A Turtle Hotel

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Someday when I have a big yard, I like the idea of having turtles around. The problem is, as much as I like animals, I'm just not good at taking care of pets. I get bored with them after awhile and there's more cleaning than fun. (I know, everyone's probably gonna judge me, but whatev.) So I was wondering, what if I just play with wild turtles instead? Not like, snapping turtles, just nice little ones. Like maybe I could build a little pond and other cool stuff that turtles like, and grow some lettuce and such for them to eat, and then they could just kinda hang out in my yard. And hopefully lay their eggs here and then I could see the babies. I would try to do things that would attract turtles and make them want to live around me, but I wouldn't really take care of them. And by that I mean I would not take them to the vet or bring them inside for the winter, but I would be still be helpful like make sure they don't get stuck anywhere or get picked on by neighbor pets/children. Essentially they wouldn't belong to me, they would belong to nature. But I would just visit them sometimes. And if some of them get eaten by wolves or decide to move away to another place, so be it.

What I'm not quite sure about is how to acquire turtles. If I build it, will they come? Or could I find turtles in the woods and bring them? I know everyone always says "Mustn't disturb their natural habitat!" But honestly this would still BE a natural habitat and they would be so happy with me; other turtles to mate with, delicious food and water, a prime place for nesting, and no dangerous roads. I guess I would actually be helping the well-being and population of turtles. Or could I even buy the turtles? From what I know so far, there doesn't seem to be a line between wild and domestic turtles. People have said they put their pet turtles outside and they did a lot better than they did indoors. Also when I was a kid I got a turtle from the pet store, and the guy said they got the turtles by helicoptering around and looking for them. And I'd like to note that my "wild" (?) turtle never bit anyone and he wasn't afraid of much, just like you'd expect a pet to be.

So tell me, would my idea possibly work? Would turtles like to stay with me for at least a little while and also invite their turtle friends? I don't even know if turtles can tell each other things, but it would be awesome if a satisfied customer leaves and then runs into another turtle and be like, hey bro there's tons of food and ladies over that way, check it out! And maybe some turtles would stay forever, or at least come back every year, because I mean they'd have everything they needed here.

Oh, and I'd also maybe like to make nice places for butterflies, birds, and frogs to hang out. Do you think I could also successfully attract those things? And would they not eat each other too much, especially if their homes were on opposite sides of a large property or something?

By the way, when I say "turtles" maybe I mean "tortoises"? I don't really know the difference, but aren't there like sea turtles with flipper-hands and then land turtles that only like a little water, and then something in between that can swim but also hangs out on land? Maybe everything that doesn't have flipper-hands could enjoy my yard.

P.S. Please no turtle rights activists yell at me, I know I'm not perfect but I just want to be a casual turtle friend.

Skilpadde would love this too.

I think it would be more work to keep up with their habitat than it would be to take care of a pet turtle.

Ah, Skilpadde the moderator... well I hope she sees this topic, then.

Heh, I would have to think of how to make the most low-maintenance habitat ever.

Two ways I can think of:
1. Live on land that already has a pond or river
2. Live next to / within walking distance of park land that has a pond or river

My spouse and I kept tortoises some years back, in a large outdoor enclosure. It was as you presume, a lot of work. A far better alternative we now know is to learn where to observe turtles & torts in nature. They are almost anywhere there are ponds and rivers, once you've learned where to look. Three blocks from my child's school I noticed the road passed over a small drainage stream. Sure enough, when I got out to take a look (I was early) there were several turtles out sunning themselves on the road bridge concrete pads.

Could work, but there are other options.

You could find a local park or pond where turtles already live and just go visit them there in their natural habitat. Well, "natural," as in many cases they are someone's released pet. But yeah, if your climate can support turtles chances are there are places you can go find some to visit near you already.

Then there are aquariums and pet stores. You could see some here.

A much more elaborate option is to plan a vacation to a tropical destination where you can snorkel/swim with sea turtles. My brother and his gf did this off the coast of some Caribbean island last year.

I am hoping to not have to resort to other options; I'm sure I technically could just go to a stream somewhere and look at turtles, but my goal is definitely to have turtles roaming around in my own back yard.