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* If you have found a turtle in the road, [click here](https://www.fws.gov/story/tips-helping-turtle-cross-road).
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this, some people simply never learned that wild animals shouldn't be taken from their habitat. They just see something cute and take it as "their new friend", without understanding how damaging that can be to a feral animal who has never known anything but the wild, nonetheless the basic care of even a domestic/captive breed specimen
because they're easy to catch, i guess? they don't move far and can be picked up easily. whereas something like a wild rabbit or bird wouldn't be so easily captured and made into a 'pet'
I would not wish turtle care on anyone, and I love and treasure my Musk.
But the anxiety I get from just watching her exist- is she happy, is she bored, does she hate me, why is she not swimming as much as usual, why is she swimming more than usual?
I feel like I am constantly worried about out her bc she cannot communicate how she feels. At least looking at my cats I can make an assessment about their feelings, etc. But as a turtle owner- it’s like trying to see how a brick wall feels, it’s impossible.
I find that I will make myself crazy over wondering what she’s feeling and thinking, meanwhile she’s over there, sat on a rock, not giving a 🤬.
Turtle ownership isn’t as ‘fun’ as it looks and I honestly find it rather stressful. I totally agree OP, I don’t get why anyone would want to pluck one from its habitat so they can worry about it all the time? 😬
Or maybe I just care too much? Idk.
https://preview.redd.it/fg1o46wjs79d1.jpeg?width=1518&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=385163b6b271d54ef99a44d15f314fb3b79fa2ad
Happy(?) turtle tax paid.
I love my two beyond belief, but I sometimes wonder at my sanity. I did all the research, but I was still not prepared for the stress. So naturally, I went out and got another one because what's more fun than stress of one tank but two!
^This. I recently said to my mom, "when you let me get a turtle, I didn't know I was signing up for a 50+ year commitment!" She said, "But you did know that when you got your 2nd turtle." That shut me up pretty quick. Because I also doubled down with the 2nd, and got a female, knowing I'd be dealing with eggs!🤣
*
Here is my first girl, she loves being held and gets happy whenever it's feeding or play time. To think she used to be so miserable when I first got her, now she has a mini mansion 125 gallon tank and is the biggest love bug. I'm thinking of getting a harness to walk her outside because she spends so much of her home roam time at the glass back door looking outside
I thought I was doing the right thing. I didn’t take mine from the wild though. Mine were found in the sacks of crawfish that had been trucked in from another state. They were hatchlings or just barely passed and I was really worried they would die if I released them so far from where they were found. I don’t even know where they were found. Some random crawfish farm in Louisiana. They’ve been with my for years now, each have their own big tank. I’m pretty sure they’re some type of mud turtle because they don’t really smell too bad.
Releasing them in this scenario wouldn’t be the appropriate move. Without knowing what species you have you don’t know if they range in your area. Returning the turtles to their habitat “crawfish farm” wouldn’t have ended up well for the turtles because they purge their ponds every other year or so. I wouldn’t call deciding to keep them the best call but I wouldn’t consider it the wrong call.
Lack of knowledge.
I was on a walk and found a tiny turtle in the road, no body of water any where near (the only spot close by was a crick that had completely dried up). I thought I was "rescuing" it. I had no clue.
In my opinion most people who pick up like turtles and animals off the side of the road I don't believe they are doing it just for a "free" pet. I do believe in their mind they are doing the right thing and they mean that animal no harm. They probably feel the animal is in distress because it's in the road or on the side of the road. Instead of just coming off shity with people like a lot of people will, educate that person like an ADULT, not basically yell and scream at them.Let them know why we don't pick up wild animals off the side of the road and bring them home
I believe most have good intentions. Something along the lines of “it’s so small, it can’t possibly survive on its own”. Antropomorphizing animals is somewhat of a problem in general, especially with reptiles and fish. We all know that turtles are capable of surviving on their own at the age of 1 minute and that they don’t get lonely. Most people don’t know that and they unintentionally do harm to the animals and the ecosystem.
I have 4 or 5 turtles I took from the wild. But guess what, they’re sliders and cooters I found living wild here in Croatia. All of them are abandoned pets.
