks for basking. So, unless it decides to move on for greener pastures, so far, so good. Thanks again, everyone.

Can you post a picture of the basking area? A common mistake is not allowing the bottom shell (plastron) to dry off as well.

Yes, I will post a photo before I go to work tomorrow -- thanks.

Joel