Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I found a female common snapper basking along a bike trail and stoped to photograph her, while I was getting my camera ready I noticed she was missing an eye, and her jaw looked slightly deformed, I placed my hand on her shell and it didn't feel the same as all the others I've had my hands on, it wasn't soft.. it felt to round, I have pictures of her just click the link below, she's the second snapper down,
is it common for wild adult snappers to get MBD or something like it?
Thanks
Pics Of Snapper

Hello Rouen,
MBD is really a symptom of reptiles housed indoors. From what I've read on the disorder, even small amounts of sunlight deter this disease. Did you know that the amount of Vitamin D3 that a reptile can absorb from the sun in 15 minutes, takes 8 hours to absorb from artificial light sources.
As far as the shell shape goes, just like us, no 2 turtles are alike. I personally have never found an adult turtle in perfect condition. Especially the larger species like Snappers and D.B.Terrapins. Missing one or both eyes is common, along with missing claws, whole feet, shell gouges and cracks. But they still survive!
This years count; 1 D.B.T. shell length 13" both eyes gone, the 4 center carapace sections lifted up and alomost detached from the rest of the shell. I have no idea what causes this.
1 Common Snapper, 9" long, right eye gone and 3/4 long crack in the shell between the neck and right front leg.
Common Snapper, 14" long, left front foot cut off at the wrist.
All of these guys were 100 yards or more from the water so I carried them back.
An 8" RES with the same shell lift as that DBT.
Living in the wild is apparently no picnic.
And these are the ones I found alive.
Anyway I'm seriously digressing here. There's always the possibility that the Snapper was a pet at one time which could explain the MBD like symptoms.
Bob, Philadelphia.

The OPs Snapper sounds more like deformity from hatch or conditions more than MBD. Something congenital.
As to finding loads of injured animals......maybe you are finding them because they are injured not because a large percentage is severely injured. How old they are and how long they survive with the damage is probably pretty relavant too.
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Sonya

almost all the other turtles I've found around here are in great condition, I found a 11 inch femalle snapper with a perfect shell, no limbs missing, her only problem was she was stuck in a culvert, I do have a common snapper hatchling(2 1/2" in a tub outside that's thin, but he'll be released once he puts weight on
and just so you know I don't capture large turtles, and I only help the young
thanks for taking the time to respond!

almost all the other turtles I've found around here are in great condition, I found a 11 inch femalle snapper with a perfect shell, no limbs missing, her only problem was she was stuck in a culvert, I do have a common snapper hatchling(2 1/2" in a tub outside that's thin, but he'll be released once he puts weight on
and just so you know I don't capture large turtles, and I only help the young
thanks for taking the time to respond!

All of the turtles I come across are in a large park consisting of 5 lakes and a golf course in South Philadelphia. Most of these turtles at one time or another get hooked by the fisherman, the turtles they don't kill usually end up maimed. A lot of the damage is from the huge riding mowers the park service uses. I keep finding these turtles so far from the water. I can't save them all.
On top of the injured turtles, my dead count is up to four. 1 Northern Redbelly, 1 Diamondback Terrapin and 2 RES. All adults. This park is tough on turtles.
Does anybody know what the ailment is that causes the shell segments to lift off in thick layers? It only seems to occur in the top center of the carapace. I've seen it close-up on a D.B.T. and from a few feet away on an RES.
Bob, Philadelphia.