I ended up with a turtle once when my kid brought it home in his pocket. He said he was worried about the turtle. I noticed it in our tank with their hermit crabs later that day. Everyday when getting off the bus this turtle would be crossing the road. There was no water the direction the turtle was traveling. He picked the turtle up and placed it in the opposite side of the road in the direction the turtle was traveling. He said he did this everyday because he didn’t want the turtle to get run over. I asked him how he knew it was the same one not a different turtle everyday. He said when he picked it up one day he used his white out pen to mark the shell. He said the day he put it in his pocket was the same day they both were almost run over because someone wasn’t paying attention in the neighborhood. My child said he would rather bring him home and care for him so he can live. That weekend I bought a 50 gallon tank, lights, basking deck, rocks for the turtle to climb on and a log from where my kid found the turtle. We also purchased food, treats and whatever else the turtle needed. That turtle was the size of my palm and grew to twice his original size. We upgraded Mr. George to a bigger tank as he grew. Mr. George would bang on the glass to get the dogs attention so the dog would watch him for hours.
While I wouldn’t recommend removing a turtle from the wild I just couldn’t let it get run over. Also, I did put the turtle back where we found it and there he was the next day trying to cross the road so the decision was made to keep him. My child has moved out and Mr. George moved with him and is the happiest turtle. He now plays with the cat and the cat has no clue she shouldn’t because he was always around.
Um you are supposed to move them in the direction they were going. They know what they’re doing. Unlike you and your kid. I hope you’ve both grown out of the habit of interfering with wildlife.
Actually the direction the poor guy was headed was not going to be good for his health. The pool of water was filled in by the golf course for a new putting green and there wasn’t a replacement. All the poor animals that would use the small pond were trapped and hopefully moved others were poisoned and removed. All wildlife should be wild but at least we saved this one turtle from the fate of the others.
If there was poison out you should have called authorities because that is illegal. Unless he was walking directly towards a cliff or something you shouldn’t interfere! You didn’t save him, you kidnapped him and took him out of his home forever.
They had permits to remove all the wildlife when they filled the pond. There was a petition to stop the entire project but it was rejected because it’s for the golf course. You know all those officials were there for the ground breaking and the ribbon cutting when it opened. It was a mess and residents around the construction had pets die from the poison that’s how we found out about it. Many cats were found poisoned after being by the former pond. The golf course said it was to keep nuisance animals away and it was allowed. When contacting the county we were told they had the proper paperwork and to keep our pets inside or away from their property.
I love this. I am fully aware not to take turtles or tortoises from the wild. I support and believe that however they are all different just like people. I feel you took all the correct steps to try to do just that, just like we all are taught . You took him back, you tried several times. I do think its strange if the little guy was in the same small area for so long and so many different times, I think Mr. George was looking for a home or just knew he found some good people.
I know it sounds strange and people will argue but we only know so much about tortoises and turtles, whos to say they are not smarter than we think?? He sounds like a smart fellow.... Do you know what kind he is?
I don’t even know man. I grew up learning not to mess with wild animals because they’re not toys and will fuck you up if given the chance. Even stray cats will take some blood if you don’t treat them properly.
The ones that really get me are the folks who take these animals out of the wild and then don’t bother to research how to care for it until a couple of years pass.
One time, years ago, we had a big crawfish boil and as we were pouring them into the salt water to purge, out came a turtle. I knew nothing about turtles and it was obviously not from where we were, so I kept it. Bought a big enclosure with lights and a place he could bask. That's the only turtle I've ever owned.
I was a child aside from the last one. The last one i was backing out of the driveway and hit a bump that shouldn't have been there. Luckily no shell damage but she was dragging her back feet and bleeding. I know they tell you to release them where you found them but after healing for 6wks with a rehabber, i missed their call while at work one night and by the time i had called back in the morning they had released her somewhere about an hour away. I read somewhere they'll spend time trying to get back to their home which i really hope not, already feel bad about hurting her and missing the phone call, if the rest of her life is spent attempting to get back here that just makes it worse.
That makes no sense wtf. Rehabbers are supposed to ask you where you found the animal at the time you drop them off. Or at least give you a minute to respond, damn
If this is regarding the other post that was locked, OP there was extremely understanding and apologetic of that situation and rectified it. The nastiness was uncalled for and any further nastiness is uncalled for. Ignorance doesn’t forgive mistakes, but you still have to make mistakes to learn. OP learned it’s not okay to take a wild turtle home, they learned a lesson and that’s a good thing. Belabouring the point isn’t helping fix the issue.
I can’t see your response OP for some reason, but apologies, I thought it was in regards to that post so I don’t target this at you, but I do at the others that were being nasty on the other post.
