Baby Red Ear found in skimmer filter

[Celia]

Went  to clean out skimmer, found the usual couple of frogs and a tiny Red Ear Slider turtle.  He was about the size of a quarter.  I picked him up very carefully, trying not to squeeze him too hard, and he scrambled right out of my fingers and I never saw where he landed nor where he went.  Do you think he ran back that fast to the pond water.  I didn't know they could move that fast.  Also, do they migrate across the yards, from one pond to another.  We have a few, what I call, country ponds, around here.  He may have came from one of those.   I sure hope he hangs around here, I wanted a turtle, and he is so tiny he won't be a problem, Yet....

[CT]

They do move fast he's probably back in the water. As for wandering, they are champions at that. Congratulations

[happyoutsidegirl]

Oh I hope he stays around for ya and you find him again. How cute. I didn't know one that tiny would travel that far??? I guess he got lost from the pack hehehe!

[Esther]

One time we found a little painted turtle about that size in the pool. We rigged up a turtle tub for him and the kids would feed him lettuce and hamburger on a toothpick. Sometimes they would catch flies and pull one wing off so it was still alive to feed him. His name was Timmy. I made them let him go when it got close to fall so he would have a chance to hybernate. We live about a quarter mile from any water source so have no idea where he came from.

[marla]

the grade school my kids went to bordered a swampy marshland, every year they would find hatchlings in the sand on the baseball dimonds, I'd let them keep them till they could eat a feeder godfish and then they would be returned to the wild.

[Teresa]

The baby probably emerged from the nest and found your pond before he found whatever body of water his mother lives in.   Female turtles will climb uphill to lay their eggs.  Turtle eggs are permeable and if they are submerged in water, they can actually drown (That's why female turtles MUST have access to dry land).  The turtle will travel quite far to lay her eggs above the 100 year flood level and the babies must then travel that far back to the water.  Their instinct tells them to go downhill, but there is nothing to tell them which direction to go other than downhill.  They will often stop at the first water they find and that isn't always a natural lake - could be a pond or a swimming pool or even just a large puddle.

And yes, the litte bugger did probably scramble into your pond.  You may not see him for a while tho as his very survival depends on his ability to hide from you and the snakes and the frogs and the birds (even a bluejay will take a baby turtle).  The more plants you have in your pond, the safer the little guy will be.  And he won't do much damage this summer . . . he might eat a few baby fish if he can catch them, but mostly he's going to live on bugs and such.

[Celia]

Oh, thank you all, Kay, Debbie, Ester, Marla and Teresa, great information.  I was upset that I was so dumb to have such a light grip on him to let him get away.  I looked down right away, but I had a bag in the way, I bet he got back in the water while I was messing with the bag.  Once he got back in the water I don't believe he can climb out, its steep on all the sides with rock overhang, so hope he made it.  Of course, first thing I did this morning was check the filter basket LOL, no show.  I have quite a few pots of plants, and lilies for him to hide in but some are not grown out from winter yet, still skimpy except for the yellow iris's and the frogs have taken those over.  Thanks again, good information, and I needed it. 

[Esther]

Ha That's what I thought with the little painted we had.  Notice I say had. Somehow he climbed out after about 5-6 weeks and we never saw him again.

[Celia]

Oh No, Ester, don't tell me that.  I thought I had him trapped safely in my pond.   :'(   And, after an attempt at cleaning my pond yesterday, no sight of him, lots of frogs jumping and swimming, but no turtle.  I can only hope he shows up some day.  Thanks for that info though, very helpful to know

[Teresa]

Celia, don't worry about not seeing him . . . right now, at his current size, his very life depends on his ability to hide.  If you can see your pond from a distance, watch closely from far away for him to emerge or come up for air.

And yes, they can pretty much escape from just about anything, but he won't have much reason to leave if there is food and safety now.  He'll move later when he's got a little size on him.  If you start feeding him, he might stay longer and he also might grow faster and be easier to see.  He can and will find sunken fish food on the bottom.  He will also eat things like bits of shrimp or fish dropped to the bottom.

[Celia]

Teresa, thanks for that information, I will watch, I spend way too much time sitting on the deck watching the pond as it is now.  So relaxing, even with my not so great eyes, I can see the frogs little heads stick up in the water, while swimming across or headed for lily pad. Thanks so much