Hi - I am about to release my two RES turtles into the wild and have a few questions about whether its the right thing to do...heres a little overview.
My friend got baby RES (4 of them) in California on vaca and brought them back to NJ - for the first year or so they were well cared for, fed, and had a wonderful enviornment. But as many come to realize, turtles are not easy to care for and require a lot of maintainace. Flash forward 5 years later. Only 2 turtles are left (estimated to be 4-5 yrs old) I think one male (Mikea) and one female (Mr. T). They were in a small tank, in a dark room, with only 2 inches of water - the tops of their shells were all dryed out and cracking, their water hadn't been changed in over a year (it was basically muck mud water), they were living in their own feces with nothing to bask on, or crawl out of the water onto, and hadn't been fed in over 3 weeks. So even though im not a turtle enthusiast (no offense to those of you who are, im more of a cat person myself) - I rescued the turtles and have been caring for them for just under a year. Now they basically have it made in turtle paradise. I revamped their 30 gallon tank, got them a water filter, UV basking light, multiple basking rocks, and a bunch of toys, plants, decorations. In the year that I have had them they have more than tripled their size - both of them! and are very heathly - And needless to say in this past year I have become rather attached to them.
Anyway - here is my plight. It breaks my hear but I can't really take care of them any longer. They are out growing their tank, cost way more money to maintain (3 different kinds of food, real plants, filters, etc) than I can afford, and with my advancing career I dont really have the time to dedicate to cleaning and maintaining their tank. My sister is a high school teacher and her school has an outdoor "peace" garden that has an open sky but is enclosed by 4 walls (the center of the school, outside but you can only enter the garden through the school). The garden has a pond, stream, sunlight, etc and virtually no predators. Also, its the ecology students job to care for the garden. The Ecology teacher has offered to take the RES's and explained that the class will slowly introduce the turtles to the pond and outdoor enviornment, and in the winter, will bring the turtles into the classroom to protect them from winter elements. Sounds too good to be true right? But now that im a turtle Mom - I want only the best for my babies...
Here are my concerns:
I live in northern NJ - we have nasty winters. Im nervous that if they are left outside and neglected to be brought in, they will die?
Also, Im afraid of how they will adapt to not being hand fed with pellets and shrimp on a set schedule. Will they be able to eat from the pond on their own, I dont think its stocked with fish, but has green life.
They have lived together in the same tank their entire lives. Will it be ok to seperate them into a large pond? Will they adapt from tank life to outside ok?
What about adapting to water temp? Their tank is kept at room temp - around 70 degrees, with a heat basking light all day. What if the pond temp is too cold for them and they get shocked? What temp is too cold?
I could go on and on (sorry for the longest post known to man) but basically - im just worried whether or not they will make it in the long run. Should I go for it? Im scheduled to bring them this weekend!
- Reluctant turtle lover
Lindsey
