All Turtles Message Board

woknblues · Level 1 Joined: 10 Aug 2007 Posts: 7

I live in the Philippines as a student. I have come across a 2 lb turtle this morning after a large 3 day tropical storm and took him in. He was sitting in a busy cold wet driveway (air temperature was about 50-60 degrees overnight in a dirty pool of water.) He will stick his head out on occasion, and has moved around in the shower stall to seek shelter under the curtain. I put down newspaper, and some tomatoes and banana. I think he took a few nibbles of the banana. I need to know what kind of habitat I should prepare for him. If I had to guess, I would say he was not from here. Baguio City is a highly urbanized city with an elevation of about 3,000 feet, but of course, I don't really know for sure. He has a single yellow stripe on his/her head. I have looked at you gallery, but nothing seems to be an "aha!" type.

Any help would be appreciated. I have a few pics, but am not sure how to upload. He/she looks to have had some run ins with local dogs judging by his broken shell near his left rear leg, but maybe not recently, as he has no injury that I can see on his/her legs or whatnot.

Thanks so much,

Joaquin, Karen, and "Henry/Henrietta"
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woknblues · Level 1 Joined: 10 Aug 2007 Posts: 7

I should mention that though I love animals, I don't think that I would want to keep him as I will just have to give him up in 2 years when I return home. I was thinking more of "foster home" and re-release, if possible, though for all I know, he might be an "ex-pet". That would make things more difficult. I have tried to locate his previous owners if any.

Naiialuvr:) · Posted: Fri Aug 10, 2007 8:57 am Post subject:

i really cant tell, you should try getting pics of his/her face.... that would be helpful
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Linzlou83 · Posted: Fri Aug 10, 2007 1:10 pm Post subject:

Is there any sort of turtle/wildlife rescue clinic in the area? The natives would most likely know if it's a wild turtle washed up or if it's someone pet that got loose.

Hard to tell by just the shell, especially where it's not the kind of turtle I'd be familiar with (Native to America or a common pet).

It has a mostly domed shell, so one would think it was a land turtle, but I can't be sure. Aquatic turtles need to eat in water, so if it's a water turtle, then that would explain why it's not eating much.

Try your luck a local zoo or vets office.
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woknblues · Level 1 Joined: 10 Aug 2007 Posts: 7

Well, he does have a pretty high "dome", though it is probably hard to see from the pics. There are vets here, but they have been closed because of the storm. (that still is howling away outside for the most part)

any quick ideas on appropriate foods? I would be surprised if there were proper "turtle foods" here and am not sure if there is a zoo or not.

He is real shy when it comes to portraits. By the time I see that his head is poking out, he goes into full retreat.

thanks for the suggestions so far.

-joaquin

woknblues · Level 1 Joined: 10 Aug 2007 Posts: 7

i had to stand way back to get these. you can see the shape of his head and dome... sorry for the graininess.

Naiialuvr:) · Posted: Sat Aug 11, 2007 12:10 am Post subject:

umm, wow, i've never seen anything quite like it .. but it does reming me of my old mud turtle, try looking into those, the shell reminds me of my old mud turtle i used to have, im sorry i couldnt help much, keep me updated if you figure out anything Smile

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woknblues · Level 1 Joined: 10 Aug 2007 Posts: 7

he is staying on the dry t-shirt bed and not going into the "water pools" i made in the shower stall.

He is not eating anything (mealworms, banana, etc). The rains stopped, should I just let him go somewhere? I doubt that this can be a pet. He is real shy. I found him in a oily dirty puddle. Could he just have gotten screwed up in the 3 day tropical storm and ended up there, from his natural habitat?

He doesn't fit any kind of species that I can find on the internet. . There are no ponds within a few miles of here. Could he actually have made it all the way to the side of a steep mountain from his natural habitat? I can't imagine so.

So I let him go before he starves, or should I keep him longer and see what happens? I have someone interested if he is "pet-able".

There are no vets or zoos around here. Filipinos are not really into "pets" in the way that westerners are.

Naiialuvr:) · Posted: Sat Aug 11, 2007 2:42 pm Post subject:

HE SHOULDNT BE FROM AROUND THERE!!! im sure he was someone old pet that got loose ot couldnt handle anymore, if you let him go he may not survive, just, try to see what he likes and base it on that, he will eventually warm up to you, you should really try to find out if any turtles live around there, kepp it as long as you can, thats all i suggest, you dont want to let him go and he die do you? you should make sure first!!
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Naiialuvr:) · Posted: Sat Aug 11, 2007 2:43 pm Post subject:

he might be sick....... try cut up tomatoes, apples, watermelon, grapes
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woknblues · Level 1 Joined: 10 Aug 2007 Posts: 7

think I found it.

http://www.turtlepuddle.org/cuora/amboinensis.html

Naiialuvr:) · Posted: Mon Aug 13, 2007 5:24 pm Post subject:

awesome! ive never even heard of a aquatic box turtle!!!! so is he form around there? are you gonna keep him?
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woknblues · Level 1 Joined: 10 Aug 2007 Posts: 7

so after a week of a shy, quiet, kinda grumpy looking turtle, he has gone through a metamorphosis, so to speak. He is finally eating, I bought him some turtle food, but he is eating the apples and other stuff, as long as it is "in the water".

I was in the hardware store buying him a basking light, I came across some plastic paint roller containers. they are ramped and end up with a 6" deep "pool" on the end. I bought two, and put food in one, and keep the other clean. He went right in and started eating. He walks around in his "habitat" now like a king, neck about 4" long looking around at everything. I was real worried he wasn't gonna make it. It looks like he is fine now.

I talked with a pet store owner. They had about 30 of these for sale. They are endemic to this region, and are 50% aquatic. They have semi-webbed toes and like moderate to cooler climates. This one seems to be a potential sub-species of the one I linked to above. (perhaps this is yet unclassified?) The elevation here is 1500 meters and a cool 75 degrees average temperature, whereas the one classified in the website is a lowland turtle, requiring tropical temperatures. Maybe I need to brush up on my binomial nomenclature and name this species!

Anyways, as I mentioned, I purchased a nice warm halogen light that I am hooking up for him. It's a 150 Watt. I was running my rice cooker for warmth (sans rice) and a florescent bulb (just a little one, low watt cool running). They don't have any special reptile UV bulbs at this place. Anybody have any suggestions for alternative? I am pretty handy and can rig up electrical stuff OK. Is the heat/basking lamp enough or does he really need UV? Also, about the light, on all the time or just during dawn till dusk?

Anyways, I let off here. gotta wire up this lamp and screw it down onto a piece of wood or something.

Naiialuvr:) · Posted: Thu Aug 16, 2007 7:23 am Post subject:

awesome! Im glad he's the "king" now.... have you tried cutt up tomatoes?
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torifritz30 · Level 2 Joined: 26 Jun 2007 Posts: 90

i have an eastern box turtle and it sorta looks like that but i am not quite sure ....good luck and he/she will get to know you and stick his/her head out when you are pretty close!! once again good luck!

Linzlou83 · Posted: Thu Oct 25, 2007 4:24 pm Post subject:

Thanks for sharing your story! Hope he's continuing to do well and enjoying his new life in captivity.
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skslover · Posted: Sat Nov 17, 2007 8:29 pm Post subject:

i cant quite recal the name but its some type of mexican thing ugh man and um i know its worth about 60-70 dollars if you buy it but sometimes you find them in weird places and lots of times they were never pets just decendants of pets but check just in case cus i think that may be a rare turtle ill check it out and let you know ^_^
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