Stinky

[Cooky_luvs]

Stinky is my Dad's turtle, we found her when we were out fishing. She just walked by u, stopped and staired..lol. We were'nt sure weather to bring her home or not but after seeing all the dead turtles on the road we decided we would. Here's some pics, we've had her for about 8 months now.

Hey you came to see me!

How bought sending some food down here?

Which on should I eat first!?

Food at last!

P.S. If anyone notices she lives with guppies. Oddly enough she doesn't eat them.

 

[SPLiSH]

Stinky is beautiful! I love turtles.

What do you mean, 'All the dead turtles on the road'?

 

[Cooky_luvs]

Stinky is beautiful! I love turtles.

What do you mean, 'All the dead turtles on the road'?

There was a bunch run over turtles with flattened/broken shells. So sad Where we were fishing (by a bridge) there was a spill way on one side of the street and the lake on the other, the baby turtles must have been crossing over.

 

[wendywc]

I too have seen alot of run-over turtles and strays. I hate people who purposely run down animals.

Cooky_luvs, it's great you took one in! Where are you loacted at? Here in Houston (which is a bayou city), there are lots of turtles. My hubby and I have stopped several times to get turtles off the street. We then take them to Armand Bayou Park -- where they'll be protected.

Anyway, Stinky has such a cute, mean face.

 

[TracyRene]

Cute little Stinkpot! Common Musk turtles (aka stinkpots) are one of my favorites! How big is he?

 

[Cooky_luvs]

Common Musk turtle, Is that what she is? I just looked up pics and they are similar. My dad said she was a snapper, and me not knowing much of turtles never knew. She's about 4 inches big now. My dad has always had a soft spot for turtles, he also has a big box turtle (about 7") that has only 3 legs and tons of tooth marks on her shell. She's a lucky girl that what ever attacked her didn't finish the job!

 

[timmystood]

That's cool that she lives with guppies!

 

[mantis147]

Cool Turtle!!

 

[TracyRene]

Common Musk turtle, Is that what she is? I just looked up pics and they are similar. My dad said she was a snapper, and me not knowing much of turtles never knew. She's about 4 inches big now. My dad has always had a soft spot for turtles, he also has a big box turtle (about 7") that has only 3 legs and tons of tooth marks on her shell. She's a lucky girl that what ever attacked her didn't finish the job!

Yup, she's a Common Musk, they are also referred to as "StinkPots" (which makes it kinda funny seeing as how you guys call her "Stinky!") they are called stinkpots because they have small glands on the underside of their carapace that produce a yucky smelling musk in self defense, although captive stinkpots don't do this often! I can't see the tail in your pictures to tell you if it is a boy or girl, but it's pretty easy to tell.......males have large tails almost the size of one of their back legs and female tails are smaller and skinnier. Also, they are smaller turtles and full grown they are between 4" and 5".
Snapping turtles get HUGE! Average size is 12" to 15" and they can get up to 19"! They look like this......

If you need any help or suggestions on the care of Common Musks let me know! I'd be more than happy to share what I know!

 

[Cooky_luvs]

Lol yeah I thought it was ironic that we named her Stinky, now that we know what she is..haha. I told my dad today and he looked them up, he had always heard of Musk turtles but never had seen one, well now he owns one It's great that they don't get big, we were afraid of having to upgrade to a *huge* tank to house a snapper. Oh and we're positive she's a girl, she laid about 3 eggs shortly after we brought her home. Thanks for the info, I'm glad to know what she is, that way we can take care of her even better.