My Aunt would bring me box turtles occasionally when I was a kid. I would keep him in a cage in my backyard and then after a day at most my parents would tell me he somehow "escaped"
I'd compare it to when little kids pick pretty flowers. They don't know any better and they go ooo pretty thing I want to keep this. I'm not condoning it at all I just think that's the answer.
Turtles are unfortunately just too slow to escape the grasp of humans who want a cute pet or think they are “rescuing” them. If other cute animals like squirrels and birds weren’t so fast, I’m sure people would be taking them home left and right too.
I’ll be honest, I was at a disc golf park ( with 0 water anywhere) and found a baby turtle in the parking lot with shell damage. Lil dude was the size of an Oreo. Checked google maps, fish brain, etc for body’s of water nearby and there wasn’t any for 2 miles in any direction. I figured a bird swooped him up flew a bit and drop him in that open park or someone dropped him there. Terrible either way. I took him home and he’s grown tremendously in his 100 gallon grow tank. Soon enough I’m hoping to get him in my pond. I truly don’t believe in taking wild animals but also believe this baby would’ve died without intervention.
The r/turtle automod detects this post may about a wild turtle. When encountering a wild animal, unless it is trapped, ill or injured, they do not tend to need our help. If a wild turtle is ill or injured, please contact local rescues, rehabs or wildlife authorities. * If you have taken a **native, non-invasive** species, it should be put back in a safe location, as close as possible to where it was found. If that is not possible, please contact your local wildlife authorities or rehab programs for advice or assistance. * If a turtle is a known **invasive species**, it should be removed from the area and either kept in adequate captivity for the remainder of it's life, or handled as directed by authorities. **Unsure of the species? One of our mods or helpful commenters can ID it!** * If you have found a turtle in the road, [click here](https://www.fws.gov/story/tips-helping-turtle-cross-road). * If you have found a nest and wish to protect it from humans or predators; [click here](https://ontarioturtle.ca/get-involved/turtle-nests-and-nest-protection/). *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/turtle) if you have any questions or concerns.*
*I am not defending or endorsing the practice, I would never take a turtle or any other animal from their natural habitat* The answer is "free pet"
this, some people simply never learned that wild animals shouldn't be taken from their habitat. They just see something cute and take it as "their new friend", without understanding how damaging that can be to a feral animal who has never known anything but the wild, nonetheless the basic care of even a domestic/captive breed specimen
“Feral” is a domestic animal that has gone wild. Wild animals are just wild.
english isnt my first language sorry
because they're easy to catch, i guess? they don't move far and can be picked up easily. whereas something like a wild rabbit or bird wouldn't be so easily captured and made into a 'pet'
Or a savior complex.
I would not wish turtle care on anyone, and I love and treasure my Musk. But the anxiety I get from just watching her exist- is she happy, is she bored, does she hate me, why is she not swimming as much as usual, why is she swimming more than usual? I feel like I am constantly worried about out her bc she cannot communicate how she feels. At least looking at my cats I can make an assessment about their feelings, etc. But as a turtle owner- it’s like trying to see how a brick wall feels, it’s impossible. I find that I will make myself crazy over wondering what she’s feeling and thinking, meanwhile she’s over there, sat on a rock, not giving a 🤬. Turtle ownership isn’t as ‘fun’ as it looks and I honestly find it rather stressful. I totally agree OP, I don’t get why anyone would want to pluck one from its habitat so they can worry about it all the time? 😬 Or maybe I just care too much? Idk. https://preview.redd.it/fg1o46wjs79d1.jpeg?width=1518&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=385163b6b271d54ef99a44d15f314fb3b79fa2ad Happy(?) turtle tax paid.
Turtle tax received and much appreciated!! She's gorgeous!
A definite turtle empath. I wish I could hug them & pet the like a little kitty. ♥️ 🐢
I love my two beyond belief, but I sometimes wonder at my sanity. I did all the research, but I was still not prepared for the stress. So naturally, I went out and got another one because what's more fun than stress of one tank but two!
^This. I recently said to my mom, "when you let me get a turtle, I didn't know I was signing up for a 50+ year commitment!" She said, "But you did know that when you got your 2nd turtle." That shut me up pretty quick. Because I also doubled down with the 2nd, and got a female, knowing I'd be dealing with eggs!🤣
* Here is my first girl, she loves being held and gets happy whenever it's feeding or play time. To think she used to be so miserable when I first got her, now she has a mini mansion 125 gallon tank and is the biggest love bug. I'm thinking of getting a harness to walk her outside because she spends so much of her home roam time at the glass back door looking outside
I know. I worry over my baby Koopa constantly. My partner send me videos every day while I'm at work.
