Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My wife and I were on our way to work in Downtown OKC when we found this on a service road. I want to do anything I can to help this poor thing. She was hit by a car not long before we found her. She was trying to get up the curb out of the road when I got to her. Her skull looks almost crushed and both her eyes are swollen and closed. Her upper jaw and nose are pretty bad too. I feel really bad for her and want to do what is best for her. I would greatly appreciate any suggestions on what to do from here. I have a friend who is sending the pics to his reptile vet too but I just wanted some oppinions from some other turtle lovers here. Also, if anyone knows of any kind of turtle rescues in the Oklahoma City area that may want to help out please let me know. Thanks!
-Shaun

Not the best pic but here it is:

Ouch! Stupid cars!

What does her level of consciousness seem to be?
Did she move her head out on her own?
Does she move her extremities on her own or
do they respond to touch?

While her head seems really bloody, it doesn't look
crushed, at least like the dead female I encountered
a week ago did.

Probably the best thing you can do is get her to a reptile vet.
A vet might need to x-ray her to be able to evaluate the damage.

Please keep us posted!

Find a herp vet fast we have had five road hits this year and time is important. All ours are alive so we will pray for yours. A good herp vet can do wonders.

Quail Creek Vet Clinic
2915 Northwest 122nd St
OKC 73120
405-755-0746

Maybe theses vets can help

She seems alert and has been moving around pretty good considering her injury. I am in contact with a vet right now, i'll keep you posted. Thanks!

>>She seems alert and has been moving around pretty good considering her injury. I am in contact with a vet right now, i'll keep you posted. Thanks!

Just fair warning - don't get your hopes up too high. I see a lot of froth in the blood around the mouth which would suggest maybe she has blood in the lungs as opposed to just normal bubbles being blown from the attempt to breath through the mouth. If it is active bleeding going into the lungs there is not much you can do to save her from "drowning" if that is the case. Also, head trauma like that can create major swelling in the head and behind the eyes... which could cause death if it doesn't abate. And too much swelling behind the eyes could ultimately ruin the vision if the turtle survives.
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PHWyvern

I sincerely doubt she has internal injuries. Since she is a turtle, she would have some of her shell crushed if her lungs were filling up with blood. With the pic and description of her, it seems like her shell is completely intact.

>>I sincerely doubt she has internal injuries. Since she is a turtle, she would have some of her shell crushed if her lungs were filling up with blood. With the pic and description of her, it seems like her shell is completely intact.

A turtle does not have to have a crushed shell to cause the lungs to fill with blood.... the head is are damaged. you can have internal bleeding that way. breathing is not occurring normally due to the injury.. doesn't take much to have the airway in the throat where the air trying to come in through the nares or through the mouth to be off kilter enough to allow bloody discharge down the wrong pipe and flow/leak into the lungs.
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PHWyvern

I misread your message. Usually when I think of lungs filling with blood, I think the cause to be damage to the lung itself. I suppose it is possible to drain in from head.... but I bet most of the blood coming from her head injuries would go down her throat, which is harmless.

I can't say...she does looks bad but turtles are resilient. The faster you can get her a vet or rehabber the better! This is definetly a case for professionals. I'll be thinking of her all day and all night until I hear about her outcome!
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Tess
Kingsnake.com Forum Host

Well I took her to a vet and he told me he would see what he coulod do for her. He said he was basically going to glue the broken part of her face back together and see how she does. He then told me that I had done my part and there would be no charge. He also said he would just release her in the back behind the building in an empty lot if they were able fix her injury. That really didn't set well with me so I called them back as soon as I pulled out of the parking lot and let them know that I would like to come back and pick her up if at all possible so that I could release her out of town. My house backs up to a greenbelt with a creek running throught it so I think she would be much happier there than some empty lot in the city. I almost felt like I was abandoning her, my wife almost started crying when I told her that they were keep her and let her go. She really wants to "nurse" the turtle back 100% before letting her go and I don't blame her. I have this sick feeling that they just put down wild animals that people bring in but hopefully he will do his best to fix her. She looked a lot better when I left her there than she did this morning. She was very active scratching around in the box but her eyes were still swollen shut. I'll call them first thing in the morning and see what they have to say. Sorry to ramble on.

Good for you to get the tort back and for taking it to the vet in the first place! I wish more people would do the same. Too bad they aren't just a little faster trying to cross the road!!
Jeff

God bless you and your wife i hope she continues to improve.

Joe

Good for you turtles have a homing instinct so to put the turtle in a lot is not good. It would try to get back to where it was from and most likely not make it over all the roads back.
Your wife is right that turtle should be "nursed" back to health before letting it go. It could still be sucseptable to infection and and other little things you could help it with for awhile.

With it moving around so much, that's a good sign. Keep tabs with the vet often you are doing a great thing!

Don't worry about rambling, it is all relevant info and we learn from the experiences of others.

Please keep us updated!

Any update? I'm really curious, since despite how she looked, it seemed her brain was mostly undamaged.

And, no, when I first read the messge to which I am replying right now, I did not think you were rambling.

Box turtles are in danger in this country... from illegal pet trade, habitat destruction, and of course, cars

You did the right thing by taking the turtle home. I have a boxy that was attacked by an animal. She looked every bit as bad as your photo did. I got help from this website and nursed her back to health. Have her for a full year now. She is blind permanently so I would never release her. She has a large indoor terrarium and has memorized its shape and objects in it. From the photos its very probable that your hit boxy will not have sight when it is healed. If it will eat favorite foods (mine broke out of its fasting with cantelope pieces) then it has a fighting chance. If she eats, that s wonderful. Then study about lighting (UV-A, UV-B), diet, temp and humidity. By the way, my blind boxy didnt eat anything for weeks and still survived.

I called the vet this morning and the lady I spoke to said the the turtle was doing good and told me to call tomorrow and I could speak to the vet about picking her up. It was a huge relief to hear that she was alive and doing better. I can't wait to see her, I'll post new pics as soon as I get her home!

That's very good to hear!

That is good news.. a turtle injured that badly can't just be released right away.
She'll take months to recover,she needs to be kept awake during the winter because one that's healing doesn't need to try hibernating because it's too taxing on them.
I'm glad to hear you'll be getting her back.
Good luck with her recovery care.
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PHRatz