Hey guys, need a bit of advice. I was given a painted turtle (Chrysemys picta) that someone had caught by accident while fishing. The hook has been removed from his mouth and now I am unsure how to treat him. I currently have him in dry dock for the night, I figured that would help stop the bleeding and it seems to have worked. Do I need to get him antibiotics to prevent infection or do I just keep an eye on him and see what happens? I've never dealt with this type of injury, I've saved some that had shell rot or pneumonia but I'm at a loss here. I am thinking of just keeping him in dry dock for a week or so (with daily soaks and feedings of course!) Any advice? Thanks!
How do you treat a mouth injury from fishing hook?
- Thread starter Camirdra
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It seems that you've got it covered.
Hi Stacey:
As long as you keep him in clean water, I don't think you have to worry about it. I've seen much worse damage on wild turtles that have recovered. They are amazingly resilient.
As long as you keep him in clean water, I don't think you have to worry about it. I've seen much worse damage on wild turtles that have recovered. They are amazingly resilient.
Good luck with you turtle.
Thanks guys! He seems to be doing great today. He is eating and I have put him in our pond with the other rescues. We are now up to 6! Since they are native to our area we are planning a bigger pond with areas for egg laying. We won't release the rescues, however any offspring will be released.
I am curious as to why you would not put this turtle back? The turtle is wild and if native to your area why would you not keep em separate from the others you have now made captive...then return it to the wild????
All of the turtles here were rescues. Since we have plenty of land and a safe pond for them there doesn't seem to be any reason to drop it off in the lake. I don't sell or give them out as pets or for any other reason and generally we do return any rescued animals to the place they came from. That's why we will be releasing any young in the future. I just figure, we have the room, they all seem to be thriving, and well... why not 
? I have dealt with ravens, owls, swallows, squirrels, raccoons, frogs, the list goes on and on. I never keep them (although the raven we rescued seems to have come back and is hanging out in our area).
? I have dealt with ravens, owls, swallows, squirrels, raccoons, frogs, the list goes on and on. I never keep them (although the raven we rescued seems to have come back and is hanging out in our area).
Hope all heals
You can use 3TBS per gallon of pickling salt or natural sea salt (not marine salt mix, but the edible for humans kind) in the water to help stave off infection. Pickling salt is just like regular salt, only it does not contain the anti-caking agents. Aquarium salt is also the exact same thing as pickling salt... Just more expensive.
The injury was not severe, it was a barbed hook so we had to cut the barb off and just pulled it through. If you didn't know it had happened you wouldn't be able to see it. He is looking great and is a very active guy. I do use salts in the smaller tank we are keeping them in while we build the bigger pond. I'll post some pics when it's finished.
the RES are together with the native painted? Or are RES native there too?
If you are in Washington, the RES is a non native species there....
If you are allowing males and females together and producing offspring and then taking those offspring to local water ways and releasing them....this could have devastating affects on the native species.....
Perhaps you can produce adequate space for males in one pond and females in the other????? I mean I totally love the RESs however it is imperative that if they are not native to your area that you do not continue to release the offspring into the waterways....
If you are allowing males and females together and producing offspring and then taking those offspring to local water ways and releasing them....this could have devastating affects on the native species.....
Perhaps you can produce adequate space for males in one pond and females in the other????? I mean I totally love the RESs however it is imperative that if they are not native to your area that you do not continue to release the offspring into the waterways....
I think you've missed ascott's point.
The only turtle native to Washington state is the Pacific pond turtle (Actinemys marmorata). It would be against the law to knowingly breed red ear sliders or painted turtles and release the babies into the wild. As it is, the pond turtle is becoming very scarce in nature and is not found in very many water ways.
Even though pained turtles and red ear sliders are found all over Washington state, they BOTH are an introduced species and should not be released.
I commend your turtle saving behavior. Its good of you to be able to take them in and fix them up. But, please try to find safe homes for them and don't release them.
By the way, its also illegal to take in the pond turtle. They are protected in your state.
The only turtle native to Washington state is the Pacific pond turtle (Actinemys marmorata). It would be against the law to knowingly breed red ear sliders or painted turtles and release the babies into the wild. As it is, the pond turtle is becoming very scarce in nature and is not found in very many water ways.