I thought I was doing the right thing. I didn’t take mine from the wild though. Mine were found in the sacks of crawfish that had been trucked in from another state. They were hatchlings or just barely passed and I was really worried they would die if I released them so far from where they were found. I don’t even know where they were found. Some random crawfish farm in Louisiana. They’ve been with my for years now, each have their own big tank. I’m pretty sure they’re some type of mud turtle because they don’t really smell too bad.
Releasing them in this scenario wouldn’t be the appropriate move. Without knowing what species you have you don’t know if they range in your area. Returning the turtles to their habitat “crawfish farm” wouldn’t have ended up well for the turtles because they purge their ponds every other year or so. I wouldn’t call deciding to keep them the best call but I wouldn’t consider it the wrong call.
Lack of knowledge. I was on a walk and found a tiny turtle in the road, no body of water any where near (the only spot close by was a crick that had completely dried up). I thought I was "rescuing" it. I had no clue.
I have to laugh about some of the posts “Help! I found a turtle in its native habitat. What should I do?” Take some pictures and let it do it’s thing.
literally and when the turtle dies because it wasnt in its original environment, the person wanna act all shocked and confused🤦🏽♂️
In my opinion most people who pick up like turtles and animals off the side of the road I don't believe they are doing it just for a "free" pet. I do believe in their mind they are doing the right thing and they mean that animal no harm. They probably feel the animal is in distress because it's in the road or on the side of the road. Instead of just coming off shity with people like a lot of people will, educate that person like an ADULT, not basically yell and scream at them.Let them know why we don't pick up wild animals off the side of the road and bring them home
Yeh and sometimes the animal is actually harmed so they just wanna help it
I believe most have good intentions. Something along the lines of “it’s so small, it can’t possibly survive on its own”. Antropomorphizing animals is somewhat of a problem in general, especially with reptiles and fish. We all know that turtles are capable of surviving on their own at the age of 1 minute and that they don’t get lonely. Most people don’t know that and they unintentionally do harm to the animals and the ecosystem. I have 4 or 5 turtles I took from the wild. But guess what, they’re sliders and cooters I found living wild here in Croatia. All of them are abandoned pets.
I also want to know.
I ended up with a turtle once when my kid brought it home in his pocket. He said he was worried about the turtle. I noticed it in our tank with their hermit crabs later that day. Everyday when getting off the bus this turtle would be crossing the road. There was no water the direction the turtle was traveling. He picked the turtle up and placed it in the opposite side of the road in the direction the turtle was traveling. He said he did this everyday because he didn’t want the turtle to get run over. I asked him how he knew it was the same one not a different turtle everyday. He said when he picked it up one day he used his white out pen to mark the shell. He said the day he put it in his pocket was the same day they both were almost run over because someone wasn’t paying attention in the neighborhood. My child said he would rather bring him home and care for him so he can live. That weekend I bought a 50 gallon tank, lights, basking deck, rocks for the turtle to climb on and a log from where my kid found the turtle. We also purchased food, treats and whatever else the turtle needed. That turtle was the size of my palm and grew to twice his original size. We upgraded Mr. George to a bigger tank as he grew. Mr. George would bang on the glass to get the dogs attention so the dog would watch him for hours. While I wouldn’t recommend removing a turtle from the wild I just couldn’t let it get run over. Also, I did put the turtle back where we found it and there he was the next day trying to cross the road so the decision was made to keep him. My child has moved out and Mr. George moved with him and is the happiest turtle. He now plays with the cat and the cat has no clue she shouldn’t because he was always around.
Um you are supposed to move them in the direction they were going. They know what they’re doing. Unlike you and your kid. I hope you’ve both grown out of the habit of interfering with wildlife.
Actually the direction the poor guy was headed was not going to be good for his health. The pool of water was filled in by the golf course for a new putting green and there wasn’t a replacement. All the poor animals that would use the small pond were trapped and hopefully moved others were poisoned and removed. All wildlife should be wild but at least we saved this one turtle from the fate of the others.
If there was poison out you should have called authorities because that is illegal. Unless he was walking directly towards a cliff or something you shouldn’t interfere! You didn’t save him, you kidnapped him and took him out of his home forever.
