turtle trauma

[stevej37]

Leaving yesterday am and noticed one of the filters in the pond was nearly plugged with crap. I unhooked the filter and left the pump running...it just recirculates the water with the filter off.
Came back three hours later...one of the turtles had his rear leg sucked into the 1 inch hose.
I never thought it would be a danger for something like that. I guess when his foot went into the hose and it got close enough to his body it created an airseal and he couldn't get loose of the suction.
A day later...he's still sitting in the same spot...head out of the water. Doesn't eat or swim. If he makes it thru another day...will prob be ok.
If he dies, it'll be the first one I've ever lost...except to escape!

[RKDinOKC]

Turtle...

Turned a corner onto a 4 lane street. A jeep was stopped in the right lane going the opposite direction. The lady was out of the jeep and there was a turtle crossing in front of her. Just as she was bending down to pick up the turtle to carry it off the street I honked. She grabbed and quickly stood up throwing the turtle about 40ft off to the side of the road. Couldn't help myself. Really struck me as funny, laughed for 30 minutes. The thought of it still makes me smile.

[Baz]

Steve....sending good vibes for the little fella......they tough son of a guns so hoping for the best!

[masraum]

I'm sure he's just resting it. Considering their normal speed, resting probably takes a bit longer too.

Or maybe he's just wishing he had a cigarette after the sucking he got.

[Scott Douglas]

I remember driving from KC Mo to Bryan Tx, in a day. Got to just north of Dallas, was on a two lane highway where the truckers were hauling butt. Now mind you, I'm in my '68 BMW 1600, so not a very big car. It's raining cats and dogs too and I'm driving going into the sun which was out about ten miles up the road. Each time a trucker passes the other way, my windshield is obliterated with water/mud/and sand from the road for about 20 seconds or so, as the wipers just couldn't keep up.
As I'm trying to stay in my lane and hope no one comes into it from the other direction, I see a turtle crossing the road on my side. Luckily its in the middle of my lane so no maneuvering is required to miss it. For the next hour or so all I could think about was what a mess it was going to make if it got run over by one of the semi's.
When I reached my grannie's place they were sure glad to see me. Turns out there was a tornado warning out for the storm I drove thru up near Dallas. No wonder it was raining so hard.

[Racerbvd]

Stopped to let this guy cross yesterday.

[stevej37]

Set-up a temp partition to keep the others from grabbing his food.
Placed a few of these treats in front of him...the turtles go crazy over them.
He ate a couple after a few minutes...I think he will end up ok.

As Baz said....they are tough critters.

[BK911]

You have a really cool set up.
Love me some turtles.
Usually have a few babies in my fish tank.
Fatten them up for a year or so, then put them back in the lake.
Currently have two baby river cooters (tinier and tiniest).
Just released three yearlings a couple weeks ago; a river cooter (tiny) and two red eared sliders (thing 1 & 2).
Figure they have a better chance of survival being a little bigger.
Just caught a baby snapper this morning.
Let the baby box turtle go (booger), and setting up that tank for the snapper, (big head Fred.)
Will fatten it up, then will let it go in the pond.
Pond is full of tadpoles and frogs, so it should like it there.

[stevej37]

^^^ Thanks..they're fun to watch.
I had to google cooters to find what they looked like. Very similar to sliders...without the red marking.
Can't hardly find box turtles around here anymore...I think they are protected.
Amazing the different animals that a pond draws...raccoons, bullfrogs, birds, feral cats.

A pic of my acrobatic slider!

[gizmofixer]

many years ago i had the exact same problem with a mid-sized soft-shell.
the leg swelled up to the size of the pipe and i thought he was done for sure.
after a week or so the injured limb fell off, again i thought he was a goner.
well, it healed and he grew to adulthood and lived another 20 years!

[stevej37]

Wow..that is encouraging news! I picked mine up to check his leg but he's got it so withdrawn..I couldn't tell yet.
He was in the same spot this am as yesterday...but in a reversed direction. He must have been getting around.

[gizmofixer]

isolation, super-clean water, and lots of sun...........

[stevej37]

fourth day since it happened....the turtle is swimming..albeit slowly.
He should end up fine.
The lower one in the pics. The others cut him no slack..

[gizmofixer]

I'm glad he's doing well.
they are incredibly resilient critters.
i've had a few that had been mauled by large predators,
actual chunks of body missing, and they survive and do just fine.

[Baz]

Thanks for the update, Steve....continued good vibes your way!

BTW...do your turtles have names?

[3rd_gear_Ted]

My brother's significant other is the founder of the "Myrtle the Turtle Rescue" on Facebook.

[stevej37]

No names...hard to keep track of which is which
The white thing in post #9 is a live webcam.
For anyone interested...this is the link...https://video.nest.com/live/4Lc0WbToTr
after clicking on it..click on the arrow..might have to wait 10 seconds for a live pic. Every browser is diff. (no sunshine..no turtles)

[Rodney Nelson]

Glad to hear your turtle is doing better. Close call it seems.

I live in Arizona and have 3 Sonoran Desert Turtles. 21 year old, 9 year old, and 1 year old.

I think they are little easier to take care of than the turtles you have. They hibernate from Halloween to Easter. We barely feed them, as they just eat the grass and some native plants we have in the yard.

When they are young, till about 2 years old or so you have to keep a good eye on them, typically in an terrarium, where you have to give them water and lettuce on a regular basis.

They live to be about 100. So, my daughter who is only 8 knows she is in it for the long haul after we pass away.

Here is the the 1 year old "Shell Silverstien"



Here is the 9 year old "Flash"



Here is the 21 year old "Cleo" accidentally gave him a girls name before we realized that she was a he...



The males have a large rear turbo flares, concave belly pan, and a huge front air damn. True...

Oh and the 1 year old is the child of the other two. We always read that the females are not fertile until they are about 13 years old. Well they are wrong. Ours was 7 when we found the baby in the yard. So, now we have to keep them separated. But there could still be more to come as the females can store the sperm for over a year. So, maybe in August / September we could find another baby.

[stevej37]

Cool looking turtles! That male looks to have some size and weight to him.
Did the female dig a hole to lay her egg? I'm surprised there weren't more than one..or did they go to someone else?

[on2wheels52]

I'm expecting a new crop on my place.