Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have a three-toed box turtle that i rescued after it was hit by a car. It's been several months and her wounds are pretty much healed up now but she only has one open eye and the vet says that she has limited or no vision out of it. He says she may be able to see light but that's it. My question is how do you get a blind turtle to eat on it's own? She seems to drink fine when I give her a soak but she has yet to eat on her own that I know of. The vet was feeding her once a week by using a ball tipped syringe to put down her throat and fill her stomach with some kind of high nutrient paste. He said I may be able to eventually condition her to eat on her own. Any suggestions out there? When I posted the pics of her right after I found her someone on here mentioned that they had a blind turtle that was doing great. I would appreciate any help. I'll get some updated pics of her so you can see the progress of her healing. Here is a pic of her the day I got her out of the road.

By the way, the tip of her nose ended up falling off about a month later but she seems to be doing ok aside from not being able to see.

Thanks,
Shaun

Have you tried over ripe fruits? If you don't have vision to work with maximize the other available senses smell and hearing. Try offering an earthworm when she is soaking in warm water. Make sure the water is shallow. She may become interested in the splashing and smell of the earthworm. She may begin to snap at it then you can "help" her catch it if you have long handled tweezers.

I know some other people have had success with blind turtles. Hopefully they will post soon. How are her temps in the setup and what type of lighting are you using? Do you leave food in her setup during the day?

I rehabbed a turtle that was hit in much the same manner as yours, though much less tissue damage. She ended up blind. She is now in a permanent home, but I haven't heard from them in a very long time.

I had to forcefeed her for several months. I used Hill's Prescription Diet A/D. This is a VERY rich food, and shouldn't be fed as a staple diet. However, it smells wonderful and she soon began to take it on her own by smell. I wonder if any damage was done to your turtle's olfactory senses?

I would say to start with forced feeding. You can use chicken and veggie baby foods or moistened and blended turtle pellets. If your Vet. is nice, he/she will sell you a 6cc syringe and a canine urinary catheter cut to the appropriate size. Most Vets. are also willing to school in forced feeding. Before each feeding, place the food in front of the turtle's nose and give her a chance to eat. She may suprise you.

At some point, get her to open her mouth and shove one end of a nightcrawler in her jaws. Put her down and see what happens.

Conditioning is the key. You can probably eventually condition this turtle. Offer food in exactly the same manner at exactly the same time of day in exactly the same spot...well, you get the idea. Even if it appears to be ineffective, just keep trying!

It appears that this turtle is very colorful on the head and limbs. Sexing can be tough with Three-toes...is there any chance that this is a male? I guess it really doesn't matter much.

I agree with Steffke, ripened fruit would be a good choice also.

I hope this helps. Good luck!

WOULD IT HELP IF YOU LAY A LIVE, WRIGGLY WORM ON HER FOOT?
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Patsy

Take your choice of food - piece of fruit cut into a thin wedge, a defrosted pinkie, cricket, what have you. Use a credit card to pry open the mouth, and stick in the edge of the food item, then remove the credit card. Turtle takes a bite of the food, opens it's mouth to swallow, and then you insert the next bite. If there's a pile of strong-smelling food in front of it (cantalpoupe, banana, dog food, etc blended with other foods), it will probably eat the rest of the pile once it's started on the first bite. If you feed the turtle on the same surface each time(say a specific towel), the turtle learns that being on that surface means feeding time. I'm likely the only person on earth that's been bitten by a blind turlte - I set the turtle down and wasn't paying attention - the turtle was biting blindly and chanced upon my finger.

Katrina
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0.1 Iguana - Tiffel
1.2 Eastern Mud Turtles - Fred, Ethel, Edith
0.0.1 Giant Mex. Musk Turtle
Foster turtles: More than I'd like the husband to know about.

These pictures are heartbreaking! I hope you will let us see ones on her now so we can see her looking better.

I have never cared for a blind turtle but I have spoken to people who have. It is a long road but when you consider the turtle can live for 50-60-70 years or more, what's a year or two?!

As others have said it is a matter of conditioning. The turtle needs to know when it time to eat-without sight you have to rely on smell and hearing. Yes, turtles can hear pretty well. I suggest you use a dog clicker and add smelly foods to her meals at first. Afterwards she may know it's dinner time just by the sound of the clicker and start looking for her food on her own, with or without the smelly foods.

Feed her in a plastic tub all the time. This will become her feeding station. She may learn that being on plastic means she's getting food. Things should be kept simple and clean so she won't eat bedding. Use the clicker whenever you feed her. And don't feed her too often so she'll have a good appetite. Use the items others have mentioned. Cover live insects with cat food, over ripe fruits or baby food. You make have to feed her by hand at first but as she gets used to it, cut her food bigger and let her eat off the surface. A problem is when the food moves away from her, so you might have to devise something that will hold her food at the right level and place.

It's a challenge but a worthy one and I think you found her because you were the right person to tackle the job. Good luck! Please keep us posted.
Tess

"When I posted the pics of her right after I found her someone on here mentioned that they had a blind turtle that was doing great."

There was a person who responded to you months ago that he or she had a blind turtle (the person's screen Id was "blindturtle". I have not seen posts from that person for a while.

I don't know how that winking smily face ended up in there, e.g., I would did not intentionally put it there.... and the stuff I wrote was not intended as a joke. Yes, there really was a person who posted as "blindturtle".