Even though pained turtles and red ear sliders are found all over Washington state, they BOTH are an introduced species and should not be released.
I commend your turtle saving behavior. Its good of you to be able to take them in and fix them up. But, please try to find safe homes for them and don't release them.
By the way, its also illegal to take in the pond turtle. They are protected in your state.
I thought the concern was that I would be intermixing res and paints. I was unaware painted turtles were not native to WA. I grew up here and we've always had them around (i'm 33) and they are thick in our area! Wonder how the little buggers got so established here? I guess i'll have to do some research. As for the legality of taking in wounded animals.... I called the fish and game department twice, once about a doe stuck in a canal, and once about a pair of orphaned baby raccoons. They sent someone to shoot the deer and said the coons would have to be put down because they didn't have the staffing to raise and rehabilitate them. (I decided to decline having them come get them and did it myself) I don't turn down anything I can help. Legal or no. *disclaimer lol* I STRONGLY suggest no one do anything illegal! * I hope I haven't just ousted myself from this group with my honesty.... it truly is a great forum.
@ Ascott.... just reread your post doh! I've never released res, and I wouldn't , anywhere! The res we have were neglected pets we rescued from other homes. I thought you were talking about mixing res and paints! If we do by some chance wind up with baby res we'll find homes for them for sure. I was just talking about the paints, though if you can tell sex by tail length that won't be an issue, I think all the paints are males! Sorry I read your post wrong!
@ Ascott.... just reread your post doh! I've never released res, and I wouldn't , anywhere! The res we have were neglected pets we rescued from other homes. I thought you were talking about mixing res and paints! If we do by some chance wind up with baby res we'll find homes for them for sure. I was just talking about the paints, though if you can tell sex by tail length that won't be an issue, I think all the paints are males! Sorry I read your post wrong!
Lol...ok so my confusion is that you say your other rescue turtles are now captive because you have a pond so why not? Right? My concern is with the turtle snagged by the hook...you say it was an easy fix..cut off the barb and pull the hook through..easy enough right? So since that turtle was good to go and only sustained more discomfort than anything (because you did kindly step in and fix what had happen) then why would you then place a wild turtle who is healthy and good to go, into a pond with a confined water area with now captive turtles instead if just releasing it into the wild where it came from? This was part of my question...then my other curiosity is why would you not separate the captive turtles males from females to assure the now captive turtles slowly stop laying viable eggs so as not to produce offspring ....the offspring you then release into the wild??? Just a little confused about the keep the adults...promote offspring...then toss the offspring back into the wild...my concern would be that the babies are exposed to the ponds adult turtles and can become contaminated by anything the captives have and then you toss the babies back into the wild along with any disease or parasites they were exposed to...I think I rambled on enough to express my original concerns...
Also, I am in no way scolding or scoffing you...really I am not....I was simply confused by your behavior in regards to the painted....also I was concerned you were mixing the RES with the painted...as well as concerned you were releasing the RESs offspring and that always worries me due to their invasive nature...even though I love the little buggers they can take over a pond rather quickly and pushed out any native populations already struggling....
I am all about the conservation and Preservation of native species...but I hold no contempt for the non natives--not their fault people do what they do by plopping them in the wrong place...lol
Also, I am in no way scolding or scoffing you...really I am not....I was simply confused by your behavior in regards to the painted....also I was concerned you were mixing the RES with the painted...as well as concerned you were releasing the RESs offspring and that always worries me due to their invasive nature...even though I love the little buggers they can take over a pond rather quickly and pushed out any native populations already struggling....
I am all about the conservation and Preservation of native species...but I hold no contempt for the non natives--not their fault people do what they do by plopping them in the wrong place...lol
Ahhhh. I figured we had the other painted and it seemed a bummer for it to be alone and now this other falls into our laps and Terrance can have a buddy! They both look to be males so I don't think there will be any breeding issues there. The RES we've had for well over 6 years and no eggs yet, although we have included places for them to lay, I don't want to have them become egg bound. If they do have babies then we would find homes for them. I also would hate to see them take over the native areas. So we are not breeding them so much as giving them the option. I honestly never thought of separating the males from the females (thought now you mention it it's kinda an obvious choice, doh!) You may have just given me the excuse I needed to put in another pond !
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