DAILY RECORD (San Marcos, Texas) 11 April 08 Turtle Power - Vet wins international award for work with hard-shelled creatures (Jeff Walker)
Kyle: Growing up in Long Island, NY, Cord Offermann was one of those kind of boys. The kind that scoured nearby creeks and forests, returning home with plenty of creepy crawlies to greet his terrified mother.
“I brought home snakes and frogs and anything else that would fall from my full pockets and crawl across the floor and scare my parents half to death,” Offermann said.
The thing is, Offermann never really grew out of it.
A veterinarian in Kyle, Offermann has specialized in turtle conservation and husbandry for more than 25 years. He currently works with a variety of endangered Asian turtles, and as a veterinarian, spends a lot of time “fixing” the unhealthy or abandoned ones.
And in the turtle world, Offermann is quickly becoming a big name.
Offermann was recently awarded the Dr. Barbara B. Bonner Award. Presented each year by the Asian Turtle Consortium, the recipient is acknowledged for exhibiting high standards of husbandry, medicine and/or conservation exemplified by the late Dr. Bonner.
“When you talk about exotic animals, and more specifically about tortoises, the pond isn’t a big pond. So to be a big fish, well...” Offermann said, laughing. “While it is flattering to receive a ‘nod’ from many colleagues I have tremendous respect for, the award truly is significant because it draws attention to the ongoing conservation efforts focused on the endangered species.”
In Asia, Offermann says turtle populations are being decimated because turtles remain a huge food source and a product for traditional Chinese medicines.
“Some of these turtles lay a single egg, so any kind of commercial harvesting of wild turtles is having a detrimental effect,” Offermann said.
Offermann is a member of the ATC as well as the Turtle Survival Alliance, a group that utilizes both breeding specialists groups and veterinarians. Offermann seeks these turtles at reptile shows near and far, and ends up with some of them merely through word of mouth.
“I get calls all the time. I had a call from a girl in Washington state recently who had a Chinese Box Turtle that she got when they were available on the pet trade 15 years ago,” Offermann said. “She’s done with college, she’s married and pregnant and this turtle was living in a fish tank on her desk. She found out about me on the Internet and asked if I wanted it, so I did... It’s doing fine now. It’s doing great.”
One of Offermann’s favorite success stories is a 15-pound Bernese Mountain Turtle he got at a reptile show 15 years ago.
“If you look at the literature on ‘how to take care of your pet’ or how to pick out a healthy reptile, they’ll tell you how. But me, I’m a vet, so I’m looking for the sickest one, the ugliest one,” Offermann said.
When he picked this particular turtle — which remains unnamed — she was dehydrated had parasites and wasn’t eating. She needed a feeding tube for six months.
“Now, she’s quadrupled her body weight, and she has a male counterpoint, and the two of them have shown significant interest in one another. So we’ll see,” Offermann said.
Which Offermann says is the most rewarding aspect of his work — hatching an egg.
“The single biggest reward is being able to breed something that’s difficult to do so,” Offermann said. “Unlike domestic animals you can just put together, a lot of these ‘wild’ animals won’t breed unless just about everything is perfect... A good measure of your abilities is reflected on whether or not you can get them to breed, rather or not they can lay an egg and whether you can hatch it.”
Vet wins international award for work with hard-shelled creatures