Deformed Turtles and Tortoises

Yvonne G

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I was looking through the rescues I've taken in over the years and thought you all might be interested in seeing some of the deformed animals that came my way. If you have deformed animal pictures, please feel free to add them to this thread. The water turtle in the 4th, 5th and 6th pictures was the worst one I've ever taken in.

deformed tortoise a.jpg deformed tortoise b.jpg deformed tortoise c.jpg deformed turtle a.jpg deformed turtle b.jpg deformed turtle c.jpg
 

Pearly

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I was looking through the rescues I've taken in over the years and thought you all might be interested in seeing some of the deformed animals that came my way. If you have deformed animal pictures, please feel free to add them to this thread. The water turtle in the 4th, 5th and 6th pictures was the worst one I've ever taken in.

View attachment 273090 View attachment 273091 View attachment 273092 View attachment 273093 View attachment 273094 View attachment 273095

That makes me feel like crying
 

ZEROPILOT

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It's been my experience that most deformed turtles and tortoises I come across are owned by keepers unwilling to do things because of inconvenience or some small cost that they don't want.
These folks generally don't care much.
It's "just a turtle".
Too many people want these as pets on a whim without ever being serious about the long term.
Or caring for very long.
 

Turbo'smom

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Yvonne, As you probably know I have been trying to find a good home for Turbo since I moved into a small townhouse in NC. I need to know how I can trust these people that are interested. When you adopt yours out what do you ask them. I want to make sure they are not going to just turn around and sell him to the highest bidder. Thanks
 

dmmj

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Good Lord look at that slider! That's terrible, but it also shows just how tough these critters are.
That is the blessing\curse of turtles & tortoises
 

Yvonne G

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Yvonne, As you probably know I have been trying to find a good home for Turbo since I moved into a small townhouse in NC. I need to know how I can trust these people that are interested. When you adopt yours out what do you ask them. I want to make sure they are not going to just turn around and sell him to the highest bidder. Thanks
Deformed turtles and tortoises have a their own niche in the human field. People that want the deformed animals WANT them. They don't want to sell them. But I treat them as I do (or rather did, because I don't do rescue anymore) all the animals up for adoption. I go to the person's house and take a look at the space they have set aside for the turtle/tortoise. I make sure it's a safe place for the animal to live. And while we're walking around, looking at the yard, I'm getting a feel for the person and their knowledge and enthusiasm for having the animal. If I'm adopting out a deformed animal I make sure the person understands the tortoise may have special needs, may not have a long life span, etc. I'm a pretty good judge of character and if I don't feel this is the right match for the animal I tell them so.
 

Heckhaven

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I run a Wildlife Center , And can say for Fact - Mother Nature also can screw-up at times.
But, many people see an animal and just have got to have it. But, they never bother to read up on what is involved with the care. So the poor animal suffers.
Thank you for taking in and caring for them.
You are very Special.
 

Yvonne G

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These following pictures are from the web:

deformed tortoise d.jpg deformed tortoise e.jpg deformed turtle d.jpg deformed turtle e.png deformed turtle f.jpg deformed turtle g.jpg
 

chia6000

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I am assuming that they will be like this forever ,but can you get the turtles and tortoises back to a healthy/ normallish appearance after they have gotten this bad? Or, once the shell grows that way, there is no turning back?
 

Tort baby momma

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I obviously note the pyramiding but what led to the other issues? Were they fed dog food or other very inappropriate diets?
 

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