Keeping a baby sea turtle as a temporary pet?

[sally666]

Is it possible to keep just one newly hatched baby sea turtle from a beach in Miami in a medium sized indoor saltwater pond/tub? When it gets larger I can release it back into the wild. Has this ever been done before? If not, should I document this in a personal blog website for the public to see?

 

[PharmrJohn]

It is not legal in Florida to do what you suggest. Please do not try.

 

[sally666]

It is not legal in Florida to do what you suggest. Please do not try.

Oh really:

 

[~MD~Reefs~]

Yeah let’s not do that…

 

[PharmrJohn]

Here is the Florida Statute 379-2431 subsection something or other

A person, firm, or corporation that illegally possesses any marine turtle species or hatchling, or parts thereof, or the nest of any marine turtle species described in this subsection, commits a felony of the third degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084.

 

[sally666]

Here is the Florida Statute 379-2431 subsection something or other

A person, firm, or corporation that illegally possesses any marine turtle species or hatchling, or parts thereof, or the nest of any marine turtle species described in this subsection, commits a felony of the third degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084.

 

[shcrimps]

are you trying to justify a felony with a youtube video?

 

[Spare time]

So a guy on youtube doing it means it must be legal?

 

[SpyC]

You keep reposting this as if it changes the legality of keeping a seaturtle. Is there something you need anyone to further explain?

 

[SpyC]

So a guy on youtube doing it means it must be legal?

I did a quick skim of the video and they have a large setup and didn't catch any mention of keeping a seaturtle.

 

[Duane family]

Is it possible to keep just one newly hatched baby sea turtle from a beach in Miami in a medium sized indoor saltwater pond/tub? When it gets larger I can release it back into the wild. Has this ever been done before? If not, should I document this in a personal blog website for the public to see?

You did a great job on building the system 10/10. But I would be very surprised to know that a person with the knowledge to built this system does not know that in pretty much the entire planet of earth, marine turtles are a protected species.

You have a great system there, I'm sure you can come up with some fantastic legal and ethical livestock choices.

 

[VintageReefer]

1) you seem incredibly stubborn. You asked about sea turtles. The law about sea turtles was posted. You reply with YouTubers catching fish as if it’s a justification or valid rebuttal

2) these people are not mentors, role models, and most of the time, aren’t even experienced. They try to gain money from making videos and once the video is over and posted things often get out of control and die, but it doesn’t matter to them. The video was posted and will continue to get money from clicks forever. The purpose is to use clickbait and extreme or unusual situations to gain clicks. Their goal is not about the care of animals

3) most of these YouTubers are so out of touch it’s sickening. I saw one, with a pond, water completely green, and his answer - let’s test the water. He doesn’t own any test kits despite multiple fw tanks and a fw pond. Goes to a LFS and buys - the api test kits. Literally the worst kits you can get

Then, he doesn’t know what the difference between nitrates and nitrites are and he reads the explanation in the manual and then tried to draw a summary but was wrong.

Then he wants to look at the water under a microscope and guess what…sees things moving and is SHOCKED that there is microscopic life in his pond water.

Determined on his own it must be a virus and nukes the pond with some chemical. Loses dozens of fish. And said. Looks like we had a lot of sick fish in here

Sooooo disturbing. Don’t look up to these people

 

[vaguelyreeflike]

Is it possible to keep just one newly hatched baby sea turtle from a beach in Miami in a medium sized indoor saltwater pond/tub? When it gets larger I can release it back into the wild. Has this ever been done before? If not, should I document this in a personal blog website for the public to see?

Baby turtles require specific sets of skills that they learn immediately upon hatching, and for their first few weeks-months of life, such as building muscle to swim by travelling from their nest to the ocean, learning how to evade predators and find food etc.

Keeping one in captivity (illegally especially) would horribly stunt its skills and it would most likely just die when released.

All species of sea turtles are either heavily endangered or on their way to be, so every single surviving turtle matters a LOT for population count, especially when they are still hunted and poached, hit by boats, poisoned, trapped to death etc by humans already.

Please don’t be one of the selfish people prioritizing your own entertainment over the survival of a species.

If you want to experience turtles, get a captive bred aquatic turtle from a legal and proper source. It wont be a sea turtle, but you won’t die without one.

Or go watch them hatch in the wild and help protect them from predators (while keeping a distance) while allowing them to make their journey to sea uninterrupted, it can be an amazing experience to watch and knowing you might have helped one more on its way to adulthood is great. You can often volunteer with the conservation groups assisting the hatchlings.

 

[VintageReefer]

You did a great job on building the system 10/10. But I would be very surprised to know that a person with the knowledge to built this system does not know that in pretty much the entire planet of earth, marine turtles are a protected species.

You have a great system there, I'm sure you can come up with some fantastic legal and ethical livestock choices.

I do not believe any of these tanks in the video belong to OP. In July they posted they never had a sw tank and are planning a 10 or 20g I forget which

 

[Duane family]

I do not believe any of these tanks in the video belong to OP. In July they posted they never had a sw tank and are planning a 10 or 20g I forget which

Thanks for the correction.

 

[Paul B]

To answer your question one can probably be kept "ILLEGALLY" in a pool depending on what type of turtle it is. Some eat jellyfish, some sponges and some living things.

Either way it will not fare well when you are in jail, but if that doesn't concern you, find out what that specific turtle eats in the wild.......Then turn yourself in to the Dept of Environmental Protection.

While you are in jail, the "turtle" authorities will release the turtle back into the sea and maybe send you post cards of it's travels.

Many years ago, they used to sell baby sea turtles in a large store in Manhattan. (Aquarium Stock Company) They sold for $50.00. Now those people can't use their bath tub because there is a 400 pound turtle in it.

 

[twentyleagues]

I really wonder about these posts. I think its gotta be a troll, who doesnt know sea turtles are endangered and you go to jail if you get caught messing with them in anyway. Also the myriad of like wise off the wall stuff. Then they post a video from one of these meatheads looking for internet fame ( I'll admit Paul the first video does know stuff) and I think well they are young and impressionable. Then they dont listen to people who know telling them dont. Is this the "I'm a teenager I know everything" stage? I dont have kids so I have not dealt with it personally. I am still on the fence. I think troll to get a rise, they know exactly what they are doing. Or are they really that dense. No one in any of the videos has a sea turtle. Why are you posting videos of people without sea turtles if keeping sea turtles is the question? So for my own faith in the next generation I am going troll. I refuse to believe the next gen is that out of "touch".

PS... dont watch these guys they dont have the best intensions for their animals its about views, subscribes, and likes not the hobby or keeping animals. You want to watch people keeping animals that actually care look into kamp kenan, Brian Barczyk (rip), Reefer matt probably more I cant think of.

 

[Reefering1]

As a Florida native, I guarantee you that FWC won't be having that. people treasure these turtles, know when they will hatch, and watch the nests. Go ahead, you won't get far

 

[vetteguy53081]

I agree with every comment regarding legalities and reasons not to attempt this. There are many cool and unique creatures within the ocean but also those that need their natural environment for health and survival and also a reason there are challenges and bills from legislature hurting the ability to have fish in captivity.

 

[mariano]

Oh really: