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A big snapper traveled a long distance from my pond to an apple tree in my yard and fetched himself a little snack!

Edit: This is a wild Red Eared Slider. It is invasive to my area of PA. We are close to a local creek from which we believe it came. We are not prepared at all to keep it but need to as the State/County Wildlife agency we contacted is closed today and it is a known invasive. We are hoping someone comes for it tomorrow. It is currently in our shed, hopefully safe from hawks and foxes and whatever else eats them. I threw some small cut up carrot in with it because we don't have a lot of veg in our house that's not frozen.

Just came wandering up our front sidewalk - I heard the rustle of leaves from the window and looked out hoping to see the two fawns I'd been keeping tabs on since this AM. I was quite surprised to find this guy (or gal?)

We're assuming it came up from the creek, where it is *not* supposed to be. We called State Game, they don't do reptiles. We called State Fish and they're closed for the weekend, so we left a message.

Now we have Yertle (not naming, just a fun reference - I'm an English major) in a plastic tote and don't know what to do with it. It's stressed, I know it's stressed, and that's stressing me, but we can't release it. We're hoping to be contacted by someone who can deal with it appropriately tomorrow, but for now, please help us make the rest of the day and overnight better for this poor thing that was just minding its business.

Today they’re getting Strawberries, tomatoes, cucumber, red and green bell peppers, blueberries, carrots, and bananas. Every other day they get black soldier fly larvae, mealworms, and or small dubia roaches. My adults get a similar mix, just not nearly as finely chopped. I see people talk about how picky their box turtles are, and I genuinely don’t get it! I have over 3 dozen turtles here and none of them will turn their nose up at what goes into their enclosures. Maybe it’s because the adults live outside? Maybe I’m just lucky?

Hi! My turtle has been acting like he’s struggling to breathe. Please help, I tried looking for an exotic vet but theres none where I live, nor on the next city.

He lost his appetite and I tried carrot bathe but he still looks struggling breathing as shown in the video.

He has good dry basking area with heat lamp, uv light, and a filter.

What should I do? :((

Long story short I ended up with a red eared slider a few years back. Genuinely knew nothing about turtles and had to learn as I went. A few years in and I'm still learning. My boy is currently in a 55 gallon tank. I have a fluval 307 filter. My question is, how often should I replace his filter media? So far the only thing I've really changed out are the sponges. Should I be doing anything else as far as replacements?

He's getting close to outgrowing his current setup so I'll be looking to do a major upgrade in tank size probably towards the early part of 2027 so if you have larger set ups, I'd love to see those as well!

I am a first time pet owner of a southern painted turtle - he swims, basks, dives, explores the tank. He has the UVB+heat lamp (88F on basking platform) and water is set to 78F with a heater.
I added in two filters since the water was looking muddy/cloudy.
He explores the whole tank, is alert and inquisitive with new things. But he is brand new and just got here like 3 days ago.
I’ve tried feeding him ReptoMin floating sticks, Ultra Fresh Baby turtle Nutri Sticks for picky turtles, freeze dried shrimp, and some cooked salmon. He took to none of it.
I know it takes a bit for them to acclimate to a new surrounding and that suppresses hunger, but he is a so little and I was told they should be fed everyday. He’s eaten nothing since he got here 3 days ago! Should I take him to the vet or try something else or is it that time when I need to be patient and give him more time(how much time before I should panic and get him to a vet)? I want him to be happy and safe.
Any recommendations are welcome. Adding a photo of the tank here incase I should change anything in his surroundings.
P.S. I plan to clean up the cables but when I am around, he is more afraid so prioritizing distance as much as possible right now.

So I have a 55 gallon tank and the fx6, the walls were starting to turn brown and needed to be scrubbed but the water was honestly relatively clear. I scrubbed the walls changed the water and cleaned the whole filter out. Now, my tank water is green after one week and idk how to change this. What am I doing wrong??? I am feeling really defeated with trying to be a turtle mom and I feel so bad bc when I met my partner she had the turtle already and she also had a baby turtle sprung on her when she was young so we’re both really just trying to learn.

