And mud turtles eat ...... what?

[BKHpondcritters]

Ooooh, BKH; I sure hope not. For what it's worth, he has a white strip on his throat. Everything else, dark. Standard turtle face, I guess.

Thx much, JW, for the shot work.

I'll keep checking around to see what I can find. More complex than I expected, I hafta admit ......

Yeah, that white patch on his throat is what I was sort of focusing on as an identifying feature. Size & shape looks like a cooter or slider of some sort, but the pictures I could find of those seemed to have more shell & skin coloration. JRS definitely knows more about turtles in general than I do, though, so take anything I might say with a large grain of salt. Time to bust out the camera + telephoto lens?

 

[researcher]

That's my plan, BKH. When I see Lambchop sunning any day soon, I'll see if I can sneak up beside the house (~50' from the pond) and snap a pic. He's crafty, tho' -- any tiny change in "view" is cause for alarm, to him (I think). And .... down he goes to the depths.....

 

[Mmathis]

@BKHpondcritters and @researcher Could the darker shell coloration be more due to algae rather than being its natural color?

 

[BKHpondcritters]

@BKHpondcritters and @researcher Could the darker shell coloration be more due to algae rather than being its natural color?

Anything's possible. I downloaded the image & then was able to really zoom in. Some areas of the shell did appear to have a more greenish cast which could be algae, but the picture is so fuzzy it's really hard to be certain.

 

[j.w]

Ooooh, BKH; I sure hope not. For what it's worth, he has a white strip on his throat. Everything else, dark. Standard turtle face, I guess.

Thx much, JW, for the shot work.

I'll keep checking around to see what I can find. More complex than I expected, I hafta admit ......

I looked on the net and there is such a thing as a white lipped or white throat-ed mud turtle but it looks as tho the whole underside of the throat is light colored:

 

[researcher]

@BKHpondcritters and @researcher Could the darker shell coloration be more due to algae rather than being its natural color?

Hi, TM; when I liberated the turtle originally (some weeks back), the shell didn't seem to have any green on it -- all just dark.

 

[Scooter2323]

Mitch - That’s definitely not a mud (or ‘musk’( turtle. They only get fist-sized and regardless of their age, their skunky odor is a dead giveaway. Although it’s impossible to tell from the photo, it’s most probably a local species of aquatic turtle. I have 4 species of turtles in my koi pond, and as long as you keep the turtle fed a diet of Tetra Reptomin pellets and the koi food, they won’t bother your koi.
Another indicator as to it not being a mud turtle is that they very rarely leave the water, even to sun. The fact that it was in a hot parking lot tells me the ‘she’ was probably out of the water, looking for a place to lay eggs.
Good luck with ‘her’!

Scooter

 

[Scooter2323]

Sorry - just saw you last reply

 

[researcher]

Hi -- I showed the photo to some locals in SC last week -- they said they have lots of those in a nearby pond. "Cooters". Native to these parts (SC and NC).

I placed a handful of treats by the pond last week; Lambchop seemed to really go for the little American persimmons. The grapes vanished too (but a fox or 'coon or squirrel may've grabbed those). He (?) took a bite of the small paw paw I left out there, but ... abandoned it after that. Not a paw paw aficionado, I guess. I've noticed that he's digging into the stalks of the (once-) huge water lily I have. Needs greens? So, I picked some mustard (or kale?) leaves this a.m. and left for him. I'll keep experimenting.

Thx for the input ....

Mitch

 

[Scooter2323]

Hi -- I showed the photo to some locals in SC last week -- they said they have lots of those in a nearby pond. "Cooters". Native to these parts (SC and NC).

I placed a handful of treats by the pond last week; Lambchop seemed to really go for the little American persimmons. The grapes vanished too (but a fox or 'coon or squirrel may've grabbed those). He (?) took a bite of the small paw paw I left out there, but ... abandoned it after that. Not a paw paw aficionado, I guess. I've noticed that he's digging into the stalks of the (once-) huge water lily I have. Needs greens? So, I picked some mustard (or kale?) leaves this a.m. and left for him. I'll keep experimenting.

Thx for the input ....

