Box Turtle and Tortoise Discussion :: injured box turtles

A general forum for those with an interest in land-based turtles.

Post Posted: Thu Jun 15, 2006 6:39 pm   injured box turtles

I live far out in the country(not in Louisville) and we get a lot of injured turtles on the road. We don't get a whole lot of traffic, so the only time we don't stop to get turtles off the road is if it's a blind curve. Recently we found a very young box turtle that was on the edge of the road. His/her shell was cracked about 1/2 an inch in the front. It wasn't long but it was deep.
If a car ran over him it would have caused much more damage, so I think that maybe an animal tried to eat him. We took him back to our house and he seemed to be in shock. You could touch his leg and he would barely move it. I went to our pond and got some water and got a clean spray bottle and gave him a little bit of water. Each time he would spit it out.
He started to open only one eye, but we had to leave for vacation so I decided to let him go in the woods and hope for the best.
If anyone has helped injured box turtles and knows what to do, that would greatly help me for the next time.Thanks!
blaydes
 
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Joined: Nov 26, 2005
Location: Louisville KY

Post Posted: Thu Jun 15, 2006 6:57 pm   

I don't know if this would help or not, but I've heard some vets will actually take in injured turtles and then return them to nature when they are healed. It might be worth checking out with any vets in your area.
~~~Sonja~~~
sonyj
 
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Post Posted: Thu Jun 15, 2006 6:59 pm   

That is a good idea, i'll have to look into that.
blaydes
 
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Joined: Nov 26, 2005
Location: Louisville KY

Post Posted: Thu Jun 15, 2006 7:42 pm   

Look for a vet practice that has an emergency clinic. The one near me takes in wild turtles (I've brought two to them) and decides whether they can be rehabilitated or not. If a turtle can, it is treated and given to a licensed rehabilitator to care for until it is well enough to be released. If the decision is that a turtle won't be able to make it, then the turtle is euthanized.
"You become responsible, forever, for what you have tamed." -Antoine de Saint Exupery-
marisa
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Post Posted: Tue Jul 18, 2006 3:32 pm   

That turtle's shell could have been patched and it may have been saveable... now there's no way to know. An open shell is an invitation for infection.
I used to be a reptile expert. Now I'm just an old turtle lover.
reptilegrrl
 
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Location: Houston, Texas, USA

Post Posted: Tue Jul 18, 2006 8:08 pm   

We once were driving down a major road over here, and my mom spotted a half-crushed turtle on the side of the road that was dead. If we would have come sooner. :( But I really doubt that the emergency vet in this town treats something else than cats and dogs.

Something out of the blue- Towards the middle of our trip, I found out that the guy taking care of our pets was overfeeding the turts, feeding them twice as much as needed. I corrected him and it was good from there. I just arrived today and everyone grew at least 1/2 an inch. Will it cause problems with my turts?
-Daniel-
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DanielRES1180
 
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