Pet Turtles and Rehoming — Turtles Kingston
Why shouldn’t you release an unwanted pet turtle?
When pet owners no longer want to keep their pet turtle, sometimes the decision is made to release the turtle into the wild. This is not an acceptable solution, and it is extremely detrimental to our native turtles! Well meaning pet owners think that their previous pet turtle can settle into the outdoors without consequence, but that is not the case.
Pet turtles expose native turtles to disease!
Pet turtles can expose our native wildlife to unfamiliar bacterias and diseases. They can expose our at risk native turtles to new and potentially fatal parasites. Red eared sliders are also known to carry respiratory diseases that are harmful (and often fatal) to native turtles that have not been exposed to these diseases before, and cannot fight them off.
Pet turtles compete with native turtles for resources !
Released pet turtles compete with native turtles for food, basking sites, hibernation spots, and habitats. This is a major issue as untouched wetlands become increasingly rare in Canada. Red eared slider turtles released into the wild can lay up to four clutches of eggs per year and continue to spread, driving our native species out of their territories and putting them at risk (bcinvasives.ca).
Red eared sliders even look similar to our native painted turtles. Check out the differences below: