General Care Discussion :: Not sure if wild or not

[collegiatebruin]

Today, a family came into the vet clinic where I work. The dad had hit a little (5 inch shell length) red eared slider. Being the resident exotic person (which is to say, I have hermit crabs and betta fish), I was tasked with baby sitting the little guy for a few days to make sure he's okay. So I brought him home and set him up in a tank, expecting him to be terrified of the giant touching him and everything, but he's not. He hasn't retracted into his shell the few times I've had to pick him up, he's not frantic in the tank, and - the part I find weirdest - he's eating like a horse. I was always under the assumption that reptiles don't eat when they're stressed, but he's polished off some good sized chunks of romaine, a 3 inch silverside fish (thawed frozen, cut into several pieces), and some Reptomin pellets. Red eared sliders are native here (north of Atlanta, GA), but I don't have to tell you guys how common they are as pets, and how often they're dumped. So what do you think? If he's wild, then I'll gladly release him, but if he's a released/escaped pet then obviously releasing him is out of the question.

[Kansasslider]

Chances are it was wild. If your ready to become an owner of a res I would keep it but that's just my opinion. I own a wild res that I got as a baby and she is my world. I think her chances were better with me than the big lake I got her from. Its not like they are endangered here they are everywhere. The rest of my turts I bought. Its your call.

[steve]

How does the shell look? Smooth, maybe a bit of algae? Is this RES male or female? Are there any actual injuries?

[collegiatebruin]

The shell looks fairly normal (from what I can tell, still very new to this); it's not worn and there is no pyramiding. No algae on the shell - it was actually very dry when the family brought him in. I'm fairly certain he's a male based on claw length, but I'm gonna try to get a closer look at the tail/cloaca tomorrow. There was some minor bleeding from the shell so I'll be getting him into an exotic vet as soon as possible (my vet clinic is mostly dog and cat based, with a few pigs thrown in for good measure).

[steve]

Male RES usually don't venture away from the pond. It's normally gravid females. RES can be very out going, though I would wild ones to be more skittish. Can you post a picture of the shell?

[collegiatebruin]

Gladly. Not sure how to post, but here's some pictures on my Flickr account. The crate was used to bring him/her from work, and I'm really not happy with the size of the tank, but it'll be temporary regardless. https://www.flickr.com/photos/34997486@N02/

[steve]

Looks like there is some sediment build up which would be consistent with a wild turtle but a touch of fungus associated with captive turtles. He looks fairly young, but also big for his age. You didn't by chance get a poop sample as soon as he was brought in?

[collegiatebruin]

Unfortunately, no. But we're heading the exotic vet today. I'm hopeful they'll know what to do.

[collegiatebruin]

Just to let you guys know what happened, we took the turtle to the vet yesterday. They have an injured wildlife program and they agreed to take him. If they decide he's a former pet, he'll probably come back here after he's all healed up. If they think he's wild (and that's what they were leaning toward), he'll go to the Chattahoochee Nature Center. Thanks for all the help!

[steve]

Great to hear and well done!