need turtle expert help please!

Not sure about the kind, but you may want to check to see if it is legal to possess a wild turtle in your state. They should have left it where they found it.

I don't know if this website will copy right, but I believe your turtle is a yellowbellied slider turtle. Sliders are common in the southeast and if you see water turtles that aren't snappers, you're probably seeing sliders of one species or another. Red-eared sliders also have some yellow stripes on their heads, and as young turtles I don't think the red has developed yet, making them hard to distinguish from the yellowbellies. Sliders can be kept as pets, though it isn't necessarily legal in all states. Check with your state, and you may consider giving the turtle to a local wildlife group (most counties have some kind of museum or local wildlife rescue/conservation organization). I worked for a vet in Georgia who kept sliders in a large fish tank in his home, and in summer, they lived in his homemade pond in the back yard. Be careful when handling; turtles can carry salmonella; this is why they are often illegal in some states. Wash your hands well after handling. It sounds like by the size you mention that you have a young turtle, probably only a year or two old, though I'm not sure about that. Sliders eat small fish, tadpoles, grubs, larvae, and the like.

The name "turtle" refers ones that prefer water and "tortoise" refers to land-based ones. My mom is kind of a turtle/tortoise person and I worked for a vet who had turtles. We've also taken care of (I hesitate to use the word "own") a baby desert tortoise and some red-eared sliders and a wounded box turtle.

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www....

It might be a striped musk turtle, common mud turtle or something in the slider/cooter group. The first two have higher-domed shells than the others. You might want to compare it with the pix and descriptions in the Peterson field guide or a book by Goin & Goin on Florida reptiles. The other possibility is to post a picture and add a link to it in your question.

It might be the Asian Box Turtle or the same family as the Box Turtle. See if the turtle look like this.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/42...

i think its a Russian turtle

could be a type of mud turtle..

http://www.bnl.gov/esd/reserve/turtles.htm