General Care Discussion

Posted: Tue Apr 28, 2009 1:20 pm **Shell Preservation After Death**

Hey!

My turtle is getting up there in age (almost 15 yrs old). I often think about what to do with her when she dies. All of my pets (cats, rabbits, and guinea pig) have been cremated. Something seems wrong about cremating an aquatic animal, though. If I owned land, I woul've buried my other pets and her, but I don't and I move every few years (that's New York City for you) I like to take them with me. I'm sorry if I sound morbid, but I love my pets. :cry:

Anyway, by law, in New York, if the turtle is put down, they must be cremated as to protect the soil from the chemicals used in the injections. If she has to be euthanized, I guess that's what I'll have to do, but, what if she dies at home? I want to have her shell preserved, at least, even if she's euthanized.

Has anybody done this? Does anyone know of a taxidermist in NYC or close by, maybe in NJ, that knows how to work with reptiles?

Posted: Tue Apr 28, 2009 4:12 pm

Taxidermist preserves the whole turtle not just the shell but maybe im sure you can get him to do just the shell. The shell keeps its color then.

I did mine myself but i did it the natural way. Let it sit outside in the garden and let whatever bugs and stuff do there job and you get this.

Done it 2 times. You have to do some things for it to look like this. If you want more detail pm me.

The shell turns white because you cant preserve the scutes. Well you can but never mind the detail right now.

Posted: Tue Apr 28, 2009 4:39 pm

Have you considered having the ashes made into a diamond? They are expensive, but they are becoming more popular, so maybe the prices will go down at some point? Anyways, they just pressurize the ashes and make them form a fast-forming diamond that you can put into jewelry. I've considered doing that if I have the money when one of my pets die. But for now, they are all alive and kicking.

Btw, RES can live upwards of 40 years, so 15 is just getting to that middle-age adult stage. You should have plenty more years to come, so it's good to be prepared, but there's still a lot of life left to live!

Posted: Tue Apr 28, 2009 9:15 pm

Owh.. the shell turns white? Why eh? Couples month ago, my friend turtle died and she preserve the shell too but doesn't change color, still maintain the brownish green shell. Sorry I don't have the picture because I just go visit my friend maybe 1 month ago.

Website · Posted: Tue Apr 28, 2009 9:30 pm

that looks pretty cool. i think it preserves color because of the way its processed or how it was fed or its just the way it is.

Posted: Tue Apr 28, 2009 9:31 pm

She probably did not take off the scutes. Once dead you must remember there not bone and there is a layer blood and skin under them. So once that disappears there just held there. If you mess around with it too much the scutes fall off really easy

Posted: Tue Apr 28, 2009 9:39 pm

Painteds4life wrote:Taxidermist preserves the whole turtle not just the shell but maybe im sure you can get him to do just the shell. The shell keeps its color then.

I did mine myself but i did it the natural way. Let it sit outside in the garden and let whatever bugs and stuff do there job and you get this.

Done it 2 times. You have to do some things for it to look like this. If you want more detail pm me.

The shell turns white because you cant preserve the scutes. Well you can but never mind the detail right now.

Oh, I can't do that. I'm waaaaaay too squeemish. I couldn't even dig into the ground in the first place. Worms and insects give me anxiety. Seriously. I'll have to get a friend to do it.

I guess I'll call some taxidermists just to see what they have to say, and if all else fails, I'll just have her cremated and put with the others.

I even called my vet to see what he had to say and he had no idea.

Thanks for the responses, everyone!

Posted: Wed Apr 29, 2009 12:14 am

Errr....you know a healthy RES can live to be 40. Hopefully, there's no rush on this.

Posted: Wed Apr 29, 2009 8:21 am

Oh not all turtles turn white. just Musk turtles for some reason do.

Eastern Painted Shell

Posted: Wed Apr 29, 2009 10:34 am

Thanks, Painteds4life...

Hopefully she'll live long enough for me to live in a place where I'm able to keep her outside (far away from me) and build protection around her carcas so nothing can drag her away.

I saw a taxidermist sight where the skeleton of an entire turtle was preserved. That's not what I want, though. What you did sounds so much better, so much more natural. Let's pray she dies in the summer, though.

Your info was extremely helpful because I had no idea of how to do something like that properly. Thank you so much.

Posted: Wed Apr 29, 2009 5:52 pm

Wow, this is really interesting!

Like Spotsmama said, yeah, turtles live 30+ if given the best care you can give them. The fact that your turtle has lived 15 years means that you've done a wonderful job as a turtle parent.

I think that would be very cool, to preserve the shell after death. Their shells are such a great example of nature's art, and a great way to remember your turtle.

I might even consider that in the way off future too.

Posted: Wed Apr 29, 2009 9:27 pm

I was planning on doing the same thing with Sam's shell, when he passes. I think it would be really cool to see the bones, but I dont think I would keep them.

....Turtle bones: HERE! It was found by a pond

It also shows how a shell is put together. Really quite neat stuff.

Posted: Fri May 01, 2009 6:11 pm

Caphits wrote:I was planning on doing the same thing with Sam's shell, when he passes. I think it would be really cool to see the bones, but I dont think I would keep them.

....Turtle bones: HERE! It was found by a pond

It also shows how a shell is put together. Really quite neat stuff.

Check it out, we have the bone of a turtle's carapace (Maybe RES or painted, not sure which), about six inches long at the pre-school I work in. One kid in particular, who's grandmother has a small tortoise, absolutely loves the turtle shell. It's cool cause you can see the spine too.

Posted: Fri May 01, 2009 8:31 pm

theartbook35 wrote:It's cool cause you can see the spine too.

Yeah, I think that is really cool too. It really shows that a turtle is completely connected to the shell. Its not just like something he puts on(like on cartoons) It is also interesting, because it also means that they dont really have a spine. Because it is fused to the shell, it has no use (cant bend).

Turtles are awesome! :lol:

Posted: Mon May 11, 2009 9:15 pm

i remember walking to the quarry on my grandma's land for target practice and on the path i found a little painted turtle shell, or a piece of it anyway i cant rember. anyway i do remember wanting to take it with me when i passed by on the way back but i lost it :C

General Care Discussion :: Shell Preservation After Death

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