Found animals
In principle, abandoned or runaway tortoises are male and often unattractive.
It happens more and more often that in Lake Constance and the oxbow lakes of the tributaries, especially the Argen and the Schussen, turtles are sighted and also caught.
An acquaintance came across a teenage mute turtle on a bike tour through the Eriskircher Ried near Friedrichshafen.
An approximately 30 cm large red-eared jeweled turtle ran across the street in front of my car in Nonnenhorn / Bodensee.
My son caught a very rickety, full-grown red-eared jeweled turtle in the mouth of the Argen.
The most spectacular find to date was made by an acquaintance on March 30, 2002 while cleaning up and cleaning in one private boat harbor in Nonnenhorn / Bodensee. Without knowing it, he took a snapping turtle out of the cold lake water under the driftwood and scrubbed it free of algae in the bathtub. At the time, this find triggered a veritable stir in the press. I was not only interviewed by newspaper reporters and radio stations, even 3 television stations came to film this “monster”. Unfortunately, for copyright reasons, I am not allowed to publish newspaper articles here.
Today, snapping turtles and vulture turtles are no longer as spectacular as they are found over and over again.
In the past, countless turtles were given to me. Not all of the found animals, however, some were brought to me by previous owners because they could not or would no longer keep them. In the meantime I have passed all animals on to known pond owners and am no longer able to take in turtles.
Aquatic turtles are and are still much too cheap, especially in Mediterranean countries, when they have outgrown the cute youth stage, simply disposed of in the next stream. The streams flow into rivers and sooner or later the turtles end up in Lake Constance.
Turtles have even been found in our sewage treatment plant.
Tortoise finds were rare just a few years ago. This was not least due to the then still higher purchase price.
Many years ago I was brought a Russian tortoise, which was still semi-adult at the time. She was found on a meadow in the Kressbronn hinterland. In the meantime she has developed into an adult male.
The development has changed a lot since around 2005. More and more homeless tortoises are found again and again. In the meantime I came across various tortoises and a box turtle that I found. I was able to refer most of the animals. Some live with me. The found animals are all male, very humped misshapen turtles that no one wanted to have anymore. Females are still too rare and have not yet been released by their owners.
Again and again I am also offered tortoises, which the owners no longer want or can no longer keep. Unfortunately, I am no longer able to accept or convey such animals. There have just become too many.
