looking for "baby" red eared turtles-WA

[evrimoral]

Hi, I am living in Seattle. I wanted to adopt two "baby" red eared turtles one month ago, but since the sale of them (baby ones) is illegal, I had to order one pair from Florida. However, when I received them, they were dead (and it was natural because they changed 3/4 planes and waited 1 or 2 nights outside inside a little plastic box). Anyway, they told me that they will send a new pair which they did. I received the new pair last week on Thursday. One of them was really small, the other one was a little bit bigger but more shy, but at least they were alive when they were at home. The smaller one was really very active in the first two days, she/he (I bred 4 turtles before, so I know almost everything about them, except I still don't know how to identify their sex exactly, I am sorry) was eating well and very active. I don't know what happened to her/him but three days ago I noticed that she/he was moving very very slowly, always sleeping and not eating anything. I tried my best, tried to keep it warm and feed but she/he went worse and this morning she/he died. So, now I want to adopt another baby pair (I will have 3 turtles then) but I don't want to get them from a far state, because I don't want them to spend 3/4 days in cold without any food...Any help would be appreciated. Also, if you have any idea why the small turtle changed suddenly (because initially, it looks like it was healthy), please let me know.

[amysres]

First Things First If You Do Get More Turtles Get More Information Before You Get Them Please Baby Turtles Are Illegal For A Reason ( Two Of Yours Have Died) I Don't Mean To Sound Crabby But This Really Saddens Me Baby Red Ear Sliders Get Sick Verry Easy Espically From The Extra Stress Of Shipping. Unfortunatally Most Hatchlings That Are Sold (illegally) Don't Make It Partally Due To The Fact That Most People Dont Know That When Those People Who Do Sell Them Like That Don't Give The Proper Care Right From The Start And The Way They Keep Them Most Of Them Start Their New Lives With A Respatorey Infection Or Phnemonia I Had 4 Hatchlings I Got My Hands On Hopeing That They Wouldnt Fall Into The Wrong Hands And One Of Them Did Have Phnemonia But I Knew What To Watch For. Put Them In A Smaller Tank With Water Enough To Swim And A Place To Bask Under A Basking Light Don't Keep Them In This Tank All The Time Just Off And On To Check Their Health Statius When I Did This I Noticed That One Of Them Was Floatting Lopsided( I Could And Did Not Notice This In Their Big Tank) Then I Watched And Sure Enough He Was Blowing Bubbles Out Of His Nose And They Also Do What Just Appears To Be A Yan But This Means They Are Gasping For Air, Well I Knew That We Better Take Him To The Vet Right Away He Got Antibodics And We Boosted His Water Temps Up ( This Helps To Also Boost Their Immune Systems) He Would Not Eat Verry Well So On Top Of Feeding Him His Regular Broken Up Turtle Stix ( For Easy Eatting ) I Also Fed Him Blood Worms They Are Supposto Help With Energy Once I Got Him Eatting A Littel Better I Started To Add Things Of His Regular Diet Back Into The Mix He Started Off By Only Eatting Maybe One Bite A Day But The Antibodics Started Working And Now He Is Doing Wonderfull,, But Part Of My Point Is That Had Someone Else Got Him He Would Most Defanatally Be Dead Right Now!!!! Do You Have A Vet You Can Take A Turtle To If You Get More My Vet Is Not An Actual Herp Vet But With Our Knolage Of Animals Combined We Make A Great Team And She Can Figure Out The Correct Doseages Of Meds To Give The Babies ( It Is Not Easy Trying To Give A Turtle That Small His Meds Trust Me) Well I Hope This Is At Least A Starter And Some Helpefull Advice If You Do Get More But Please Do Your Reasearch For The Turtles Sake And So You Don't Have Another Heart Breake By The Way What All Do You Know About Turtles ( Do You Know How Big They Get And How Much Room Three Of Them Will Need They Take Alot Of Room I Have 6 Red Ear Sliders They Are All My Babies Please Feel Free To Ask More Quiestions And I Am Really A Nice Person I Will Help You In Any Way I Can If You Want To You Can Email Me Also Just Let Me Know Its About Turtles And I Will Respond. Good Luck And Let Us Know How It Goes And Welcome To Our Little Turtle Community.....

[evrimoral]

Hi Amysres,
First of all, thank you very much for your message. Actually, in my home country (I am from Turkey), adopting *baby* turtles are legal :) and I have had 4 very healthy of them there :) Now, they are nearly 3 years old and my sister keeps looking after them. I wanted to adopt baby ones again here, because if you take them when they are small, you can domesticate them; maybe not as much as a dog or a cat, but, for example, the ones that I have had were even recognizing me. Anyway, I love turtles, big or small...The one that I have here is very healthy now. He is still shy, but he has grown and become a very healthy turtle. He eats all kind of food which makes me very happy. The only thing that bothers me is, since I have not adopted any turtles yet, he seems to me very lonely. But for the reasons that you also mentioned in your message, I am not going to adopt any from another state.
Many thanks

[MonkeyGirl]

I Have 2 Very Small Red Ear Gliders I Purchased from a Pet Store in Montana... There they DID Sell Turtles UNDER The FOUR Inch Legal Size (Smaller then a Half Dollar Coin)... Now I am not Sure if they still do or not... I Do know that they do still have them in there store as I was just there last week. I Also Live in Seattle, WA and I have had My 2 for 5 Years now But they have only Maybe doubled in Size, One has Maybe Tripled...
Females Have Long Claws and Thicker Tails... Males Do Not...
There is One Pet Store That I Know of That Does have the Smaller (Legal Selling Sized) Red Ear Sliders... It is Midway Tropical Fish & Pet in Des Moines Right Accross From the Midway Swap & Shop on Pacific Highway and 240th...
Hope this Helps...