So I drunk-bought a turtle in New Orleans..

**megastealer** · 07-08-2012, 08:57 PM

So I was on Canal Street after Bourbon and came across this street seller who was selling turtles.

The thing was, they were the cutest little turtles, and they were all in such clean conditions that I was a bit surprised. He said they came from a turtle farm, and I was feeling rather "happy" at the moment, so I bought one of them and carried it around with me all night.

Well, this morning, I woke up and realized I have a new pet. Here are a couple pictures of him. I think I am going to name him Bourbon or Hurricane, but I haven't decided. Maybe Bourbon Hurricane lol.

Can anyone tell what kind of turtle he is???
http://i48.tinypic.com/2m31sbc.jpg
http://i49.tinypic.com/jtkj1k.jpg

The reason I am posting this here is because I wanted to see the feasibility of adding him to my community tank. It is a 20g long, with a fluval 305. Current inhabitants are 7 panda corys, 1 angelfish, 1 dwarf gourami, and a bunch of ghost shrimp.

My plan would be to buy one of these
http://www.amazon.com/Zoo-Med-Turtle...urtle+platform

and let him in the tank with everyone else. I also plan to get rid of the dwarf gourami and angelfish and go with German blue rams in the future.

Here is a picture of the tank: http://i47.tinypic.com/qrhdz5.jpg

**Azurescriber** · 07-08-2012, 09:07 PM

Sorry, he will probably eat everything or take chunks out of them. Needs his own tank, because fish are food. :-P He may also have different heating requirements, etc.

Might be a box turtle, but I'm not an expert. Try a google image search if we can't help.

I LOVE those names. I would go with Bourbon Hurricane. :)

**megastealer** · 07-08-2012, 09:50 PM

I think I've identified him as an eastern painted turtle.

Would you agree?

**smaug** · 07-08-2012, 10:07 PM

diamondback terrapin

**Rue** · 07-08-2012, 10:23 PM

He can go in a smaller grow out tank for now...but you'll need at least a 75g to give him some room...and as he grows he'll need 'out' time for muscle development...so he'll need to wander around 3-5X a week in a turtle safe place...

**Aeonflame** · 07-08-2012, 10:53 PM

They also need a place where they can bask out of the water and access to sunlight or uv light

**Lady Hobbs** · 07-09-2012, 02:01 AM

Get a cheap kids wading pool for him and put him in the back yard.

**Azurescriber** · 07-09-2012, 02:05 AM

Nah he's not a painter. They have a red tint to their streaks.

I bet he will need lots of room to crawl around

**Fishguy2727** · 07-09-2012, 02:22 AM

Not a painted, not a diamondback terrapin.

Most like a yellow belly slider, chicken cooter, or something similar.

Not a fish tank turtle. It needs a basking area where it can get out and completely dry off (a piece of driftwood is fine). It needs a light that provides a lot of UVB as well as UVA, infrared, and white light (I highly recommend a mercury vapor bulb).