I rescued an old male box turtle on HWY 421 in Sugar Grove, NC, which is in the Blue Ridge Mtns 20 mins from Grandfather Mtn. It looks like he took a glancing blow, there were some scrapes on his belly and blood coming from a small scrape on his side. I too him home (5 mins away) because there was no suitable place to move him off to the side of the road, and Iwanted to show my 5 yr old daughter. We have lived here for 2 years and this is the first box turtle I have seen.I set him up in an outdoor enclosure to observe. I provided him with canteloupe, strawberries, and 10 large nightcrawlers this morning. He showed no interest in any of it. I noticed this morning that he had more blood coming from his rear right leg area. I was going to release him, but now I feel I need to hold on to him for a few days because - 1. It has been in the 70's here for the past 2 weeks, but it is supposed to drop into the 40's for two days on Tuesday. If I release him into unfamiliar territory, isn't there a chance he will not be able find suitable shelter and freeze? The weather will be more Spring-like by next weekend. 2. This will give me some time to treat his wounds. I was thinking of a mild peroxide solution over his whole rear right leg region. Sorry about the long post, but sometimes the smallest detail can help. Does anyone have any advice, tips, or suggestions? Should I keep offering food and what kind? Right now he is touring our backyard under the supervision of my daughter. We live on 50 acres of farmland, so he could definitely lead a long life here. Should I let him go immediately? This has been quite a reptile weekend, I went fishing on a small river this morning and saw a garter snake and water snake hunting for food, and found a hatchling snapping turtle.
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rescued box turtle, need some advice
Replies (2)
Good for you for stopping to pick it up!
Here's some things you can consider doing:
1.Call a local vet and see if they can hook you up with a wildlife rehabilitator in your area: a licensed rehabber will have a network of resources.
-or-
2.Check on the internet for a herp society or, better yet, a herp rescue in your area: again a possible ready-made network of resources.
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3.Find a reptile vet in your area where you can take the turtle for a thorough exam and advice on a course of treatment: if there is no major damage, injury, or infection, you may be able to get it back to its home relatively promptly.
Because of the homing instinct, or site fidelity, the ideal scenario (in my opinion) would be to get it back to the vicinity where you found it, after making sure it had no major injuries or infection, that way, it'd know where it was and where it needed to go (hopefully).
Just some ideas.
Regards,
Stephanie
call your wildlife people about finding someone to rehab him. when hes ready to release he needs to go right back where you found him, well, not in the road but a woods or pond area near there
