How do I care for the cold slow moving turtle hatchling I found today?

[KittenFishMom]

I found a newly hatch baby turtle at the bottom of the cliff today. It was a cold day with a very cold wind and rain. He was hardly moving. I knew some bird would eat him before he reached the lake. I have him in shallow water with flat rocks sticking out and pebbles on the bottom and hornwort and duckweed. (And an IAL form one of my fish tanks of course) Once he got warm he started moving much more, and much faster. I'm not sure if I will try to keep him for the summer or let him go when the weather warms up in a few days. I offered him some frozen blood worms, but he wasn't interested. 

I learned he should have a steady temp, and fresh clean water and UVB light. I can offer the steady temp, very small live worms from outside. fresh clean water, and plant grow lights. Will the grow lamps/ fish tank lights give him what he needs to make vitamin D? I can buy a UVB light and it will be here Friday, if he needs one. I won't try to keep him over the winter. I will do my best by him. I know he would have been eaten by gulls or ravens if I hadn't picked him up. They were flying around, probably getting others from the same nest. 

What should I offer him to eat?  I would like it to be as close to a turtle's normal wild diet. I can catch little things in the shallow water. The water plants haven't really started but I saw some green algae(probably) on some rocks close to shore. I will do research, but any advice is more than welcome. I have a mosquito net for aquatic insect larva. 

I am not sure which type of turtle he is. He currently has a red belly, but I think that will fade. I never saw an adult with a red belly. He has stripes on his neck and yellow where I have seen others with red. I will photo him tomorrow. He has had a big day today. He needs his rest.

Morning photo

Edited May 2, 2023 by KittenFishMom
added photo

[nabokovfan87]

On 5/1/2023 at 10:09 PM, KittenFishMom said:

Will the grow lamps/ fish tank lights give him what he needs to make vitamin D? I can buy a UVB light and it will be here Friday, if he needs one. I won't try to keep him over the winter. I will do my best by him. I know he would have been eaten by gulls or ravens if I hadn't picked him up. They were flying around, probably getting others from the same nest. 

It should be a special bulb.  It's often available at the big box stores under zoomed brand I believe.  That would be a great resource. 

In terms of what happened it probably got picked up by a bird maybe or pushed ashore by a wave?  Very unfortunate it happened and cool that you noticed and tried to help out.

They have some powders and stuff you add to the food to give them nutrients but I think something like algae wafers or pellet food would be the go to.  Apart from that it would be cull/feeder fish (just avoid things with high thiaminase I believe. 

For clarity, I've never kept a turtle before so that's the best I can do to offer any advice.
 

 

 

[KittenFishMom]

The weather warmed up today and I put the turtle on the lake shore and he made a beeline for the waves. I was worried it was too rough and pulled him out and onto the shore and he ran back into the lake. He wasn't really eating for me. I'm sure he will be better at finding his food in the lake than I was on shore. I tried 2 "hatchling" foods and several worms of different sizes. He would bit at the worms, but he seemed to push them away as he bit. I'm hoping he has had a good dinner and is resting now.

[Biotope Biologist]

For the future you need special UV bulbs as @nabokovfan87 said. But the sun is also like a million times more intense on the UV front. Even during overcast days they still reflect down. I would say to any prospective Herp keeper, that there is no substitute for the sun. Putting warm water bottles under the reptile with washcloths wrapped around the water bottles will help them maintain heat even when it’s colder outside. 
 

Depending on what the underside of the carapace looks like, it looks like a painted turtle. But Sliders are also introduced in many ponds and streams and look quite similar. 
 

Aquatic turtles aren’t picky eaters. But they do like their meaty foods. And the wild ones can be quite shy about taking food from people. Various aquatic worms and insect larvae is their meal of choice with the occasional fish… if they can catch one. I’ve also caught them snacking on lotus flowers, but then again lotus flowers seem irresistible to most.

 

Hope that helps for the future! And safe travels wee turtle 🐢⛵️

[Shrimpee]

On 5/2/2023 at 1:09 AM, KittenFishMom said:

I found a newly hatch baby turtle at the bottom of the cliff today. It was a cold day with a very cold wind and rain. He was hardly moving. I knew some bird would eat him before he reached the lake. I have him in shallow water with flat rocks sticking out and pebbles on the bottom and hornwort and duckweed. (And an IAL form one of my fish tanks of course) Once he got warm he started moving much more, and much faster. I'm not sure if I will try to keep him for the summer or let him go when the weather warms up in a few days. I offered him some frozen blood worms, but he wasn't interested. 

I learned he should have a steady temp, and fresh clean water and UVB light. I can offer the steady temp, very small live worms from outside. fresh clean water, and plant grow lights. Will the grow lamps/ fish tank lights give him what he needs to make vitamin D? I can buy a UVB light and it will be here Friday, if he needs one. I won't try to keep him over the winter. I will do my best by him. I know he would have been eaten by gulls or ravens if I hadn't picked him up. They were flying around, probably getting others from the same nest. 

