Almost road kill

[diamondbp]

On the way home from Alabama last week I saw what appeared to be a dead box turtle on it's back roughly 15 feet off the road. I immediately assumed it was dead considering it was on it's back and it's roughly 100000 degrees but I quickly realized that a dead turtle would have swollen up exposing its limbs. So I slowed down from doing 80mph and pulled over, backed up nearly half a mile to the spot figuring it would probably just be an empty shell.

Well behold she was still alive though not moving and her wounds appeared to have been a few days old because there wasn't any blood. She was covered with various insects who were all over her wounds so I rinsed her with bottle water and put her in an inch of water proceeding home just hoping it wasn't to late for her.

She didn't move at all until two hours later when we were back in Louisiana. Because her shell wounds weren't fresh enough to "heal" back together I decided to keep her in a few inches in water for a few days to keep her wounds clean and monitor her.

To make long story short she seems to be just fine and is enjoying some freedom and fresh bread lol. I hope she turns out ok for the long haul. She gets around just fine and is feeding well.

I honestly think she was on her back for days in that crazy summer heat before I picked her up!

 

[mike taylor]

Thats cool she lived . You going to keep her?

 

[lynnedit]

Good grief, they are tough little creatures!

 

[lismar79]

Glad you spotted her!

 

[wellington]

Poor thing. Glad you saw her.

 

[Carol S]

I am so happy you saw her and rescued her.

 

[diamondbp]

My eye is ALWAYS on the side of the road lol. What's funny is ten minutes before I saw her I had commented to my son and his friend that I was sad we didn't get to see a single turtle on our trip lol.
I will keep her and hopefully have. Great success story with her over the years. I am considering moving her eventually to my brothers yard away from any males that might aggravate her wounds . We shall see. Thanks guys

 

[jdelagarza001]

Poor baby! So glad you found her.

 

[CharlieM]

She's a lucky lady.

 

[stojanovski92113]

Oh my!!! Thank god a person who loves turtles & tortoises & actually cares did a good thing

 

[lutinorob]

do you feed your turtles bread?

 

[Teodora'sDAD]

Very lucky tortoise!

 

[Yvonne G]

I'm afraid I'm of two minds about this. On the one hand I'm so proud of one of our members for taking the time to rescue this turtle, but on the other hand, unless life-saving actions were to be undertaken at home, I think the turtle should have been righted and moved away from the road and left where it was. Maybe fill the crack with vaseline or something that will keep flies out of it and leave her in her territory.

 

[diamondbp]

I know your comment is out of genuine concern Yvonne. But I weighed the options before bringing her with me.
Not knowing the severity of her injuries (possibly internal) the moment I picked her up I thought leaving her there would have been leaving her to her death. The immediate area wasn't ideal for a release either especially concerning the dry spell south Alabama was currently in.

As I pointed out before her wounds seemed to have been a few days old so performing any sort of repair seemed to far gone.

The point is that now she will be monitored, she is already eating, and is roaming around well. She has a forever home with someone who is an expert in her species.

Left alone on the side of the road the odds of survival were greatly against her.

Yes box turtles eat bread.In fact that's the easiest way to get a new box turtle feeding. Sometimes easier than live worms.

I'm afraid I'm of two minds about this. On the one hand I'm so proud of one of our members for taking the time to rescue this turtle, but on the other hand, unless life-saving actions were to be undertaken at home, I think the turtle should have been righted and moved away from the road and left where it was. Maybe fill the crack with vaseline or something that will keep flies out of it and leave her in her territory.

 

[lynnedit]

I had no clue about feeding them bread. Of course, it would be as part of a varied diet, or to tempt picky box turtles, but that is quite interesting.

Along with her wounds, she sounds like she was quite dehydrated.

 

[diamondbp]

I have a few that aren't fond of it but still eat some. Most run for it. The great thing about bread is that you can easily mix in beneficial powders, juices, and vitamins. Mine get it roughly twice a week. It seems they even prefer the out of date bread compared to fresh lol. I think they take to bread quickly because the color and texture resembles mushrooms. That's just my theory

 

[Moozillion]

SO GLAD you rescued her!!!

 

[turtlemanfla88]

Thank you for saving her I can not believe she did not bake in the heat.

 

[bouaboua]

What a rescue. I think all member's car will all equipped with a Tortoise or turtles's rescue first kit. Hahaha.

 

[diamondbp]

She is pretty much eating whatever I put in front of her. Today it was "home style" kibbles and bits. Yesterday she destroyed some worms. The day before that she ate a squash seed pod. Going well