Should I let my turtle go?

So, anyway, a couple of weeks ago I found a baby snapping turtle walking through a parking lot. Normally I'd just leave wildlife alone, but I know that snapping turtles need to live in water, and I didn't see any water nearby except for the saltwater in the bay, so I don't even know what a baby snapping turtle was doing there. Anyway, I didn't want the turtle to die of exposure or get eaten by birds/ants, so I decided to take him/her home.

The plan was initially to just use the turtle for photography and then to let it go, but I couldn't really do that because it was still afraid of me and always hid in its shell whenever I got near. So I decided to keep it around for a little while, co that it could get used to my presence. It's still sort of afraid of me, but it's getting more comfortable. Now he sticks his head out of the water to watch what I'm doing. And when I take him out of his container so that I can clean it, he even starts to walk around to see what's going on. So it shouldn't be too long before he's tame enough to let me get some good pictures of him.

But this brings up another problem. He's still only about an inch and a half long (carapace length). At that size, these turtles get eaten by pretty much EVERYTHING. Since taming a snapping turtle involves removing its natural fear of predators, it would be pretty irresponsible for me to keep it as a pet for long enough to tame it, and then to release it into the wild when it's small enough to be prey for just about everything. If I'm going to tame it, I should at least keep it as a pet until it's big enough to have few natural predators. That means keeping it for around 2 or 3 years, at least. That way, it gets a good head start on life, I protect it when it's still vulnerable and small (after all, way more than 90% of these things get eaten before reaching adulthood). Then, by the time I release him, he'll be big enough that he doesn't have to worry about many predators.

But then I started thinking, "what about disease?" It's like...you know how you go to a foreign country and eat the food and get sick, but the people who live there are fine because they've lived there their entire lives? Same principle. Snapping turtles live in swamps and bogs, and those places are dirty as shit. The snapping turtles that grow up there are fine because they've lived there their entire lives and have adjusted to all the bacteria and scum. But what about my snapping turtle? If I keep him for, let's say...5 years, would releasing him into the swamp just make him sick? Wouldn't that just be dooming him to a death by disease?

So I'm almost thinking...maybe I should just keep him for good, and he'll be my turtle friend for life. It might already be too late to release him into the wild as a baby, unless I just want him to die. And if I wait until he gets big enough that he won't get eaten, I might just be dooming him to die from disease. And "dooming him to die" is sort of the opposite reason for why I took him home in the first place. So, should I let my turtle go into the wild? Or should I just go ahead and accept that he's gonna be my new friend for life? If I should I should let him go, when? Should I do it now, even though there's a 99% chance he's gonna get eaten within the next 6 months? Or should I keep him until he gets a little bit bigger, even though that increases the chances of him getting sick once I release him? I'd appreciate your advice on this matter.

PS: I haven't named him yet, but I'm thinking of naming him Mapplethorpe or Witkin. Naming turtles after artists seems to be the "hip" thing to do, and Mapplethorpe and Witkin seem to be appropriate choices since a lot of their art was stuff that people don't want to see. It just seems kind of appropriate. Since snapping turtles are really fucking ugly and no one likes them, it just seems appropriate to name him after an artist who found beauty in "ugly" stuff. Also, with some research I found that snapping turtles actually can get really tame. And even with the danger of them accidentally biting a finger off, that's a myth. There's hearsay and "friend-of-a-friend" anecdotes, but there are no verifiable cases of a common snapping turtle ever successfully biting off an adult human's finger. They just don't get large enough and can't deliver enough force in their bite. So I can sort of see me and Mapplethorpe being bff's in our twilight years. I can picture a cool early autumn night. Clear skies, with the air being breezy and a little bit cool. Perfect weather to sit on the porch and drink a few beers while gazing at the stars, and occasionally tossing some fish at good old Mapplethorpe. I take a sip, he takes a bite, and we both sit there peacefully in the night. Together, two old friends silently enjoying each other's company while we quietly rejoice in what little life we have left. That wouldn't be bad. No, that wouldn't be so bad at all.

Keep it. You practically have mapped out your whole life with the turtle.

I would try to find an owner. Or let it got ASAP since I don't any interest in photographing it.

How long have you kept him? I would probably keep it. You have valid points all around. Because he is a turtle and there are no "landmark" growing stages, the sooner you let him go the better. However, I caught myself a baby pigeon and decided to keep it and now he is my best buddy. At first I wasn't sure. I live in a studio apartment so if he was going to squawk or chirp early in the morning I was going to let him go as soon as he could fly. But he doesn't so I decided to keep and now he follows me everywhere. I even let him outside if its nice out and he comes back every night. I'm really surprised pigeons aren't more popular as pets because he has been a joy. Even if he is a fiesty little bastard sometimes....

I would first consult an expert(like a vet or sth) before making my decision. They might know of a way to return the turtle to its natural habitat without danger of it dying straight away. If your fears turn out to be spot on, I think you'd make a good owner for that little guy.

Anyway, it was a nice read.

lol.

@mrgeeezer:Yep, john beat me to it. But from your post it seems like you've already fallen in love with the turtle so maybe keep it if you think you can give it a good life and and have enough space since those things grow huge, especially the alligator ones =P Also do realise it'll be a long term commitment since they live long (although I remember reading that their life in captivity is a lot shorter, so something to keep in mind if true). Still, your local vet can probably inform you a lot better than we can. All I can say is I'm glad you saved it and I don't think they're ugly at all ^_^

wouldn't it at least take a few generations of domesticated turtles to take away their immunity to the bacteria/scum of their natural habitat? anyhow, i'd suggest you keep Witkin since you seem like a pretty awesome and responsible owner.

@MrGeezer: Yeah, just keep it. You obviously care deeply for it already, so just keep it around and care for it.

Keep it, If it's as young as you said then you've pretty much domesticated it at this point. In worst case there are Zoo's you can contact if you afterwards won't be able to take care of it.

Keep it and learn its sex to identify it properly. If and when you become wealthy, get a bigger habitat for it.

MrGeezer is a daddy! Show us some pictures of the little one.

Thanks for the responses, everyone. I think you've convinced me to keep him for at least 2 or 3 years. That should be long enough for him to get big enough to live in the wild without getting eaten. Any bigger than that and keeping him would be hard (but not unfeasible). Sometime in the meantime I'll get in contact with a reptile expert and find out the best way to prepare him for life in the wild, and the safest places to let him go. But I've gotta figure...even if letting him go into the wild in a few years carries a risk of him getting sick and dying, he's still gotta have better odds than if I let him go as a baby (because seriously, the survival rate for babies is ridiculously low).

Soon! I still want to get him a little bit more comfortable before I start making him pose for me. No snapshots for my turtle, only glamor/fine art photos are good enough for him (with a name like Mapplethorpe or Witkin). And I want to make sure he's comfortable before I put him in a studio environment. But given the progress I'm seeing so far, it shouldn't be long!

If you do decide to release him at some point, I suggest finding a local nature reserve to release him at. He will be able to flourish in a protected area like that. Actually saw the biggest freaking snapping turtle of my life at my local nature reserve. Was like a 2-3 foot diameter shell. Unfortunately did not get to see it close though as some other visitors scared it away by getting near it....

Haha sounds like you want to keep it. Anyways, everyone could use a pet friend and it seems you found yours. I would take him to a vet first though, and maybe get a second opinion from an expert. Other than that, he seems like a pretty good thing to have as a pet.

Just be its sensei.