Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I'm teaching laboratory animal clinical managenment for veterinary technicians at the college this semester which is rabbit/rodent medicine, so I took my class to my vet's hospital this morning to observe and film a rat tumor removal and spay.
It just so happened that someone had brought a hit by car ornate box turtle in this morning so we got to film & observe that turtle being repaired after the rat surgery.
The vet surgically implanted a feeding tube then repaired the shell which really didn't look too bad from the outside, not really any worse than my own Shell E's break 5 years ago but no telling how long this turtle had sat on the side of the road suffering. My Shell E got treatment in less than 24 hours after she was broken so that had a lot to do with her doing as well as she did.
This turtle today felt so terrible that she either couldn't or wouldn't open her eyes.
Some of the students brought their own digital cameras (my camera is broken arrgghh) so I'll see if I can get copies of the photos they took. This was really interesting, especially for all these people who've not only never seen anything like this before but didn't even know that a turtle can survive this.
I just hope this pretty girl does survive, her prognosis for today is sort of touch & go. If she gets through the night tonight she'll probably be on her way to totally healing in 2-3 years.
I really had an awesome morning today & just had to share.
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PHRatz

It is amazing how resilient these critters are. When my husband brought my Josie home, she had pneumonia and was so close to death the vet didn't hold out much hope. It took a good year or so but she pulled through and is doing great. When I initially took her in to the vet, I was told that she had, at one time, a broken shell. There is a hole on each side of her carapace where a vet had drilled to put rods in until her shell grew back together. She has chips in her armor, (more than one) and her plastron is totally smooth. What a trooper! She will never see another roadway again. She is perfectly happy on her "Galopagus(sp)Island" in the backyard.
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Cindy
Mom to Josie, Shorty & Seminole

Josie is one lucky turtle to have been found!
I know what you mean though about them being so resilient, it's just awesome. I guess that's how they have managed to survive for thousands of years though.
The students who saw the shell repair yesterday I don't think had ever seen a box turtle in such bad shape & they really were finding it hard to believe that this one would make it.
The vet not only treated the wounds but gave her fluids, antibiotics, she's being given vaporizer treatments for her eyes, and she's being fed through the tube. Frankly I thought she looked like she had a really very good chance of making it.
We're going back another day in a few weeks to observe an iguana neuter so hopefully we'll get to see this turtle again.
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PHRatz

>> When I initially took her in to the vet, I was told that she had, at one time, a broken shell. There is a hole on each side of her carapace where a vet had drilled to put rods in until her shell grew back together.

So you mean this had all been done before your husband found her & she was already healed from the broken shell?
I wonder if she'd been cared for by someone for a couple of years while her shell healed & then they released her?
Then maybe she got sick because she couldn't make it on her own?
I'm speculating but wow she has a very interesting story so far. Please tell us more about her, it's so lucky for her that your hubby picked her up!
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PHRatz

The first picture is of Josie not long after she recovered. You can see one of the drilled holes on her side.
I'm not sure if her pneumonia was due to her being set free after her shell fracture. It looked like it had been a pretty old injury.
The second pic is her on her house, her favorite place. This was taken while she was still in the terrarium. She is now outside in her pen and if the vet approves, she will hibernate this winter for the first time in two years.

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Cindy
Mom to Josie, Shorty & Seminole

Oh yes! I can see the hole that was drilled into her! She's very pretty & very lucky she was found & got treatment.
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PHRatz