i found a baby turtle!!!!!!!!!!

cameragirl21 wrote: ok, so i really don't know why i'm so excited about finding a turtle that would have cost me 10 bucks at the pet store but i guess it's because i rescued this poor guy and he would have surely died if i hadn't found him!
so i was going for my morning run and i run thru a botanical gardens that is close to water and all of a sudden, on the pavement is a tiny, winy little red ear slider, all dried out and nearly dead (this is a water turtle and it needs water to survive.
so i grabbed him, put him in my pocket and got home as fast as i could...major road rage on my way home because i was afraid he'd die on the way. i splashed him with my water bottle but still, he was very dry and i kept putting on antibacterial lotion (that i keep in my car) on my hands and steering wheel and stick (i drive manual) the whole way because of the salmonella. he peed on me in the car.
anyway, here is the little guy...i have three grown turtles and he can't go in with them because they may harm him so luckily i still have the little half gallon tank i got my first turtle in, he'll stay there for now till i get him a larger tank and his own light, probably tomorrow..isn't he just soooo cute?
sorry for the bad pics, i didn't have time to get the macro lens and flash and all, so this was the best i could get and he was being kind of bashful so you can't see his arms or legs or tail but rest assured he has all of them!
i'm thinking of naming him Oscar....

Kirstenmumof3 replied: I love turtles and have always wanted one! Maybe I should go out and do some jogging.

cameragirl21 replied: LOL, Kirsten, that literally made me LOL really hard. i don't know if you'll find any in the Canadian snow but you can get one like this for 10 bucks at the store and they're very easy to care for, you just need to wash your hands after handling them.
maybe you can get one for Spencer for his bday.

Hillbilly Housewife replied: Definitely wouldn't find oune in the snow. If you did, you could make soup.

Calimama replied: Awww it's so cute!!

3xsthefun replied: Cute!

We have a grown red ear slider we got from my parents.

I'm not sure if you know or not but you can tell if the turtle is male or female by the toe nails/claws on their feet. Females have short ones and Males have long ones. We found out from a guy that knows lot about turtles that ours turtle is a female, we thought "she" was a "he" and her name is Fred.

cameragirl21 replied: yeah, i've heard that before, Tina...i've also heard that the male has a grooved belly while the female has a straight one...the male has a groove because he has to mount the female.
i have one female, that i named Cupid thinking she was a he but she looks like a Cupid so Cupid it is and two males named Neptune and Dino.
i'll have to check this one's nails before naming him Oscar....

3xsthefun replied:
Ok, that is good you know..just wanted to make sure. I should of known since you alreay have 3 turtles.

I'm glad we aren't the only ones name our female a male name.

The guy might have told us about the belly too, but I can't remember. He is actually a friend of my husband's.
He is turtle crazy and we have learned alot from him about turtles.

CantWait replied: LOL he's so cute Jennifer. I didn't know they were so easy to care for.

How long do they usually live?
What do you need for them?
What do they eat?

luvbug00 replied: i have owned 5 turtles in my life. all saved from the "wild" and they were Huey 1-3 and yoshi 4&5. none of them sliders though. very cute! i want another one now!

stella6979 replied: When I was in elementary school, I babysat my friend's turtle while she was in Florida and the poor little thing died on me. I felt terrible and that's all I think about now, whenever I see a turtle. LOL! He's cute though, and I'm sure he's very thankful that you rescued him.

holley79 replied: He so cute. Makes me miss my turtles I had growing up.

Maddie&EthansMom replied: We had a turtle named Oscar. We let him go at our towne lake and we visit him often.

cameragirl21 replied:
Marie, I bet your boys would love a turtle!
To answer your questions, turtles usually live about ten years. All you need is a tank that has enough room for them to swim and a place to rest...you can buy something called a turtle dock that is like a floater attached to the tank with suction cups and it always stays on the surface of the water and they climb up on to it to bask. They also need a hot light. They will eat any plants you put in with them but mainly I feed mine turtle pellets or sometimes they eat my koi pellets when i run out of turtle food.
Also, ideally you also want to get a pump and filter or else you'll have to change the water constantly. And some dechlorinator for their water.
They are very easy to care for and the whole set up is not very expensive at all. And they're so much fun to watch! I recommend getting them in pairs, it makes them even more fun and two are no more trouble than one.

CantWait replied: Thanks for the info Jennifer. I'll look into it tomorrow when we go to the fish store. Maybe Anthony will like that more.

3xsthefun replied: Marie I just wanted to say one thing, if you really want a red ear slider they must have a tank 30-50 gallons. They will also eat fish (live ones), ghost shrimp, boiled chicken and sometimes dried cat food.

redplaydoh replied: Our neighbor has 5 turtles, two adults and 3 babies. The kids LOVE LOVE LOVE those turtles and always want to go see them. Once they even drew pictures for them...
They want some but until now I really didn't know how to care for them. Maybe they will get pet turtles one day.
What a cute tiny turtle you found... it's SO little!

cameragirl21 replied: DeAnn, they are VERY easy to care for, as long as you have their little set up they are just fine.
this little guy is doing really well, eating and everything.
i'm thinking i might call him Nemo since i found him and all....

JadensMama05 replied: Oh wow! That is the absolute cutest turtle I have ever seen!! I didn't know they came that small, LOL. TFS, he's so fricking cute!! If it weren't for the salmonella, we'd totally have a turtle.

cameragirl21 replied:
turtles do carry salmonella BUT if you wash your hands after handling them you won't get it. and reptile experts say that you'd really have to suck on a turtle all day long to get salmonella.
i've had turtles for several years now and i handle them all the time and i've never gotten even a little sick from them but then again i'm a really good hand washer.
i say if you want one, go for it, they are so much fun to watch!

MyBrownEyedBoy replied:
Sucking on a turtle, now there's a mental image that'll stick with me. LOL. I am warming up more to the idea of a turtle for Logan when he's a bit bigger. I just wish he wasn't allergic to everything with fur.

cameragirl21 replied: i know, Kelly, it is a pretty gross visual but those words came right out of the mouths of the reptile experts i discussed this with because on occasion i allow some of the kids i photograph to hold the turtles and i wanted to make sure there was no risk for them.
is L really allergic to everything? i mean, could you have a chinchilla for instance? they are very sweet and cuddly and their fur is soooo soft. i held one the other day and it snuggled right up to me. they are also easy to care for and keep and they don't bite or anything. as far as i know, few people are allergic to them.

MyBrownEyedBoy replied:
So far we've got confirmed allergies to cat, dog, guinea pig and ferret, so it may as well be everything as far as I'm concerned. I love chinchillas. My high school biology teacher kept 4 of them in the classroom and during movies she'd let them out to run the room. One of them always came over to me and sat on my lap for the entire period. They are adorable. I may have to look at it, but probably the reason there aren't lots of people allergic to chinchillas is that there aren't many people who keep them as pets. I'm still tempted to get a labradoodle in a few years.
As for the mental picture, I wasn't grossed out by it. I was very amused.

cameragirl21 replied:
is he allergic to rabbits? the lady who owned the chinchilla i was holding said that they are like a rabbit that lives in Chile because i asked her if it was a type of rat and she said that it's more of a rabbit.
so i imagine if L is not allergic to rabbits then you can probably have a chinchilla or a rabbit for that matter.
it's sad that he's allergic to all of that, but hopefully he'll outgrow it. kids often outgrow their allergies.

MyBrownEyedBoy replied: Ha ha, we got so off topic. LOL. I am hoping that Logan outgrows the allergies. At least there hasn't been any evidence of respiratory allergies, so far it's all been skin reactions.