Standard conditions for care and maintenance of captive sea turtles

Standard conditions for care and maintenance of captive sea turtles
seaturtle-standard-conditions-for-care-2019.pdf355.05 KB

Facilities that care for sick or injured sea turtles must comply with these Standard Conditions for Care and Maintenance of Captive Sea Turtles. To develop these Standard Conditions, the USFWS coordinated with Sea Turtle Stranding and Salvage (STSSN) Coordinators, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), and facilities that currently rehabilitate sick or injured turtles and/or hold non-releaseable sea turtles. Sick or injured sea turtles taken to these facilities must remain under their care for rehabilitation until release unless specific approval is provided in writing by the USFWS for transfer to another authorized facility (i.e., in a letter of transfer).

Type of document
Protocol
Facility
A wild cat with brown, white, and black markings gazes upward
Texas Coastal and Central Plains Ecological Services Field Office
The Texas Coastal and Central Plains Ecological Services Field Office focuses on Federal project and infrastructure review; threatened and endangered species listing, recovery, consultation, and permits; Natural Resource Damage and Assessment; Partners for Fish and Wildlife; and Gulf Restoration...
Conservation Office
Houston,TX
Fort Worth,TX
Program
A rocky shoreline of a river. The water is calm. Mist and green branches line the river.
The Ecological Services Program works to restore and protect healthy populations of fish, wildlife, and plants and the environments upon which they depend. Using the best available science, we work with federal, state, Tribal, local, and non-profit stakeholders, as well as private land owners, to...
Program
Falls Church,VA
Species
A hawksbill sea turtle, showing its distinctive tortoiseshell pattern across head, flippers, and carapace, swims above coral through bright blue water.

The endangered Hawksbill Sea Turtle is one of seven species of sea turtles found throughout the world. One of the smaller sea turtles, it has overlapping scutes (plates) that are thicker than those of other sea turtles. This protects them from being battered against sharp coral and rocks during...

FWS Focus
Species
Kingdom
Animalia
Taxonomic Rank
Species
A greenish brown sea turtle laying on the beach

The Kemp's ridley turtle is the smallest of the sea turtles, with adults reaching about 2 feet in length and weighing up to 100 pounds. The adult Kemp's ridley has an oval carapace that is almost as wide as it is long and is usually olive-gray in color. The carapace has five pairs of costal...

FWS Focus
Species
Kingdom
Animalia
Taxonomic Rank
Species
A scaly, dark-grey reptile hatchling, partially covered in sand on a beach

The leatherback is the largest, deepest diving, and most migratory and wide ranging of all sea turtles. The adult leatherback can reach 4 to 8 feet in length and 500 to 2000 pounds in weight. Its shell is composed of a mosaic of small bones covered by firm, rubbery skin with seven longitudinal...

FWS Focus
Species
Kingdom
Animalia
Taxonomic Rank
Species
A sea turtle on a beach covering a nest while a wave crashes in the background

The olive ridley was named for the olive color of its heart-shaped shell and is one of the smallest of the sea turtles, with adults reaching 2 to 2.5 feet in length and weighing 80 to 110 pounds. The species may be identified by the uniquely high and variable numbers of vertebral and costal...

FWS Focus
Species
Kingdom
Animalia
Taxonomic Rank
Species
Ecosystem
Marine
FWS and DOI Region(s)
Southwest