What should I offer him to eat?  I would like it to be as close to a turtle's normal wild diet. I can catch little things in the shallow water. The water plants haven't really started but I saw some green algae(probably) on some rocks close to shore. I will do research, but any advice is more than welcome. I have a mosquito net for aquatic insect larva. 

I am not sure which type of turtle he is. He currently has a red belly, but I think that will fade. I never saw an adult with a red belly. He has stripes on his neck and yellow where I have seen others with red. I will photo him tomorrow. He has had a big day today. He needs his rest.

Morning photo

Thats a eastern painted turtle definitely. I have one. You will need a above water area with a heat lamp. I wouldn't suggest putting it back outside after he grows more as they lose their scavenger brain. A fish tank light won't be hot enough to make him satisfied. You can feed him specialized turtle pellets or frozen food. If you want it to be close as their normal diet I would suggest small feeder fish or vegetables. Make sure not to feed him dairy or much fruits as just a little bit of dairy is lethal. You can feed him iceberg lettuce or dried tubifex worms. The vitamin D isn't really what he gets from UVB lights but more of heat as they love to bask in the sun. He reminds me of my turtle when I first got him. Now mine is about 6 inches long in a 75 gal tank. If you aren't ready for such a commitment then I would suggest giving it to someone that has experience with turtles or you can post it on an adoption site. Eastern painted turtles aren't very agressive but only when you feed him he may bite but its like a gentle bite with no blood.

 

Hope you have a fun time caring for him!

 

I did not see the latest post you did. Anyways don't listen to whatever I said here. At least you didn't wait for 5 months to release him like I did but then soon find out that I can't release him and I would have to spend $1000 on tank supplies

Edited May 7, 2023 by Shrimpee
I didn't know the turtle was released.

[KittenFishMom]

@nabokovfan87 and @Biotope Biologist and @Shrimpee I did get a UVB/heat light for him. When he wasn't successfully eating anything I put in the water, including wiggling worm parts, I knew I needed to release as soon as we got a warm day. He is a painted turtle. I saw one of his sibling crushed on the road, and as I said there were birds like crows and gulls flying around where I found him. I figured he had a better chance of getting to the lake if I kept him for a few days. If he had taken to the food I could provide for him I would have kept him one day long because today is warmer than yesterday . As it was, I knew he needed to find something to eat. so I let him go as soon as we had a warm sunny day. I would have continued to feed him in the water. I wouldn't want a turtle to lose its ability to scavenge for food. I often find a small turtle that got too warm or cold and benefits from a day or 2 of R&R and protection from being eaten, before being released. This was the first time I found one when it was too cold for the turtle to move well, so I brought it inside for its R&R. In the past, I have always been able to feed them earthworms if I found the right size. This guy wasn't able to eat the worms I found. I did a bunch of weeding to find tiny and small worms. When he woulds strike at the tiny worm, the current from his head pushed them away. If he bit a small worm, he couldn't rip it apart. I tried making smaller bits of the bigger worms, but never saw him eat one. He knows how to find his food, so I let him go as soon as we got a warmer day.

Edited May 7, 2023 by KittenFishMom

[Sev_Angel]

Recommendation; unless you know for certain it’s an invasive species (like how the red ear slider is to most areas, now), please do not remove a baby turtle from the wild unless there are clear signs of illness/injury, at which point it is best to contact and surrender them to a wildlife rehab that also cares for reptiles. Each one is very important to the continuation of the species, as the survival rate is pretty low for hatchlings. Thank you for releasing this one back into their home. 

[KittenFishMom]

@Sev_Angel I never keep turtle (hatchlings or otherwise) very long. Usually just over night. If they eat when they get to a good temp, I let the go. If they eat the next day I let them go. I don't catch turtles if they are doing well. This little one was very cold and not moving well. I toyed with the idea of keeping him for the summer, but quickly decided not to. I just wanted to get him outside when it was not so cold and rainy and dark. I have now seen 3 crushed tiny turtles on our dead end dirt road. So I think I did the right thing to bring him inside. If he look injured, I would have called a wildlife rehabilitator. I live on the lake and am very protective of the native plant and animal life here. I am also very protective of salamanders when I see them spring and fall. I do go out of my way to catch the big apple snails. They are invasive and bad news. I also catch jumping worm and break them up and feed them to the lake fish. The jumping worms are bad news for the forests. I don't know if I make a difference, but I try to do the right thing.

[Torrey]

"I don't know if I make a difference, but I try to do the right thing."

 

That's all any of us can do, and working together it absolutely makes a difference!