Map Turtle

I have a Map Turtle that was purchased as a small baby (for educational purposes) and is now about five inches long. The serrated scales on the side of the shell are pretty cool. The Turtle also has a highly detailed skin featuring yellow stripes on her dark green skin. After the Mud Turtle died, we wanted to get another friend for the little red-ear slider. Small Mud & Musk Turtles are rarely available in the average Reptile store, and especially in the Fall months. So we found a baby Map Turtle, and he is getting along fine with the baby Red-Ear and the small Musk Turtle. One big happy family. That is a great thing about turtles. They usually get along very well, and they seem to live in harmony except when they are trying to get the same piece of food. They climb on each other to bask in the sunlight, and they do not seem to have any major hang-ups!

Little Snapping Turtle & Slider

These two eventually got pretty big back in the 1990s

Little Red Eared Slider

We visited a local reptile pet store as we often do to look at the many interesting critters. I guess it is called window shopping. The usual suspects were there, incarcerated in their terrariums and aquariums, and some were in little plastic trays. The feeder rats, mice, pinkies, and bloods had just been delivered. You could see the big rats red eyes were looking for a way out as they scrambled around in their delivery crates.

Spotted a batch of small red-eared sliders. These guys were very young and full of pep. The red-eared sliders were $5. each, the snapping turtles were $25. and the soft-shell, map turtles, and painted turtles were $20. each. Three of the turtles in our aquarium were now getting close to five inches long and they were purchased as little babies originally (for educational purposes).

Picked a very energetic little fellow. He/she is doing great so far, getting lots of sun and artificial lighting at the basking places in a long twenty gallon aquarium. Reptile aquariums are horizontally longer and vertically shorter.

Alligator hunting for snacks?

What chance does a turtle that lived in captivity for several years have against Nature's Predators? Once a turtle is used to swimming around in an aquarium where it only has to face goldfish, what chance will it have if it is released into the wild?