General Care Discussion :: Found RES and not sure what to do

[cwillocks]

I recently found a 8" female RES crossing the road with no water anywhere near her. I have her in a 5 ft kiddie pool. We live in Phoenix, AZ and she is kept outside. I clean the kiddie pool every few days and I have a separate 10 gallon container to put her in during feeding time. We sometimes let her roam our yard and she has jumped into our swimming pool a couple of times. Is chlorine bad for her? First time she was in there for 45 minutes before we found her. The second time she was in there for 5 minutes. We know nothing about RES other than what we've found on some websites. She now has green algae on her shell,... that can't be good. We thought she was a male until she laid 8 eggs in the last three days.

Basically we know nothing about turtles,...and we don't want to inadvertently harm her in any way. We need all the helpful advice anyone can muster for us.

Help???

[untsmurf]

Yes chlorine is bad for her. For the algae, you can scrub it off with a soft toothbrush.

You should scope out the local water sources and see if any of them have turtles. If they do, you should release her.

[cwillocks]

Thanks for the info. Will the algae come off of her by itself if we release her into a natural environment?

[cwillocks]

We were thinking about letting her go at a pond at a golf course,...as there are plenty of those in AZ, and many do have turtles in them,...but we read that the fertilizers and pesticides might not be good for her. Problem is,... there aren't many other water resources around in Phx.

[untsmurf]

the algae probably won't come off by itself. If you want to give her a good scrub, that's fine. If not, it's not a huge deal.

You should try and find a pond that already has turtles in it that way you know it's safe.

[ChristaS]

I agree with everything untsmurf said. Try your best and find a pond with turtles in it.

Maybe if you have time, go back to where you found her and see if there are any ponds around there. She could have came from one, you probbly didn't see it(?). Just a suggestion.

Thank you for saving her. I know once you find a good spot for her, she'll be thanking you for saving her life.

[cwillocks]

We actually found her on a sidewalk heading onto the road, with no pond in the neighborhood. We think she was someone's pet and they just decided to let her go. She has been laying more eggs. Total to date has been 11 and I think she has more. We think we have found her a good home for her, just not sure if there are other turtles in the pond, it's a pretty good size man made pond in a park so we hope she will be happy.

[untsmurf]

Good job!