Turtle rescue, what did I get myself into

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wodesorel
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Turtle rescue, what did I get myself into

Post by wodesorel » Fri Nov 10, 2017 3:10 am

Any recommendations for a good turtle forum/group?

Guy my other half works with told us about a turtle his niece was rehoming because she got pregnant. (Yeah, not sure what one has to do with the other...) As it turns out, it is probably the best thing to happen to this poor turtle since it had been scooped up in the wild as a baby.

We have a vet appointment after the holiday. I called for the appointment after seeing that first pic and before I even had the thing in my hands. Until then I am trying to figure things out and educate myself as much as possible. I think we might find a way to convert the old hermit enclosure into a home for him which will make water changes easier and give him more space than I otherwise could.

As far as I know it has never had water more than ankle deep, zero humidity (set up like a tortoise) and zero UVB, and a giant heat lamp that had to be roasting it. This is a Central American Wood Turtle - they are bog critters and live in muck and shoreline. It's been kept dry for years.

Best my herp friend and I can figure is that the damage to... Well.. everywhere, is a combination of calcium and vitamin deficiencies, low humidity and no UVB.

The wound on top the head has supposedly always been there. It may be an old burn, but that weird horn is not supposed to be there at all and couldn't be from a burn so that worries me the most.

Has a cracked beak. Have yet to see him eat, but we think he was on an all pellet diet. Fingers crossed he can actually pick at real food on its own. Will let him settle in for a few days before panicking.

The shell is undersized, curled severely on the edges, has that weird crack across the middle that filled in, and the scutes are just layers upon layers of bad growth and bad shed. They are rock hard (good, I guess?) but peeling badly. I had to soak him and scrub him down with a toothbrush to get all the dried bedding off his shell. He didn't like that so much!

Has swollen eyes, possibly from the vitamin deficiency, possibly from the dry conditions, may be an infection. Vet will have to say for sure. Can clean and correct vitamins in the meantime.

Can't tell either if he is seriously obese from the bad diet, or if his shell is just that insanely undersized from not having enough calcium to grow properly. My friend knows what she is doing and couldn't tell if it was male or female because the shell says female but the tail says male but both could be affected by the bad growth.

Oh, and I didn't find out we were actually getting him until 4 pm this afternoon. Hubby brought him home at 7. Kind of scrambling to put stuff together for him for the weekend while we figure out more permanent digs that can accommodate a stinky, mud loving poop machine. Poor Sage lost his UVB bulb for the week until we can order in another!

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Re: Turtle rescue, what did I get myself into

Post by wolfnipplechips » Fri Nov 10, 2017 11:08 am

What a beauty!!! Great rescue, sad to say I know nothing about turtles though. Good luck! :) Glad he's in good hands now.
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Re: Turtle rescue, what did I get myself into

Post by jclee » Fri Nov 10, 2017 5:08 pm

wolfnipplechips wrote:What a beauty!!! Great rescue, sad to say I know nothing about turtles though. Good luck! :) Glad he's in good hands now.
^Ditto. That turtle is lucky to have found you. Man, some people just shouldn't have pets.
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Re: Turtle rescue, what did I get myself into

Post by jclee » Fri Nov 10, 2017 5:10 pm

At a glance, this looks like a good care sheet to get you started.

http://www.austinsturtlepage.com/Care/cs-caowood.htm
120G with 5 hermit crabs, varied ages/sizes, most are jumbo by this point.
I have a bunch of other critters, too! You can see them all here:
https://www.instagram.com/profjcscritters/

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Re: Turtle rescue, what did I get myself into

Post by aussieJJDude » Fri Nov 10, 2017 5:36 pm

Oh gosh. Poor thing, seems like it has been through a lot. I have browsed through numerous turtle forums some time or another for crabby DIY ideas. Lemme see if i can find any to give you a good starting platform.

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Re: Turtle rescue, what did I get myself into

Post by aussieJJDude » Fri Nov 10, 2017 5:39 pm

http://www.turtleforum.com/forum/upload ... le-forums/ <<< visited a few times, believe there is a subforum for your specific turtle?
http://www.redearslider.com/forum/index.php <<< i troll this one alot for DIY ideas, seems like a good board? But idk if its too heavily RES...

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Re: Turtle rescue, what did I get myself into

Post by GotButterflies » Sat Nov 11, 2017 3:47 pm

Congratulations on your rescue! He is beautiful! Thankfully you took him! Looks like he needs some tender loving care!

We just got a turtle. My son did a majority of the research. We have a box turtle. From what I understand, turtles do not like to be in glass aquariums. We bought a huge tote for ours, (top is left off) and set it up with about 50lbs of organic soil, 2 bags of sphagnum moss moistened and 3 bricks of moistened eco earth. He loves to dig. I bought the Mega Ray UVB/UVA light that doubles as a basking light.

There is a forum called The Tortoise Forum that he likes. Good luck!
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