Can't he live in your bog? Love that red flame and green racing stripes, looks like he is fresh from episode of Pimp My Turtle.

btw, you scared me, thought you hurt your back, read further and thought for sure you must have also bonked your head a good one, LOL!

I would take him but DH won't go for it, your too far away. Already starting yelling no way when I told him about Laurel Lilly's caterpillar George. Think he thought I wanted him to go pick George up like we did Sasha. LMBO

Maybe you could give him to a school
PJ, Susan just likes Iguanas, if you rescue one, send it her way

Sorry to scare you! I was so strange/scary to see this guy booking it down the 20 fwy. He has a couple chips in his shell where he had to have landed back first, hard. Poor guy! My bog is way,way too small for a red eared unfortunatly. I really don't want one. They have a tendency to corrupt the water. The bog is mostly leaves/dirt now. Nothing for him to swim in at all.
I know quite a bit about these handsome turtles. To live in captivity,they need expensive lighting. (I have bred reptiles etc...)They also need excellent filtration. They get stinky and are high maintenance. They also carry samonilla much more easily than their dry cousins. I would feel very uncomfortable having him (he's grown) in a tank. These turtles really do best in full,natural sun in a pond. A stock pond is ideal! He doesn't really need people to take care of him. He needs a somewhat natural place to live out his life! Know anyone with a stock pond? He hates his cardboard box! There is a lady up the street with a turtle pond but she wasn't home. I'll probably try her again.PJ

Ms. Red eared turtle friend,"Freeway Freddita"(I sexed her) found a fantastic home in what must be the most gorgeous private wildscape pond I've ever seen! I'm headed that way this weekend for Carolann's wonderful plant swap. There is usually a tour of her neighbor friend's lovely pond. I usually add to the level of the pond with my drool. Heck, I'd wouldn't mind spending time around that picturesque spot of water. Lucky turtle! PJ

PJ, Terry is so happy you found Freeway Freddita for her.

I can just picture you running down the freeway in the rain to rescue her. What heroism!

A proud moment for turtles everywhere.

I am so glad you found a home for the turtle.

I do not want it, nor one like it. It would love it in my pond, but my DGS would be wanting to shoot it with a BB gun for eating the fish. I would be wanting to shoot it too, if it ate the fish.

Turtles are always happier in Dallas.

Janie

I was gonna suggest a quiet inlet at Benbrook Lake, but you already found a home for Frddita ;-) Red-eared sliders are cool, but I hear they have quite the bite when they get that large. The better to catch dinner, I suppose.

Dallas...heaven forbid!! He'd get run over in Dallas. That traffic scares me to death.

Joshua is much better.

I thought I knew more about these lil guys than I actually do. I have a question! Has anyone seen a map turtle,red slider or other "smaller"(not as big as snappers that get 150lbs!)in a big lake like Lake Benbrook? I never have seen these turtles in anything bigger than a big pond. I don't see how they'd be able to bask safely or even navigate lake waters.Anyone know? PJ

I think releasing him into a local lake would be the best solution for your turtle. He needs to be back in his habitat - not in someone's backyard. He will be much happier if you return him back to where he belongs.

PJ, I grew up water skiing and the turtles always manage to find a quiet cove to haul themselves out on a partially submerged log. When we would pull into a cove to rest, have a coke or whatever, they would all slide off into the water. Mom and Dad used to have a lake house out here too in a nice cove and they were common there.

I'm glad you found a home, I was going to offer the stock tanks out in my pastures.

Kristi

denisew, I totally see your point. This turtle was h*ll-and-gone from the Benbrook Lake. I believe she was either from a body of water in the back woods along the freeway(not sure) or from one of the cattle stock tanks from along the same area(seems to be the most likely..that's what I saw the most of)Even then, the freeway isn't really on top of those areas. There's also how in heck she got past the retaining wall she fell off of.(She has chips in her shell where she landed on her back.)
The back yard where she's been rehomed is around a couple acres built in an envelope(they saved the surrounding woods as much as possible for people's yards). Her new home looks like a house that sprung up in the middle of the woods. The lady who lives there added a shallow,good sized wildlife friendly pond and lots of plants. There are houses, with the woods in tact, all around her. She is free to come and go. I understand that other wild turtles have made this pond their home as well so she will be able to go back to pretty much being a wild turtle with them. Wouldn't want her to live out her life without Mr turtle! LOL!PJ
Thank you Kristie :^) PJ

Oh, happy story! Thank you PJ, for rescuing the turtle! I was gonna tell you about a stock tank in Italy, but no need now. Also, for future reference, the Fort Worth Nature Preserve has a place called Greer Island and it's a very turtlish place. At least I think it's still there.. okay, yeps.

Here is a link that might be useful: Ft Worth Nature Center

Forget the turtle I wanna go! LOL! Thanks for the link it really sounds neat there.PJ

Yeah, I used to go there as a kid a lot. I had sort of forgotten about it until you mentioned a turtle needing a home. Reminds me of when we used to have "turtle weather" and it would "smell like turtles" outside. That was the way I thought of it. Rainy spring weather.

What is it with all the turtles in the road? I caught two on my way home from work with 5 miles of the house! The first was a large red-eared slider that I rehomed in Kristi's stock tank...thanks Kristie! Then, five minutes later, I found a smaller, but deady looking little turtle with a long, alligator looking tail.He was some sort of snapper by looking at his mouth/beak. He didn't even bother pulling inside his shell when I picked him up. I met a nice neighbor lady who came out to see why I had stopped in the road in front of her house, she offered to let me rehome that one in her stock tank. They were also far from the Lake and probably got washed downstream with those heavy rains last week. Once, in The Colony, after and during a heavy rain, the drainage pond down the street overflowed it's banks and turtles were rolling/washing down the berm into a field. Hubbie and I relocated 5 large turtles that day to the edges of Lake Lewisville.

Pam

PU and Pam the turtle relocation team! LOL! PJ

I give you both platinum and 24 karat gold stars! faux.

Yay! Glad all these nice turtles have new digs! UT has a turtle pond by the Tower and I have lots of good memories hanging out there. Very peaceful. I wish I had one in my backyard!

Here is a link that might be useful: UT Turtle Pond

I wish I had that pond too!!! PJ