Injured Gopher tortoise ..

[Tony the tank]

Well I have to share this story .. Yesterday I found pete( tortoise I saved last yr from a raccoon ) in the front yard.. Since I have gotten use to seeing him I didn't pay him any mind.. Until I came out at night and found him in the corner of my carport .. Upon closer look I noticed that he was missing the front half of both legs and there was a obvious infection.. I snatched him up and took him to the local vet .. Who proceeded to tell me he couldn't touch the animal and I should never had removed him from where he was ( my carport ) I then called fish and wildlife who gave me the number for a wildlife rehab .. All in all I called 22 numbers and finally got a call back from a rehab who explained to me that they would probably euthanize it ... I explained to them for that I would I will leave him be..I then get another call from rehab 2hrs away almost 20 hrs later ..who assured me they would not euthanize him.. So before I left this morning I cleaned out his wounds using a new paint brush and a bacterial wash.. And filled the wounds with Neosporin.. On the ride down he ate 6 hibiscus flowers..

Now the reason for this post .. why was it so difficult to find someone to help this animal ?? If it's endangered I would have thought that they would have a system to deal with situations like this ...

 

[turtlelou]

I'm so sorry you got that treatment. It happens a lot. They have laws but then they don't protect them. Bless you for saving this guy. Good luck. Keep us posted.

 

[Yellow Turtle01]

I'm so sorry that that happened! Did he get attacked by a predator??
I hope he gets better soon... good luck

 

[Tony the tank]

I believe something attacked him the wounds were as if he tucked in and something ate the front of his legs.. We have lots of bears and armadillos but I haven't seen a raccoon or possum in over a yr..I feel bad because I have noticed him acting funny over the last week..( laying in the driveway, and on the front porch by the door ) even my dogs were ignoring him .. Which I just thought the reason was they were use to seeing him... Now it seems they knew he was ill ..