Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Now its way too late for him/her to hibernate. What do you recommend in order for it to comfortably winter over?

How do you sex a wood turtle? We have three sliders and I know by the thickness of the base of their tails and by the long front nails if they are male/female. Is it the same with woods?

Basically this wood turtle was in the middle of a busy intersection with no real land in sight where it could have came from or where it was going. It had a pretty significant cut down its belly on the plate right below its head and a smaller chip out of one disk by its front arm. Antibacterial baths along with a bit of antibiotic ointment so it wouldn't develop an infection and he/she seems to be doing a whole lot better. (No matter if this was done incorrectly or not it seemed to work)

Wouldn't eat earth worms or night crawlers for at least a week. Now he/she finally decided after us putting many various foods with him/her that he/she wanted to eat a strawberry... then two...

What else should we offer him/her to try?

Also. Rather then asking what we have already... Telling us what we need would be more beneficial. I know temperatures have to vary but what range? He was obviously about to hibernate as it was getting pretty late in the season. Now its snowing/flurrying and I wouldn't even attempt to release him/her until the seasons change.

Pictures Coming As Soon As They Load On PhotoBucket (slow college internet connection at the moment)
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Rachel ^_^

----- Reptiles -----
1.0. Cuban Knight Anole (Nole-ski)
1.0. Ribbon Snake (Dasher)
0.1. Red Eared Slider (Timmy)
1.0. Yellow-Bellied Slider (Winston Sunshine)
1.0. Red-Bellied Slider (Lil' Devil)
0.1. Wood Turtle (Myrtle)

----- Other -----
1.2. Foster Kittens (I bottle fed since 7 days old)
0.1. Deer Mouse (Darla)
1.0. Grey Tabbie Cat (Cuddles)
1.0. Chinchilla (Sebastian)
0.2. Black hooded mice (No names yet!)

-----
Rachel ^_^

----- Reptiles -----
1.0. Cuban Knight Anole (Nole-ski)
1.0. Ribbon Snake (Dasher)
0.1. Red Eared Slider (Timmy)
1.0. Yellow-Bellied Slider (Winston Sunshine)
1.0. Red-Bellied Slider (Lil' Devil)
0.1. Wood Turtle (Myrtle)

----- Other -----
1.2. Foster Kittens (I bottle fed since 7 days old)
0.1. Deer Mouse (Darla)
1.0. Grey Tabbie Cat (Cuddles)
1.0. Chinchilla (Sebastian)
0.2. Black hooded mice (No names yet!)

You got a male there for sure. Looks pretty healthy despite injury

Definately a male. Should heal up fine if you do what you said you were gonna do.

males typically have a concave plastron. this theoretically helps them balance on the female during mating. females have a flat or even slightly convex plastron. I assume this is to increase egg capacity.

That's exactly the information I was looking for. Thank you =)
-----
Rachel ^_^

----- Reptiles -----
1.0. Cuban Knight Anole (Nole-ski)
1.0. Ribbon Snake (Dasher)
0.1. Red Eared Slider (Timmy)
1.0. Yellow-Bellied Slider (Winston Sunshine)
1.0. Red-Bellied Slider (Lil' Devil)
1.0. Wood Turtle (Myrtle)

----- Other -----
0.1. Deer Mouse (Darla)
1.0. Grey Tabbie Cat (Cuddles)
1.0. Chinchilla (Sebastian)
0.2. Black hooded mice (No names yet!)

What county in PA was it found?

Delaware County (south eastern)
-----
Rachel ^_^

----- Reptiles -----
1.0. Cuban Knight Anole (Nole-ski)
1.0. Ribbon Snake (Dasher)
0.1. Red Eared Slider (Timmy)
1.0. Yellow-Bellied Slider (Winston Sunshine)
1.0. Red-Bellied Slider (Lil' Devil)
1.0. Wood Turtle (Myrtle)

----- Other -----
0.1. Deer Mouse (Darla)
1.0. Grey Tabbie Cat (Cuddles)
1.0. Chinchilla (Sebastian)
0.2. Black hooded mice (Tink & Bell)

Definantely a male. good save.
Let them complain how it's illegal but you saved his life, he is obviously injured somehow. I would just keep him comfortable in a tub with some bark he can dig into, maybe he'll go in a hibernate on his own in it?
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Buslady of SoCal
Breeder of Ornate Wood Turtles
7 Ornate Wood turtles, 1, Reeves and 1 Spottie.

