Releasing a wild caught hatchling
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Hello All, In February I caught a very young dbt in the bayou on my property. The bayou leads to a large Louisiana lake, called Lake Ponchartrain. I’ve kept the little one in a large plastic reptile keeper filled with the same “bayou water” I found him floating in. When I caught him/her, the young turtle measured 1″ x 1.5″. In the last three months the turle has grown in size to 2 x 3. I can tell that he/she needs more room and I am debating whether to release him/her into the bayou or keep the turtle until he is larger (and buying a larger glass aquarium to accomodate his growth). It isn’t my intention to keep him long term. I took him from the bayou because he looked so small and helpless. Now he is an avid eater, very friendly and (I think) full of personality. 🙂 I want to do the right thing by the turtle. How can I prepare him to be released? What’s the best time of year to fo this? And, what size should he grow to in order to given the best chances out there. I don’t want him to be gator bait or bird food……. Any advice is appreciated. Thanks! Renee’
Hi Renee’ Kudos to you for your effort in raising the hatchling! Most organizations that participate in headstarting terrapins do not release them until they are at least 3″. This size greatly minimizes the number of predators that could prey upon them on the East Coast. However, they don’t have gators to contend with either! My advice to you is to find out where adults live and release it at 4″. You could purchase a 20+ gallon tank or tub of some kind to house it in the meantime. If you have the opportunity to observe adults, try to pinpoint their diet and see if you can replicate it for your terrapin, whether it be clams, oysters, snails, crabs, shrimp, etc. This may be difficult, but would be a fascinating exercise for some of us in this group. We would be delighted if you had the opportunity to do this and share your experiences with the group. In my opinion, the best time to release would be in the spring. Food is abundant during this time and it gives your terrapin half the year to adjust to the wild before the colder months. All the best and keep us posted. -Chun — In diamondbackterrapins@yahoogroups.com, “themorels”
Hello Stephen, Thank you for the detailed and prompt reply. You’ve made my decision easy. I’ll buy a larger tank for Flipper and try to find some adult dbt’s in my area. Shrimp, crabs & minnows are plentiful here, so I imagine that would be his “wild” diet. Until now I’ve been feeding him meal worms and repitle pellets. Once I get the larger tank, I’ll introduce him to live minnows. I’ll keep you posted. And thanks again, Renee’Stephen Chew
I would agree with Chun. According to the herpetologist at the National Aquarium in Baltimore, most turtles are “hard-wired” to adapt to the wild after a brief period of “head-starting” and begin feeding almost immediately on the available food sources. In fact, a batch of our released cohort performed perfectly for the cameras of a PBS special. Upon release, the “head-started” terrapins immediately began foraging in the sand, even though they had never been in a sand-substrate environment. An animal that survives 200 million years has to know something about adaptation. GO TERPS!
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