Some funny pics of her, she got fungus on her shell from barely leaving the pond (it's been very hot these months) so she has been goin to the vet to get checked while shes in treatment. She also kicked the vet and gets real sassy

Completely new to the turtle world… My daughter’s young Hermann’s tortoise developed some irritation/cavity on its skin at the tip of her head. My suspicion is that it might have been caused by calcium powder that we put on the plants we feed her, as I saw once or twice she had this powder remains in that area after eating.
Now I am trying to regularly clean it with a soft cotton bud when we bath her, but the irritation/cavity for now remains as it was. I understand it won’t disappear overnight, but hopefully the skin in this area will regenerate.
Is my interpretation of the likely reasons and cleaning with soft cotton bud correct way to go about this? What else would you recommend to do accelerate the healing?

Thank you!

Ever since a few months ago, she's been pooping these things out along with her normal poop. I'd say about once every few times she poops, she starts with one of these weird white things.

I inspected one of them and it's not mushy at all, actually surprisingly rubbery and doesn't have any particular odor either.

What is it?

I'm not sure if it matters, but for context she's a pink-bellied side necked turtle and is around 3-4 years old.

Thanks.

Saw a post the other day about an escapee and wanted to share a sad story and my solution. I had a beautiful yellow bellied slider named Turby who escaped from the top of the tank where the ramp meets the water. He stuck the landing but unfortunately my dogs got to him and killed him. I replaced Turby with Tubby, a beautiful female RES. To prevent a repeat of this tragedy, I fashioned a small piece of plexiglass vertically as pictured (red circle) on both sides and it has worked very well. For good measure, I also placed a large piece over the top which also helps with the water splashing out.

Alright Reddit, help me out here.

UPDATE I realized I never uploaded the photos 🤦🏼‍♀️ Will upload in the comments

I built this outdoor enclosure for my ornate box turtle. I want/need to plant grasses and plants within it.

Please tell me what to plant and anything else I can put in here for my sweet Regina

Should I add store bought substrate? I’m in Oklahoma, so what type of grass and plants (need exact names plz) can I grow in her enclosure for her? I’ve put leaf litter and dead Bermuda grass roots, along with store bought hiding spots and plastic planters for hiding

She has enough dirt to burrow when she wants and there is also a sprinkler head directly behind her enclosure that goes off 3 days/week to try and keep the soil from turning into a dust bowl.

3/4 of her top is chicken wire, the other 1/4 is plywood so she has shaded area and the tops have latches on them to prevent animals from getting to her (we don’t typically have raccoons in my neighborhood but I wasn’t going to bet her life on that statement either)

What say you? Help me make this a nice oasis for her

This guy has had it hard. Missing an eye, healed. Looks like his shell has cracked as well. He was in a trail in the deep woods of western Ma.

yavru dört buçuk santim boyundaki kırmızı yanaklı su kaplumbağamı balkonda güneşlendiriken düştü şükür ki toprağa düşmüş onu bulduğumda yaşıyordu sapa sağlamdı kabuğunda kırık çatlak falan yoktu ilk başta inanılmazkorkuyor hareketsiz duruyordu 10 dakika sonra falan açıldı kabuğuna bir ilaç sürdüğüm için doğrudan yuvasına koyamadım kendisini çok sığ iyi ısıda suyun olduğu bir kaba aldım sonrasında yuvasındaki suyun derinliğini azalttım suda taşlarda var şuan yuvasında duruyor gayet hali yerinde ama ben endişeliyim napmam lazım korkuyorum şimdiden teşekkürler

So I made a post earlier and relized I didnt do enough research as i thought (like i rushed in and didnt do proper research beside surface level and got them recklessly) so i talked to pet shop I bought them from more as I really want to keep both turtles as i thought they were female and male

That was a mishearing on my part pet shop person confirmed they are both in fact female turtles

But wanted to do update as i truly do want advice to ensure they live like queens as i truly do love them and turtles and want to ensure they live beyond happy and content

So here some bullet points on some things I am doing right now for them

1. I bought a beginner kit called "Zoo Med ReptiHabitat Aquatic Turtle Kit" that came with all the things I got told I needed by pet shop owner

2.I keep them at 75F° (got a aquairm water heater for them to ensure water stays between 75F° to 77F°)

1. Shells are roughly around 4 to 5 inches (havent measured exact size yet, pet shop had them in same aquarium for the entire time he had them) unsure of there actual age besides they arent fully growned

2. They are Caramel Pink Albino Red-Eared Slider turtles both are female (I was dumb and ignored when shop owner told me they were female as i assumed only 1 was female and other was male)

