I have a southern river cooter and a yellow bellied slider. They live in a 200 gal tank with several goldfish (2" to 9"), and a few snails.
I never knew turtles were so cool. I mean, I’ve always liked sea turtles and stuff, but having actual turtles on my patio is a real game changer for my general sense of happiness and well being. I mean, I’ve always had a good sense of happiness and general sense of well being…but I do really enjoy my turtles.
A friend of mine had a turtle, kept her indoors in a tank, and occasionally gave her a treat to swim in the bathtub (which she had to scrub out after).
During covid, the turtle was a close companion. My friend made the mistake of feeding her shrimp–after that, she turned up her nose at turtle food.
I don’t keep them as pets (anymore, that is), but I still rescue turtles off the road and will take them to my vet to be fixed or PTS, whichever is required.
A long time ago, I met a guy who had a contract with his state’s fish and wildlife department (I think) to raise alligator snappers for release into the wild - around here, they are both native and endangered. He had ponds in his back yard for them, and in his house, he had a HUGE tank for his oldest male. That turtle had to weigh 60 lbs. He was massive.
Turtles are just cool. They just want to do their thing. Even the snappers won’t bother you if you aren’t bothering them.
I am surprised they have not decimated your goldfish!
Once upon a time, the earth was still warm, we inherited a couple of red-eared sliders.
They enjoyed a meal of ground meat now and then, or heartily bit one’s digits, depending on the circumstance.
Fast forward a couple pf decades, we purchased same species of turtle. Her accomodations where more rustic. Sadly, she got away at some point, still sorely missed after a decade or so.
In the meantime some sort of native turtle thing showed up in the backyard, and promptly was placed in the kiddy pool and supplied with minnows from the local baitshop.
All I can say, those beasties are vicious!
But oh, so cool!
A couple of years ago, my dog found a box turtle in the yard “MOOOM!! LOOK!!! This rock has |LEGS!!!”
It seems like turtles can and do climb fences (because all my yards have been fenced in with chainlink) Who knew.
I am considering another go at turtles, but for now I have enough on my plate.
My BFF from HS had a tortoise for 50+ years. She found it when she was a kid and it lived in her backyard. Over the years she made it a pretty habitat --stone walls, heated house, shade plants. His name was Tardis –
Two years ago, Tardis knocked over his heating element and burned her house to the ground. She posted on FB that she had saved him, (he was well over 50 pounds by then) but had her hair and eyebrows singed off when she did so. Her cat and dog were also ok, getting out by themselves.
Tardis had melted insulation on his shell and needed extensive, specialized veterinary care --she surrendered him to Tortoise Rescue (who knew there was such an organization?) who found a Tortoise Specialist who treated his shell issue and his raspatory concern (smoke inhalation). The organization paid for everything and arranged his transportation. Tardis now lives in a sanctuary with another tortoise about his size.
I asked her if she missed him. She said, “Not really. This is the first winter I’ve ever had when I didn’t worry if Tardis was too hot or too cold in his house.” She visits him. We are both in our early 70s, so I understand her wanting what’s best for Tardis.
I used to live about a mile from a good sized creek. One day, in my manicured back yard, I was gardening and a clump of dirt caught my eye.
It was the teeniest little baby snapping turtle! I have no idea how just one got there. My best guess is a bird or other predator dropped him.
You know that saying you have turtles and not supplying a photo is a crime!!
I do not keep turtles – but they are one of my favorite animals. They also seem to show up in my life constantly - to the point even my coworkers will send me a picture of a turtle or pick up turtle themed things.
I will always pull over to help a turtle. Even if it is a huge snapping turtle and it’s pissed about it.
Just some turtle photos taken over the years!
A very angry snapper I helped cross Rt 2 outside of Boston:
A painted turtle laying eggs in my yard:
Close up of one I picked up out of the road:
A VERY inquisitive sea turtle in FL:
The sign my coworker made for me when I was fussing about the baby turtles crossing our parking lot ( 
)
A very lazy tortoise:
A turtle with NO eye that I moved off of the intersection:
A snapper laying eggs right in front of my work parking spot:
A snapper in my yard:
Another snapper in my yard - this one had NO sense of urgency:
A painted turtle just outside the horse paddock:
A beauty in my yard:
And a sassy snapper:
Interestingly enough, the last two photos were taken the same day, exactly 12 hours apart. I saw the first one when I left for work, and the second one driving home!
I will have to find the photo of the baby snappers and report back.
Thank you for sharing!!! I love turtles and like you, will stop just about anywhere to help one in the road. Funny that you don’t realize how fast cars are going until you are standing on the side of the road with a little fella in your hand waiting to get him were he is going.
My most recent road rescue as a huge slider. Just gorgeous! 
I ha mve tortoises, a male and a female. He is in his nineties and she is in her seventies, I inherited them from and old lady who could no more look after them. They live in our yard (currently they are preparing for Winter hibernation) and they are very funny, expecially the male, he’s very curious and likes to hang out with us when we are in the yard. They had 3 babies who will spend the Winter with us inside because they are too small for hibernation
When I was a kid, we lived in a brand new development, close to a decent sized stream.
Every year, there was a decent sized female snapping turtle who dug a hole, and laid her eggs, right on the shoulder of the road in front of our house. Apparently that was as close as she could get to her traditional laying place, which was presumably under the (paved) road.
This is Professor Chaos and General Disarray. Prof. Chaos is the bigger one, the one smiling at the camera. He’s very friendly and will take food out of my hand.
General Disarray is quite shy. He’s in the first picture apparently asking Prof. Chaos if he’s sleeping. I very rarely get a picture of him.
I finally got pictures of mine - the painted is one I rescued from my driveway this spring as a hatchling. Since there are not any ponds close, I can only assume she was dropped off by a bird. Did not think she would make it…but she’s doing great and growing. Call her “Turt” well, just because I didn’t think she would survive and now it sticks…
Ninja is a yellow-bellied slider I got a few days ago - he is 11, someone had him for 10 years, gave him to another family who had him for 1 year until they got divorced. He was in skank water and I had to scrub the poop off his back. He’s so friendly it’s amazing! Now that I know how they can be, I am focusing on working on Turt to get her more used to handling.
.
The pictures don’t who how much bigger Ninja is than Turt.
Have your horses had a glimpse of a moving turtle? If so, what was their reaction?
Paco is terrified, literally. He can’t stand the view of that strange and surely dangerous animal. Berta is not bothered at all, but she’s always been the “been there, done that” kind of horse
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