Baby turtles...

[dannypd]

This is my last post of the mini series.

Of the odd things I found in my water, this one is the most amazing of them all.

Around 30 or so mini turtles!  I currently have them running around in my empty tank for kicks, but they will soon be fed to my puffer if he likes them.

ANYHOW, this is the first time in my life I've ever had turtles!  Normally, my pond is "well" taken care of, but this year, I had to depend on nature and computer programming for that.

When I got back, my pond was NEAT!  It had algea, diatom algae (in moderate amounts), empty areas where fish were swimming, so many types of swimming creatures (swimming away from the fishies ofcourse), and now turtles!  I will assume snapping, but they are cute none-the-less.

If anyone has a reason why they should not be "fed"...let me know!  They have a crunchy shell and that's all I need to know...

[jaracas]

If anyone has a reason why they should not be "fed"...let me know! They have a crunchy shell and that's all I need to know...

how about:

because they are protected by law

http://www.ottawaherps.com/oara/docs/brochure_provlaws.pdf

[Shouganai]

Snapping turtles are a species that needs all the help it can get. And yes, they are protected by law in this province. You can get in a lot of trouble for harming them. PLEASE do NOT feed them to another creature.

I highly suggest you contact the Ministry of Natural Resources, or the OARA for advice on what to do with the turtles.

In the meantime, I BEG you, PLEASE don't harm those poor turtles! I will take them off your hands to get them released in the meantime, if you want to be rid of them! Do not hesitate to contact me!

[Aiglos]

News to me aswell, im positive he has no idea that they were protected by law.  Danny is very responsible and will do the right thing.

[dannypd]

They have (all 29 of them) an appointment at the natural resourses office tomorrow at 9am in Gatineau, near the "natural" pond (the actual offices, they will take care of them).

[dannypd]

oh ya, I have not fed any of them, I found the 30th one's shell just "empty".

[Shouganai]

Thank you for doing the right thing.

[jaracas]

you are a star, thanks for that Danny

[dannypd]

Alright, since I got a few phone calls from some friends, I will clear everything up:

-these were found in my pond, near a mudded area where they obviously "hatched" and crawled right into my pond.  normally, this mudded area serves as my personal "experimental" rice growing farm (for next years supposingly growth..*sigh*)

-I did not notice them until I caught a bunch of them while fishing my fish using a fishing net (hehe, I just had to put in something stupidly funny)

-I thought of feeding them to my puffer because I have so many of them, and they are snappy....

-they are being WELL taken care of right now, short of a basking light (in my pond, they stayed in the water and mud...in the shade...)

[NjOyRiD]

so your back dannypd?

[Sam]

I used to get turtles in my koi pond in the summer as I had it set up ~50 feet from a larger, semi-natural pond which houses many snappers.  I usually left them in the koi pond until September then would move them over to the pond their parents live in.

Since then I've filled in my koi pond as I'm never in Ottawa during the summer.  I also put 10 giant piles of sand around the large pond because I hated seeing crushed turtle on my road during egg laying season . The snappers now tend to use the sand piles to lay their eggs after which a group of Carleton Grad students come to move them to a safer location (where the raccoons  can't get to them and so they know where to look when its time for them to hatch).

The best thing to do now is, ON A WARM DAY take them to the water the parents intended them to go to after they hatched and let them go.  It isn't too late in the season to do this, but it will be soon. I'm sure they have been well fed but they will need to get eating more natural foods in praparation for winter and the sooner they can start doing this the better.


Sam

[Shouganai]

Crushed turtles on the road do suck.. especially when its a mommy turtle that was trying to lay her eggs!

A little advice to anyone that ever sees a turtle such as a snapper crossing a road: remove it from the road safely if you can, but put it on the side of the road in the direction it was going, NOT back into the water/wetland/etc! Chances are it is a gravid female looking to lay her eggs on the other side of the road, and moving her back to where she was coming from will only delay her crossing. They're pretty dead-set when they want to lay their eggs, and its a little less awful to lose a female that has had a chance to lay her eggs than one that never got the chance and died carrying all those tiny lives with her.

[aidensmomma2000]

I took Michael Runtz's Natural History class at Carleton and he showed all the students how to safelry remove a turtle from the road   I thought it was great!

[Mettle]

Crushed turtles on the road do suck.. especially when its a mommy turtle that was trying to lay her eggs!