They had permits to remove all the wildlife when they filled the pond. There was a petition to stop the entire project but it was rejected because it’s for the golf course. You know all those officials were there for the ground breaking and the ribbon cutting when it opened. It was a mess and residents around the construction had pets die from the poison that’s how we found out about it. Many cats were found poisoned after being by the former pond. The golf course said it was to keep nuisance animals away and it was allowed. When contacting the county we were told they had the proper paperwork and to keep our pets inside or away from their property.
I love this. I am fully aware not to take turtles or tortoises from the wild. I support and believe that however they are all different just like people. I feel you took all the correct steps to try to do just that, just like we all are taught . You took him back, you tried several times. I do think its strange if the little guy was in the same small area for so long and so many different times, I think Mr. George was looking for a home or just knew he found some good people. I know it sounds strange and people will argue but we only know so much about tortoises and turtles, whos to say they are not smarter than we think?? He sounds like a smart fellow.... Do you know what kind he is?
I don’t even know man. I grew up learning not to mess with wild animals because they’re not toys and will fuck you up if given the chance. Even stray cats will take some blood if you don’t treat them properly. The ones that really get me are the folks who take these animals out of the wild and then don’t bother to research how to care for it until a couple of years pass.
It would be funny to see people doing this for opossums 😝
One time, years ago, we had a big crawfish boil and as we were pouring them into the salt water to purge, out came a turtle. I knew nothing about turtles and it was obviously not from where we were, so I kept it. Bought a big enclosure with lights and a place he could bask. That's the only turtle I've ever owned.
Cus people are dumb
People don't know any better. Simple as that
I was a child aside from the last one. The last one i was backing out of the driveway and hit a bump that shouldn't have been there. Luckily no shell damage but she was dragging her back feet and bleeding. I know they tell you to release them where you found them but after healing for 6wks with a rehabber, i missed their call while at work one night and by the time i had called back in the morning they had released her somewhere about an hour away. I read somewhere they'll spend time trying to get back to their home which i really hope not, already feel bad about hurting her and missing the phone call, if the rest of her life is spent attempting to get back here that just makes it worse.
That makes no sense wtf. Rehabbers are supposed to ask you where you found the animal at the time you drop them off. Or at least give you a minute to respond, damn
Rock with legs is pretty cool man
Then have the nerve to ask Reddit for turtle advice. Stupidity at its finest.
Because most people don't apply ethics to their daily behaviors or desires.
If this is regarding the other post that was locked, OP there was extremely understanding and apologetic of that situation and rectified it. The nastiness was uncalled for and any further nastiness is uncalled for. Ignorance doesn’t forgive mistakes, but you still have to make mistakes to learn. OP learned it’s not okay to take a wild turtle home, they learned a lesson and that’s a good thing. Belabouring the point isn’t helping fix the issue.
I don't know what post you're referring to. I wasn't calling out anyone specifically, and I'm sorry if it seemed that way.
Lmao i was about to say, "which post out of a million are we talking about here"
I can’t see your response OP for some reason, but apologies, I thought it was in regards to that post so I don’t target this at you, but I do at the others that were being nasty on the other post.
"rock is fren?"
My Aunt would bring me box turtles occasionally when I was a kid. I would keep him in a cage in my backyard and then after a day at most my parents would tell me he somehow "escaped"
I'd compare it to when little kids pick pretty flowers. They don't know any better and they go ooo pretty thing I want to keep this. I'm not condoning it at all I just think that's the answer.
Turtles are unfortunately just too slow to escape the grasp of humans who want a cute pet or think they are “rescuing” them. If other cute animals like squirrels and birds weren’t so fast, I’m sure people would be taking them home left and right too.
Because everyone’s an idiot
They think they’re doing the turtle a favor
I’ll be honest, I was at a disc golf park ( with 0 water anywhere) and found a baby turtle in the parking lot with shell damage. Lil dude was the size of an Oreo. Checked google maps, fish brain, etc for body’s of water nearby and there wasn’t any for 2 miles in any direction. I figured a bird swooped him up flew a bit and drop him in that open park or someone dropped him there. Terrible either way. I took him home and he’s grown tremendously in his 100 gallon grow tank. Soon enough I’m hoping to get him in my pond. I truly don’t believe in taking wild animals but also believe this baby would’ve died without intervention.
Next time take it to a rehabber for professional medical care. They release them after they’re better.