Mitch

 

[Scooter2323]

I guess it’s possible that he or she might be eating the fruit, but most aquatic turtles primarily eat bugs, worms, small fish, snails, crawdads - high protein things. They will and do eat some greenery, but it’s not usually the main go-to. I have a tank in the house with hatchling red-eared sliders, and occasionally I would bring home a leaf or two of red leaf or green leaf lettuce and they take to it fairly quickly as well.
Almost all turtle hatchlings that are aquatic survive, almost entirely on snails until they get about Silverdollar sized, as the calcium from the snails helps, build their carapace (shell).
Not sure if you have crawdads and snails snd the like in your pond, but those definitely will sustain a turtle, along with bugs that fall into it.

Scooter

 

[Stephen Noble]

I looked on the net and there is such a thing as a white lipped or white throat-ed mud turtle but it looks as tho the whole underside of the throat is light colored:

View attachment 160203

'Lambchop' looks like an Eastern Mud Turtle. You are in the 'hub' of their habitat given you live in North Carolina. One thing that sort of gives me some doubt however is your description of its size. Football size is somewhat large for those turtles. Are you measuring just the carapace or the total length of the turtle, head to tail? By the way, fall is approaching so caution on feeding the turtle if it is to overwinter outdoors.

 

[researcher]

I guess it’s possible that he or she might be eating the fruit, but most aquatic turtles primarily eat bugs, worms, small fish, snails, crawdads - high protein things. They will and do eat some greenery, but it’s not usually the main go-to. I have a tank in the house with hatchling red-eared sliders, and occasionally I would bring home a leaf or two of red leaf or green leaf lettuce and they take to it fairly quickly as well.
Almost all turtle hatchlings that are aquatic survive, almost entirely on snails until they get about Silverdollar sized, as the calcium from the snails helps, build their carapace (shell).
Not sure if you have crawdads and snails snd the like in your pond, but those definitely will sustain a turtle, along with bugs that fall into it.

Scooter

Hi; thx for the info. I don't have crawdads, and hardly ever see a (shelled) snail, so those as food sources are most likely a no-go. Lambchop seems to chow down on the turtle pellets I give him (protein, carbs, some fat), so maybe that'll work as a supplement -- or more ....

 

[researcher]

'Lambchop' looks like an Eastern Mud Turtle. You are in the 'hub' of their habitat given you live in North Carolina. One thing that sort of gives me some doubt however is your description of its size. Football size is somewhat large for those turtles. Are you measuring just the carapace or the total length of the turtle, head to tail? By the way, fall is approaching so caution on feeding the turtle if it is to overwinter outdoors.

Hi, Stephen; yep, I'm considering the carapace. Pretty large reptile. Most of the comments I've rec'd here state that mud turtles are kinda small -- which Lambchop mos' def ain't ........

He'll be roughing it outdoors for the winter. I'm not sure if these turtles hunker down in a sort of hibernation (maybe in bottom mud?) for the cold months. My pond can freeze over a few times in winter -- hardly ever for more than a day or so, though [although one year, it was frozen over for an entire week(!)]. The pond is 3 feet deep in the middle, and there's a mud layer at the bottom. The fish and frogs go down there in cold weather.

 

[rubyduby]

Okay, I have read all of the threads and you have been given great advice. I just want to add my two cents...I rescued a yellow bellied slider (I am in FL) and put him in my pond. I fed him live meal worms and turtle pellets. He would race to get the gold fish food when I fed my shubunkins...He started out diving as soon as I came out the door but after a week or two I was actually able to hand feed him the live mealworms (you would get the large ones)....Eventually I saw him/her exiting the pond for a couple of feet every day and then going back in...Then, one day I found him/her (Percy was it's name stuck trying to get under my fence so I pulled her out and found a bigger opening and let her go. It was a sad day but I figured that she knew what she needed to do. Now I have a catch basin type of stream in the back of my house so I figured that's where she was headed. If you cannot contain your turtle and you have no pond near you I would take it to a pond so it can winter in the bottom mud....I know it's hard to let them go but I think it would be in her best interest....I don't know of anyone who was able to keep their turtles without containment forever....