Sadly he passed away unexpectedly a few nights ago. No idea why. He was completely alert and eating very well the weeks before (mainly various berries, wouldn't take worms).

He was so awesome! Now I have new found respect and knowledge for wood turtles and look forward to seeing them in the future!
-----
Rachel ^_^

----- Reptiles -----
1.0. Cuban Knight Anole (Nole-ski)
0.1. Red Eared Slider (Timmy)
1.0. Yellow-Bellied Slider (Winston Sunshine)
1.0. Red-Bellied Slider (Lil' Devil)

----- Other -----
0.1. Deer Mouse (Darla)
1.0. Grey Tabbie Cat (Cuddles)
1.0. Chinchilla (Sebastian)
0.2. Black hooded mice (Tink & Bell)

Could you pm me coordinates of were it was found. I personally think most wood turtles are extirpated from Delaware county it was probably someones pet. My email is cjoneill@comcast.net. Thanks

found near water?

let it go there

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No where near water, woods or any sort of open land. Only housing developments.

And if you're going to put "illegal" please site where you found this information.
-----
Rachel ^_^

----- Reptiles -----
1.0. Cuban Knight Anole (Nole-ski)
1.0. Ribbon Snake (Dasher)
0.1. Red Eared Slider (Timmy)
1.0. Yellow-Bellied Slider (Winston Sunshine)
1.0. Red-Bellied Slider (Lil' Devil)
1.0. Wood Turtle (Myrtle)

----- Other -----
0.1. Deer Mouse (Darla)
1.0. Grey Tabbie Cat (Cuddles)
1.0. Chinchilla (Sebastian)
0.2. Black hooded mice (No names yet!)

I'm pretty sure the Wood Turtle is a protected species in PA so taking it from the wild under any circumstances without proper permits issued from the nongame department of fish and wildlife could be a state or federal violation. Understandably, if you found this turtle away from water and injured it probably was not going to survive the winter and I suspect it did not get there on its own. Who knows where it came from... It disgusts me that so many people think they can just pick up a turtle from the wild, bring it to show and tell, and release it in their back yard. I almost guarentee that's roughly how the turtle ended up where it did. Somebody just assumed that outside was as good a place as any to let the turtle go even if it's 20 miles from where they found it...
If you want to protect yourself, I would contact the state fish and wildlife department. I doubt they would find out you have it but in the unlikely event that they do, it's best that you be the one that goes to them. Besides, the odds are that they know where a good place to release it in the spring will be and may have somebody on staff who can take it in and re-introduce it to the wild in a manner that maximizes its odds of successfully joining a natural population. Sorry to say that I don't know who the right person to contact in your state is.

Yes, it is now illegal to own a wood turtle if you didn't have it in possession before January 1, 2007 (and you could only have had two at that time) and get a permit.

However, if the turtle was found injured far from viable habitat this close to hibernation time, it was a good bet he wouldn't have survived.

I'd say keep him over the winter, feed him well, and release him in an appropriate area come late spring. And don't let anyone know you have him!

Katrina

This is exactly what we plan on doing =) Thank you for your support!
-----
Rachel ^_^

----- Reptiles -----
1.0. Cuban Knight Anole (Nole-ski)
1.0. Ribbon Snake (Dasher)
0.1. Red Eared Slider (Timmy)
1.0. Yellow-Bellied Slider (Winston Sunshine)
1.0. Red-Bellied Slider (Lil' Devil)
1.0. Wood Turtle (Myrtle)

----- Other -----
0.1. Deer Mouse (Darla)
1.0. Grey Tabbie Cat (Cuddles)
1.0. Chinchilla (Sebastian)
0.2. Black hooded mice (Tink & Bell)