Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I need some advice on what I can do for some neglected box turtles here in South Carolina. There are some people selling reptiles at a local flea market, and their boxies look awful! They had two on the day I saw them, one with extremely swollen, closed eyes. The other one was severly dehydrated and had sunken eyes. At first I thought it was dead. In both cases, these horrible people assured me the turtles' appearance was perfectly normal and they were well worth the price ($35). Is there any organization in my area I could report these people to? Do you think calling animal control would help? I think people like them are just as bad as the ones who hit turtles crossing the road.

Currently, there are no actions that any governing body can take regarding box turtles in SC. Your only real option is to contact a whistleblower-type news agency.

That's what I see when I go to the flea market. I ask a lot of questions regarding the diet and habitat and also the poor look of the turtles. usually I get BS answers as how iceberg lettuce is sufficient to their daily needs and a dirty butter lid is great for their water needs as they are not "water turtles." I'm not certain what the officials in yoru area will really do, but it may be worth a try, or you can get him to sell them at a discount and nurse them yourself.

yea you can buy them at discount price and i could nurse them i do that all the time

Please resist the urge to buy WC turtles. As terrible as it is to see an animal suffer, I think it is a mistake to purchase one, even though you may intend to nurse it back to health.
Even at a 'discounted' price, the person selling the turtle is still making money, and as long as the seller can make money he or she will continue to collect turtles for sale, which isn't a desirable outcome.
You may want to consider making your concerns known to your local lawmakers: SC is one of the few states left (if not the only one) with no laws in place to protect their box turtles from commercial collection.

Ah very true, good info.

Thank you all for your help. I knew that purchasing the turtles would only encourage them to collect more, so I sent an e-mail to the turtle and tortoise society of Charleston. Maybe they can educate these guys or try to put them out of business. I feel better for having tried, at least.

>>Thank you all for your help. I knew that purchasing the turtles would only encourage them to collect more, so I sent an e-mail to the turtle and tortoise society of Charleston. Maybe they can educate these guys or try to put them out of business. I feel better for having tried, at least.

I'm wondering even if there are no restrictions on buying & selling the turtles in that state.. isn't there a humane society or SPCA that could come in to do something about the abuse?
If they're selling dehydrated sunken eyed turtles, that's abuse.
Let us know if the turtle & tortoise society is able to come up with an answer for you.. at least by contacting them you may have set the ball rolling. I hope so!
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PHRatz

Worst case, if it's not too far from Wilmington, NC, I could go down there and "liberate them" for you. I used to be quite the clepto in my younger years....
J/K seriously, I would be willing to go down there and educate the folks for you but I won't be able to go anywhere in the states until Feb. if the market is still open then, I'll gladly go there and see if I can get these folks on the right track.