Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi all,

Take a look at the picture below.

Does anyone think this animal could have survived this severe of an injury...with NO medical intervention while wandering about the wild?

It did...at least for a long, long while and there are a series of pictures on this incredible creature. Just click on the World Chelonian Trust link below (or go to www.chelonia.org) then look under the newest web articles for "A Natural Shell Repair Example in a Terrapene".

Other new articles on the World Chelonian Trust website pertinent to box turtles include the classic ear infections found in Terrapene as well as an eye infection example, again all accessible via the link below and under the "newest web articles" section.

Enjoy! And have a safe Memorial Day weekend!

Doc

World Chelonian Trust

But if those are it's bones, we can assume it is dead, right? Maybe it did not survive?

The hole does look like it has bone trying to regrow over it.

I have a three toed boxie female and she is very beaten up. She has teeth marks all over her carapace and a huge chunck biten out of her plastron. We bought her at a pet store and the guy said that when he found her she was like that so maybe she healed on her own or someone may have rehabed her and then released her. So, someone may have tried to rehab the the turtle you have or she was just trying to make it on her own and couldn't. That's something we'll never know but can only guess.