It depends on how old they are. If they are under 3 weeks you should have a heat lamp on them. Do not let them get in deep water because if they are not old enough they can drown or catch a bad chill and get sick. Feed them UNMEDICATED chick or duck start food. Medicated will kill them. You cannot tell if they are male or female until they have all of their feathers. Do not let them chew on bolts or screw or any knid of hardware because it can kill them. That's all you really need to know. It sounds expensive and like alot but it's really not. I am only 14 and recently bought 4 ducks.

since they are dyed, they were probably for easter so they are no more than like three - four weeks old. The boys have a quieter peep and the girls are louder. The boys almost sound like they have a slight sore throat. As long as you don't keep them very long after they are completely feathered out, they should be ok, just dont baby them very much. If they get dependant on human feeding them then they wont have the wild instinct they need for the pond.

Not sure why the message did not post, but again... we are having serious storms here. I want to send out a BIG THANK YOU!!! You are so unbelievably helpful! EG

Brian, that is a wonderful site on box turtles, I did see them there. There is a photo together of a 6 month ond a year old and a two year old. Three of these guys are a year old and the third could be and just has't got the yellow coloring yet since I had him inside this past month. Hard to believe they are so old for their size. I am planning on releasing them very soon. I hurt their habitant by pulling out weeds in the area I found them. I did have wild blackberries and was trying to get rid them too. It's hard to get rid of that so at least it is coming back, I already did have a tomato plant and some parsely and my blackberry plants there. I've added several strawberry plants, another tomato plant (as I have found they love them). I'm reading on the site about foods they like and would like any suggestions for plant life they eat. I am going to dig out some holes for them, add more leaf matter and some logs for shelter and a shallow body of water ( will keep it clean). Any other suggestions would be appreciated. I think tomorrow mornning will be their day. Dirtgirl, I think you are right. The musk turtle/stinkpot seems to describe them well. I found them in my garden pond and am sure I must have seen an adult once. Actually only the head of it, and it was very different than my sliders. She came to my pond on her and must have liked it. I found these two guys in one of my bog areas. I guess I will have to put up the 'leaf' net early this year so I can privide them protection. Thanks everyone for helping me to understand by your info and sites you sent me to. Education is the way to understanding. For these two types of turtles anyway I see they really need to grow up in their own enviroment. The yellow sliders though did great and are living happily in my pond. It only took a couple of months to get them to the size they could have a chance at life on their own.