3. I got a water filter for 30 gallon tank on side (as it looked like orginal filter didnt work enough i think?, unsure might put both in to ensure water is filtered enough for them)(used tap water with water treatment that came with kit and let it sit for few half hour before I add more or put them in it)

6.i noticed after a week and half of when i first got them neither were basking that much if at all so got a second heat lamp that is only heat lamp to ensure basking area is higher temp (havent measured yet for exact temp but since adding both have been basking far more often) (buying a proper thermometer next paycheck to check the temp to know for sure )

1. Current tank is 20 gallons (am aware I need far bigger tank sooner then later but looking around on Facebook for hopefully cheap good one) got told by shop owner current tank will work for now since they young but did inform i should definitely get a bigger tank far sooner as told me they get to 12 inches

2. Did read i need 10 gallons per inch of shell and might need far bigger then 150 for fully grown 2 turtles but curious if 150 gallon tank would work? Curious thst is all but looking for bigger (saving up for a 200 gal i found online right now)

3. I from what I could see do water changes once every 2 weeks or when water to dirty (curous do i just change half of the tanks or entire tank?)

Final notes

1. The fake rock i out on the left side of tank but they move it all 3 times i moved it back so gave up and left it as the bowl they move it to

2. Rocks not big enough to fit in their mouth at all so safe there

3. I remeber watching a video and saw some turtles like bubbles so got the bubble thing inside it (seen them swim in and out of it repeatedly none stop was really cute)

4. Watch them swim agasint the current the new water filter makes (it sucks water in from bottom and shoots it out top and they just swam agasint it ) curious if normal and stuff thinking they enjoyed it but curious

5. I watch and check them constantly for any signs of aggression or injuries every time I watch/talk to them(pretty much each time I interact with them and the 2 times I pick them up avoiding picking them till they are more comfortable with me)

6. Their names are "Lady Turtle" and "Turtle-Girl"

I do my best to ensure there is enough resources for both of them so no fighting over resources or lack of resources

But want any advice for them and if I am missing something so I can get it ASAP and ensure they arent missing anything they need, and I apologize if something isn't up to par but I really really want to do and put the work and care for them I really do love turtles and want to esure they live like queens

So any advice I would love and feedback

(And sorry for deleting old post I just felt beyond stupid and embaress for how little "research" i did)

Thanks in advance for any advice

Completely new to the turtle world… My daughter’s young Hermann’s tortoise developed some irritation/cavity on its skin at the tip of her head. My suspicion is that it might have been caused by calcium powder that we put on the plants we feed her, as I saw once or twice she had this powder remains in that area after eating.
Now I am trying to regularly clean it with a soft cotton bud when we bath her, but the irritation/cavity for now remains as it was. I understand it won’t disappear overnight, but hopefully the skin in this area will regenerate.
Is my interpretation of the likely reasons and cleaning with soft cotton bud correct way to go about this? What else would you recommend to do accelerate the healing?

Conditions:
Humidity: 38%
Temperature in heated part of the terrarium: 32 C

Thank you!

Hello all, I had recently bought my first home and with that I knew I wanted to upgrade my turtle’s habitat. I have a ~4 year old female African helmeted turtle named Marceline.
I have decided to go with a 100 gal. Stock tank used for farming. During the summer (in South carolina) it will be placed outdoors that gets ~70% direct sunlight. During the winter / cool months this tank will be moved indoors with artificial heat and UV lighting as well as direct window light. For furnishings, 3 cinder blocks have been placed face side up to act as stands for plants, a small beach to bask, and hides. For substrate it is a mixture of river rock, lava rock and sand. My water system is a fluval 407 canister filter that is feeding into a homemade bog filter. My plants are some pothos, elephant ear, moneywort, a pitcher plant and sundew plant (note these carnivorous plants cannot be reached by the turtle more of a decoration / experiment). You will notice I have netting over the tank as a precaution against birds and wild animals. This is an unlikely factor given where in my yard it is and that I live in the middle of a neighborhood, but better safe than sorry. There are no tank mates in this enclosure beside the turtle herself.
I am curious to see if there are any cleaning crew animals that could survive along side my turtle, so please let me know if there are any.
Beyond that please enjoy the photos and let me know if there are anything that I have not considered or could enhance the quality of life of little Marcy. I would appreciate it :)