ID this turtle I caught today
- Thread starter balton777
- Start date
It was really soft, I was surprised how easily I could squash his shell, especially underneath.
Is that the name of it?
Is that the name of it?
I would say Apalone muticus aka Smooth Softshell. You gonna keep or did you release it? Wish I could just stroll into a park and find turtles, Oregon sucks.
I think you got it. I googled this but this one didn't have the spots.
http://www.turtlesite.info/other-information/959/Softshell-Turtle---Eastern-Spiny.html
I let it go. I love turtles and couldn't bear to think I was taking a baby turtle out of his habitat and ruining his life for my personal pleasure. We played with him for a while though, he was really cool.
When he saw I was coming for him, it was neat how quickly he dug himself into the sand and hid.
http://www.turtlesite.info/other-information/959/Softshell-Turtle---Eastern-Spiny.html
I let it go. I love turtles and couldn't bear to think I was taking a baby turtle out of his habitat and ruining his life for my personal pleasure. We played with him for a while though, he was really cool.
When he saw I was coming for him, it was neat how quickly he dug himself into the sand and hid.
I can catch plenty of little red eared sliders about this same size but this is the first softshell turtle I've seen. Thanks for the ID, sorry if I disappointed the turtle fans by not keeping him. Maybe one day I'll set up a big turtle tank so I could keep one and grow it out properly. This thing would probably outlive me, huh?
He could certainly reach his head back over his shell like a snapping turtle does. Luckily his mouth was tiny lol.