Someone must've thought I needed a new softshell turtle in my pond. I discovered this one this a.m.:
He was laying on the bank, dry, and didn't move when he saw me. I tapped his shell to make sure he's alive, and he flinched, but didn't scramble away.
I have a pair of Florida softshells, but both of mine are quite a bit bigger than this one, so I knew he was a new inhabitant. I placed him in the water and his movement alerted me to the fact he's either blind or has a neurological problem. So I went and cleaned out a tub and put some water in it then went back to get the turtle.
Naturally, when I went back there, he's nowhere to be seen. So I went about my business of operating the line trimmer around the edge of the pond. I spotted him swimming. His neck was so far out of the water he looked like a periscope. This is NOT how softshell turtles swim. He bumped into the side wall and turned and kept swimming. Well, I eventually was able to capture him and place him in the tub of shallow water.
I have no idea how to treat a neurological problem, so I'm just going to have to let nature take its course. I'll dangle food in front of him and make sure his water is clean, and hope for the best.
He was laying on the bank, dry, and didn't move when he saw me. I tapped his shell to make sure he's alive, and he flinched, but didn't scramble away.
I have a pair of Florida softshells, but both of mine are quite a bit bigger than this one, so I knew he was a new inhabitant. I placed him in the water and his movement alerted me to the fact he's either blind or has a neurological problem. So I went and cleaned out a tub and put some water in it then went back to get the turtle.
Naturally, when I went back there, he's nowhere to be seen. So I went about my business of operating the line trimmer around the edge of the pond. I spotted him swimming. His neck was so far out of the water he looked like a periscope. This is NOT how softshell turtles swim. He bumped into the side wall and turned and kept swimming. Well, I eventually was able to capture him and place him in the tub of shallow water.
I have no idea how to treat a neurological problem, so I'm just going to have to let nature take its course. I'll dangle food in front of him and make sure his water is clean, and hope for the best.
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