A MISSION

[turtledudeusa]

Hey everybody.

A biology teacher at my high school had a student who brought in a baby turtle that they found around there house. Of course the smart thing would have been to leave the little guy alone, and let him stay in his native habitat, but what can I say, people see a small little critter and they automatically think it is in need of some kind of assistance. Anyway...neither the biology teacher or myself were sure as to the species of the turtle. I guessed that it was a Red Eared Slider, but she disagreed, and evidently a degree in biology makes your more able to designate the species of a turtle than owning them for a long time. Now, to my point: I was wondering if any of you all had pictures of BABY Red Eared Sliders or BABY box turtles, or any other common turtles in the Kentucky, Ohio, Tennesse area. If you all know of any pics, it would be greatly appreciated. I want to help this little guy as much as I can, but to do so, we have to figure out his species!

Thanks a million!
tdusa

[csurfleet]

Hey dude, sorry its taken so long to reply, I dunno where everyones got to...

Baby red-ears just look like really little versions of the adults - they still have the red stripes down the side of the head. If it has these its either a RES or something very rare!

[Chez]

But babies can be a lot lighter than the adults, usually having a bright green shell. Color darkens over time.

I'd steal the thing and return it to the wild where like you said it belongs. But some people call me a bad kid lol

[glow=blue,2,300]:Chez[/glow]

[turtledudeusa]

I would have loved to do that for the little guy. At least then it would have had a fair chance at life. I haven't looked in on it recently, but last week it was looking really weak, so it sadly may have already died

[Chez]

hey td, happy new year.
wanna update us on that baby res? is it doing ok?
hope he made it.
[glow=blue,2,300]:Chez[/glow]

[turtledudeusa]

I haven't heard anything about the turtle...either they got wise and let it go, or it died. I am pretty sure it isnt in there anymore.

By the way, Chez, the buttons are still showing up as "X"s. luckily i am good at guessing what the buttons are...lol

tdusa

[Chez]

hope the little guy was released. its really messed up that some people, including teachers, let themselves be so ignorant.

about the pics, are you using an ad-blocking program? that may be why they're not showing up. if you are, try disabling it and see what happens.
:chez

[turtledudeusa]

The turtle is still in the classroom, I stopped off one afternoon to see. I was pretty sure it had either died or been freed, but I was wrong. It is in a 10 gallon tank, without water, so I guess it isn't and aqautic species (its lived this long without water). It looked weak, but the teacher said it eats well, and there was evidence that it that it was expelling waste properly, so it must have some type of appetite. As a small consolation, the turtle goes home with the student that found it on the weekends. Too bad I don't know the, I would pay them to let it free!

tdusa

[Chez]

I'm happy that it's still alive.. but it really isn't a consolation about it's trips to and from the school. If it's eating and.. going #2 .. then it might be looking weak due to the stress it incurs from it's frequent travels.
I'd let em know that it should stay put in one spot. Stress kills these guys
:Chez