New Family Member

[Joey]

My son caught this little sweety while out fishing in a pond,she's about 2 inches big,I think she's a red eared slider.We had painted turtles before...this little baby is really pretty.

[GrumpysWife]

When I was a kid we had painted turtles too. I think they stopped allowing them to be sold because once the shell was painted, it couldn't grow with the turtle and they would suffer until they died. The shell is so beautiful just as it is, why would anyone think they could make it more beautiful than Jehovah?

[Joey]

The painted turtles we had were found in the river,they just have that name.Not really painted but I remember the dyed pink and blue chicks at Easter.Wasn't that awful.Poor babies.

[Musky]

Yes, "painted turtles" are in the same family as red-eared sliders, they just have more color on their undersides. They made any turtle with a shell under 5" illegal in California and a few other states because children were putting the smaller ones in their mouths and getting Salmonella. When I had my pet store people kept asking for the babies like they used to get when they were young, but we could no longer sell them. It was a shame that a few parents, not teaching their children how to handle them ruined it for everyone. 

[Joey]

This is exactly our baby turtle...it seems there's an over population of them.Yes we use a lot of hand sanitizer.I read they need 10 gallon tank per inch...so he may be just visiting us for a few days.

Edited July 19, 2013 by Peace

[Musky]

Here is a baby painted turtle:

 

[Joey]

Yes we had two of those for two weeks,then put them back where we found them.Also a snake,blue tailed skink, and a walking stick.They usually just visit us.:-)