While pet turtles are not my thing, I occasionally come upon special circumstances and make an exception. Usually these are dumped pets that were found injured in the wild where they don't belong, but not always. Read on to learn about current foster-turtles in need of a new home. If you would like to adopt… Continue reading Adoptable Turtles
Even though this little turtle only lived a few months, he or she was a brave and special turtle, and I wanted to share their story. It started, as all too many of the stories I tell do, with a turtle being hit by a car. The eastern painted turtle mother was on her way… Continue reading Patient Spotlight: Pancake (RIP)
You'd think turtle siblings would resemble each other, in size, color, behavior, etc. That's not always the case. Here's a quick look at some diamondback terrapins that were hatched from the same clutch of eggs (the mother unfortunately was deceased but we were able to save the eggs and some of them were viable and… Continue reading Tiny and Titanic Terrapins
This week, I was finally able to get some time with my mentor, because turtle season has officially begun. I practiced hand-watering, giving injections, and assisted with dental work (is it called something different when the patient has a beak instead of teeth?) Hand-watering is when you have to help the turtles drink. Normally, turtles… Continue reading Shots, Sips, and Dentistry
In Norse mythology, Freyja is the goddess of death and fertility, and is also a fierce warrior. This girl is the embodiment of that goddess in turtle form, and a true survivor. It started one Memorial Day weekend, when I was heading out to a friend's BBQ, and I get a call from a fellow… Continue reading Patient Spotlight: Freyja
What do a musk turtle, a spiny softshell turtle, and a western painted turtle have in common? All three were helped out on the same day thanks to a caring family calling a rehabber. On a lovely late summer day, I received a call from the mom in a family that had gone for a… Continue reading Turtle Trifecta Day
It is unnecessarily difficult and expensive to screen turtles for disease in Connecticut. It could be just as difficult elsewhere; I don't know. What I do know is that it's a pain in the ass. When you become a turtle rehabber, one of the things that is impressed upon you is to keep each patient… Continue reading Testing, Testing, 1,2,3, Testing!
If you find an injured animal, call a rehabber for help immediately! Not in a couple hours, not when you get out of work at the end of the day, not after a day or two of “wait and see”…and certainly not four full months later. That’s what the finder of this poor girl did,… Continue reading Waiting Is A Deadly Game
Take a look at my quasi-DIY solution for upgrading the size of your tank to better fit a large turtle after it outgrows most commercial glass aquariums. You're not actually building much of anything yourself, but you will be going on a little bit of a scavenger hunt for all the pieces you'll need to… Continue reading Big Turtle, Small Budget? No Problem.
I meant to post this earlier, but then life happened and I didn’t finish in time for National Invasive Species Awareness Week. However, it’s never a bad time to talk about invasive species, and for turtle folks, that means pretty much one thing: red-eared sliders. Although the CABI Invasive Species Compendium lists 7 other turtles as potential… Continue reading The World’s Most Problematic Turtle: The Red-Eared Slider
