Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi all,
I have a pair of subadult spotted turtles which I have been raising up the past several years. They are housed outdoors in a stock tank for the active season, and hibernated indoors in winter. about 2.5 weeks ago i noticed the turtles were not in the stock tank. To make a long story short, i found them both in the yard, and quickly put them back in the tank before going out of town. a week later i check on them closely and notice that the male is missing both back feet, and the female is missing one back foot. I had thought they climbed out by themselves due to higher than normal water level(but even then i had a hard time thinking of them climbing out), but apparently an animal removed them from the tank and mauled them. my dilemma is this. it is time to hibernate. do i hibernate them, as the wounds look like they are closing up well, and both have good weight and are healthy other than the recent injuries? do i bring them inside briefly for a month or so, heat em up, and try to feed them before putting them down, or do i keep them active all winter? i live in albuquerque, NM, so the nights are already hovering around 40, too cool to keep outside. I did notice they were trying to bask, so as of now they are indoors under a basking light. Anybody with experience with mauled spotteds?
thanks for any input in advance,
ian

A raccoon got to your spotteds. This sounds so horribly familar to what happened to me. Please bring them in and take them to a vet. Raccoons wash there food in shallow water and most likely found your spotteds sleeping. Three years ago I built a pen outside for a year and a half there was no problems. One day I came home from work and found my 20 year old male spotted turtle who my grandpopped entrusted with me, nearly dead. His legs and tail had been chewed to bits. If you are going to keep spotted outside you MUST keep them in a completely predator proof cage with strong high grade netting on top. I will post a picture tomorrow of how a raccoon recently broke into my pen outside, luckily the boys are inside for the winter. Due to spotteds habitat preference they come into close contact with raccoons. I'm not sure how you did not notice they had been chewed upon. Just because they appear ok now doesn't mean things are ok. Infections may start to develop I would get them to a vet asap. And whatever you do do not hibernate them, I'm suprised you would even consider this after something like this. Animals are even more susecptible to an attack during hibernation due to their lethargic state.

damn coons, Iv'e had a lot of trouble with them in the past ate about 23 baby midlands painteds, and one of my spotteds years ago, I bought a bunch of live traps and now put them around the perimmiter of my fence. cept for when it's open season
wayne

I don't have experience with mauled spotteds but I do have experience with mauled box turtles. Both were wild when I took them in, neither are wild today & neither of them can ever be released back to the wild. Both sustained too much shell damage.. chewed by dogs.

Mader's books says that any who are sick or recovering from injury should not be hibernated until recovery is complete.
My vet also says do not hibernate these who are in recovery. So I don't do it.
They do fine staying awake in winter.
I soak them daily, feed them when they're hungry & then I turtle-proofed part of the house (meaning I blocked off a certain area for them) so that they can get at least one hour per day of exercise time. They do enjoy that then they go back to their Rubbermaid heated containers. I wouldn't think other turtle species would behave too differently from box turtles.
I have not seen any problems for them caused by not hibernating.
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PHRatz

Second that! Get them to vet ASAP. They must have the wounds cleaned, dressed, and IM(inter muscular) antibiotics started immediately. During the healing process keep them in rubbermaid tubs with absolutely nothing abrasive in them. Put an external powerfilter on the side of the tub for maximum filtration. Change the water frequently as well. I would also add Melafix (antibacterial), Pimafix (antifungal), and a small amount of rock salt to the water. The addition of these will induce quick healing. These should be available at your local pet/fish store. When I have turtles who get injuries to their feet, normally from an act of aggression from another turtle, I do not even put a basking site in the rubbermaid tub. I keep them in a 100% clean aqueous environment for speedy recovery. I do however keep UVA/UVB bulbs over the water for 14 hrs a day. I personally use a 75 watt ZooMed bulb per rehab tub. I personally feel the basking site presents an abrasive surface or can lead to the turtles putting their injuries into any feces, etc. they may expell onto the basking site. With using UV lights, keeping the water extra clean, addition of agents into water, I have not had any problems with fungal infection during the healing process. Keep the turtles in separate rehab tubs while healing and do not reintroduce them to one another until the healing is absolutely complete and a tougher dark grey skin covers the healed area. If it is still light grey/pink it is too early and the wounds could reopen or be reopened by another turtle. Good luck, hope this helps

-JG

Thanks for all the help. I'm going to start them on antibiotics. I have no reason to think they will not heal up fine. I've seen more than a few wild spotted turtles with well-healed, missing limbs.
-ian