Tortoise or Turtle ID? Help Please.

[Reginald Williams]

Hey my name is Reggi an i live in Louisiana, Recently in the past few weeks there's been a lot of rain and I live close to a river and a nature walk with ponds an canals. So sometimes when my ditch is full of water its common to see a turtle flow by in which i usually catch and release them later. So yesterday this odd looking thing started to swim by like a turtle I've never seen before. It looks so much like a tortoise to me a RedFoot an it acts like one its not scared of anything its never in its shell it has red/yellowish spots on its head an legs and will practically eat out of your hand if u can get away from the bite. I took a few pictures of it and im curious if you guys will be able to identify it. If its jus a normal turtle an im seeing things then all release back where it comes from. But if its a Tortoise then ill continue my research and keep him here. Please let me know.

 

[Killerrookie]

Three toed box turtle I believe.

 

[Reginald Williams]

It looks like it! I just googled it Still pretty cool nothing i've ever seen.

 

[Killerrookie]

It looks like it! I just googled it Still pretty cool nothing i've ever seen.

They are pretty cool creatures!! I use to have a couple of Ornated Box Turtles and man they were fun to have around and I love watching them try to eat a yummy Earth Worm! Oh my I forgot to welcome you to the forum!!! Welcome!!!

 

[Reginald Williams]

Awesome! And thanks I think i'm gonna like it here Also yea im gonna do some more research an ill keep this one wayy to cool to let go.

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi Reggie, and welcome to the Forum!

If the three toed box turtle (Terrapene carolina triunguis) is native to Louisiana, then it may be illegal to have taken it from the wild. Not only that, but because their numbers may be shrinking you are removing an animal from the gene pool. If you want a box turtle, there are plenty of them for sale or in rescues, but please, put this one back (not actually in the water, but close to where you found it).

 

[Tidgy's Dad]

Hi, Reginald and welcome to Tortoise Forum.
Please, please, release the lovely little fellow back where you found him.
It's where he belongs.
if you do want to join the wonderful world of tortoise or turtle keeping, then do some research and get one from a reputable source, maybe one of the dealers on this forum.
Beautiful creature, i can understand you wanting to keep him, but it wouldn't be right.

 

[sissyofone]

That's a beautiful three toed box turtle and a male unless I'm mistaken. If it's native to Louisiana then by all means put it back where you found it asap. Wild animals should be left in the wild. I 100% agree with what @Yvonne G said in her post.