Found Eastern Long Neck Turtle

[rubasurex]

Hello, I have found an Eastern Long Neck Turtle wandering around in my front yard. I believe it might have come from the Logan River here in Queensland. I live about 1km from the river. I guess it has probably wandered its way up here in all the wet weather we have been having. There are a lot of cars, cats and dogs around here so not sure how it made it this far. Anyway, can anyon provide me with advice on the best course of action.

Should I leave it alone and let it wander on its way. It will probably get run over or eaten though, do I don't think this is a good option.

Should I take it back down to the Logan River and let it go there. The river is quite fast flowing. Is that OK for these guys?

Should I call someone instead? Like the council or someone else?

Anyway, thanks for your time.

 

[sarah_m]

I would release it in the nearest body of water to where you found it. Of in doubt, call your state wildlife authority and ask them where they would suggest.

 

[Raymonde]

I would say its more likely to have come from a near by pond/lake than the logan river (you'd be surprised how many there are if you look at google maps), but it depends what section of the logan river is closest to you. If its in the bracken tidal section i think it would be better to release it in an pond or lake, but if your from the higher reaches of the river then the river will be fine (by higher reaches i mean upstream from waterford). Also eastern snake necks like to move around semi permanent waterbodies, so it was probably looking for a new spot, or it is a female nesting.

Fast flowing rivers will be fine, as they are good swimmers and even rivers have slow spots around the edges.

In Brisbane Parks and wildlife deals with wild animals, but they often can't release turtles back to the wild if they don't know where it came from. i had a case where a turtle i had tagged (i research wild turtles in brisbane and put small tags on them for identification purposes) was found and traced back to me so i was able to release it back to the lake it was originally tagged in, but they said that without the tag they would not have released the turtle even though it was found within a 1km of some lakes on a golf course)

 

[rubasurex]

Actually, I've just realised there is a sizeable fresh water lake some 500m from my house. The part of the Logan River that I'm near may be slightly brackish. It has most likely come from the lake then. I'll return it there instead. Cheers. Thanks for your help.

 

[carioca]

@Raymonde: We live in bushland on the NSW Mid-North Coast, close to a few freshwater lakes. I had seen a bird of prey drop a turtle on cleared land next door, then swoop after it to peck at it...
So I wasn't really surprised when one day recently I heard an almighty splash from the green-algae covered tiny pond outside our kitchen, and when I saw a long-necked turtle resting on a bit of bush rock along the edge of the pond I assumed it was the lucky 'sky-diver'. I took a snap for identification and will provide the link if anyone is interested.

A few days ago my wife rescued a tiny long-necked turtle (?) that had got stuck in a chicken wire fence, and put it near the pond - where we assume it has since taken residence. It was similar to a small one we saw trudging along on our access track some 100m from an intermittent creek through our property.

My question: can these turtles survive in such a small pond (say 5 sq.m.) ? Is there anything we can do to make theyr stay more pleasant - e.g. barrring our four geese from frolicking in the pond a few times a day?

Thanks for any pointers!

LMH
(accidental 'custodian' of a 2.2m python, a 1.8m red-bellied black snake, several green tree snakes, land mullets, 3 goannas, 2 water dragons and perhaps other such reptiles)

 

[Raymonde]

I have heard other stories of turtles being taken by birds then dropped on a roof of a house, although that was a hatchling, i would have thought it would be pretty rare for an adult to be taken by a bird but i guess there is an exception to every rule/situation.

I would say turtles can survive in small ponds, so 5 sq.m is heaps, you could never have an large population in there but 2-6 turtles would probably quite happy in a pond that size. i would think depth would be important, but anything over 1m deep is great (2m is better). I wouldn't worry about the geese, wild turtles have to deal with ducks all the time anyway so they'll be fine. Also they will eventually get used to the presence of geese when they realise that the geese are not a threat. As long as there is some vegetation and fish in the lake they should have plenty to eat (depends what species, long-necks are predominately carnivorous while short-necks are omnivores). Maybe some logs sticking out of the water (not too close to the edge) so they can bask (although long-neck bask less frequently than short necks).

Anyway if it is not to their liking they will just leave and go somewhere else. Particularly eastern long necks like to roam around, moving between different waterbodies, its probably the reason OP found one in the first place

 

[carioca]

@Raymonde: Thanks for your reply! The pond actually is a bit bigger when I measure it roughly, perhaps around 19sqm. BUT it is nowhere as deep as 1m! Depending on the rain, it varies from perhaps 60-70cm to maybe 30 cm. So I must absolutely deepen it a fair bit!

Vegetetation is reasonable, lots of rock ledges to slough off their scales, some 'pastures' of pond weeds that emerge when it gets dryier, frogs and yabbies (I believe) also inhabit this pond, and my big red-bellied black snake hunts for frogs among the borders.

Here's a snap of the 'drop-in' visitor:

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-...AAAAAAP_I/suYI5u-1_h4/w500-h333-k/turtle1.JPG

Cheers,

LMH

 

[JAS101]

id leave the pond as is , my ponds are only 40cm deep and the turtles do fine in them .

 

[carioca]

Thanks JAS101... so there's no hurry about deepening the pond. But an error crept into my description about the surface area: it's actually around 9 or 10 sqm.
Cheers,

LMH

 

[Wrightpython]

that is a huge pond and i would think hes in heaven just get some guppies to breed in pond for food and if your lucky enough you cn tame it to take food from your hands. I use to use chicken livers and hearts and the turtles love them. Also any dead mice i had would get smashed by the turtles dragged under water and pulled apart, youd be surprised how aggressive they can be.

 

[carioca]

Thank you, Wrightpython - good tip about the mice! We catch quite a few in traps (the one's that our resident python doesn't get)...
Don't know about guppies, but there seem to be heaps of tadpoles now growing in what has become a sort of 'thick soup'. Hope it rains again soon.

Cheers,

LMH