A little advice to anyone that ever sees a turtle such as a snapper crossing a road: remove it from the road safely if you can, but put it on the side of the road in the direction it was going, NOT back into the water/wetland/etc! Chances are it is a gravid female looking to lay her eggs on the other side of the road, and moving her back to where she was coming from will only delay her crossing. They're pretty dead-set when they want to lay their eggs, and its a little less awful to lose a female that has had a chance to lay her eggs than one that never got the chance and died carrying all those tiny lives with her.

And unless you're properly trained on how to pick up a snapper (especially if it's large) you should probably think about dragging it by the tail as cruel as that sounds. Otherwise, it can probably reach you. And a turtle bite hurts. A large snapper can do major damage.

[nickie]

I would like you to share your knowledge with us,..as to how to remove a snapping turtle safely off the road,.. I once nearly lost my foot  :lol:  trying to push a turtle off the road !!.....   John

[aidensmomma2000]

He said to put your hands flat, and slip them under the shell at the back legs (they cant reach aroound that far!).

[Sue]

we stoped and moved one off the road once. Don put his coat over its head so that took care of that end. However it craped all over his legs from the other end. ...keep both ends clear of your clothes when you lift it!

[nickie]

I remember what I did ,...with a good size stick, I let the turtle bite the end of the stick,...and dragged it accross..... measuring accross its back  it must of been just shy of 16 inches !!...   I was told that they remember the location where they were born , and return there to lay eggs...  and in the intrim, if a road is built , they cross the road to get to the other side.... John

[Marx]

at petrie island i was fishing from shore.. and i looked down by my feet and there was a huge turtle.. no joke 15" wide 24" min long.. its head was huge aswell scared the hell out of me..

so i switched to worms and caught perch and fed him lol.. he ate 3 perch then left..

it was scary looking tho.. lol.. big pointy mouth.. and the shell was covered in algae..

[Sam]

Here is the way I learned when I was a child for moving turtles (I move about 10 giant snappers a year comming and going from my pond.

It is very important to stress that you should only move a turtle if it is in danger of being killed.  If you are in the middle of nowhere and there is little or no traffic then it would be better to stop and make sure the turtle crosses safely (ie: warn traffic).  If a turtle starting to cross a heavily travelled highway then you should move it using the following method.

Also, if you don't feel comfortable moving a large snapping turtle then you should call a professional and let them deal with the situation (by the time they arrive the turtle will probably be gone... so you can imagine you made the call).

The first step is to asses the situation, what kind of turtle is it:

If it is a painted turtle like this one:

Just pick it up, it will pull its legs, head, and tail into its shell so no worries there.  If you are afraid of it scratching you just hold it from the top and bottom and the claws will not be able to reach you.

This is what most of the local snappers look like (Much more aggressive looking) ~~(No need to get all bent out of shape about species)


Moving snappers is very different from moving painted turtles. They are extremely strong and can (and will) bite off your fingers if you come within reach.  Again it is recomended to not touch the turtle unless you absolutely have to.  The claws are also much sharper and can scratch through work gloves.  You will most often see the snappers on the road in the spring when the females are preparing to lay their eggs.  Since they are on a mission to pass on their genetic information they will be extremely aggressive towards anything that gets in their way,  so you must be careful.

In the case of a small snapper, after assesing the situation and finding you HAVE TO move it, you should try to nudge them gently (watch your fingers) along its way.  As metioned a by someone else, getting the turtle to bite a stick will also work... a broom handle works perfectly for this method.

For large snappers you should just let them walk by themselves (stay behind them or they will assume an agressive stance and not walk). The stick method works here too, but i have lost a few broom handles to beefy turtles with extra strong bites, so make sure it a stong stick.

If you have a turtle in your backyard:
Leave it alone! (unless its stuck).  

If you are afraid it might hurt your children:
The best way to remove large snappers is to guide it into a garbage can and carry it to where it came from.  It might return, but most likely (hopefully) it will head out from their pond in a different direction.  

There are many different ways to move a turtle but the ones illustrated above are the simplest for those who have never moved one before.  Remember, you should only move a turtle from the road if you absolutely have to!  Hundreds cross roads in Ottawa every day with no trouble so your assistance may only cause unnecessary stress the animal.

Again, if you are afraid of the animal, or feel your lack of experience around large snappers might hurt the animal, CALL a professional!


I hope this helps,

Sam