Injured tortoise in garden

[McMazz]

Hi everyone, I’m new to the forum. I joined because my wife just came upon a baby tortoise in the garden. The tortoise is either injured or has a deformed left front foot. He or she was under a plant, partially dug in on the right side (the side with good feet and claws). Active and alert, indeed moves quite quickly, no signs of lethargy. Not even sure if he’s a tortoise or a box turtle.

My question is whether we should keep the tortoise due to its bad front foot. Or should we let him go back to the wild and take his chances? We’d have let him go if it weren’t for the deformed/injured foot.

There’s no blood or anything, as you can see from the pics. Thanks in advance!

 

[Michael Bird]

That's not a tortoise.

I'm not 100% sure, but it looks like a baby North American Wood Turtle. Here's a picture of a "cleaned up" baby for comparison:


The turtle in your picture is missing that entire front left foot. That will make it harder to walk, and a lot harder to dig. I'd wait for some expert input, but it seems to me that turtle probably will have a hard life in the wild. But it also might be illegal for you to remove it from the wild. A quick Google search came up with this site listing the native species that live in your area as well as the rules regarding keeping them as pets:
http://www.nauti-lasscritters.com/state-tennessee.html

I notice that the North American Wood Turtle is not listed as native for your area, so it might be a different variety, or it might be that someone nearby has some as pets and a recently hatched baby wandered (or was carried) away from their yard.

 

[Rooseveltthetortoise]

Yeah, that is a turtle. So cute though! If Michael is right, it would be a very easy pet, wood turtles are just like tortoises in the matter that they don’t need water. I don’t know anything about raising them, but they are usually very pricey to buy.

 

[zovick]

Hi everyone, I’m new to the forum. I joined because my wife just came upon a baby tortoise in the garden. The tortoise is either injured or has a deformed left front foot. He or she was under a plant, partially dug in on the right side (the side with good feet and claws). Active and alert, indeed moves quite quickly, no signs of lethargy. Not even sure if he’s a tortoise or a box turtle.

My question is whether we should keep the tortoise due to its bad front foot. Or should we let him go back to the wild and take his chances? We’d have let him go if it weren’t for the deformed/injured foot.

There’s no blood or anything, as you can see from the pics. Thanks in advance!

That is not a Wood Turtle. It is a baby Box Turtle. Your best bet is to just release it where you found it. It is an old injury and is healed. The animal has been OK with it that way so far and will continue to do all right in the wild. I have found many wild turtles which are missing feet over the years. It is usually due to predator attacks (raccoons, possums, etc.).

I once found a Wood Turtle in CT which had all 4 feet missing, yet it was still doing fine in the wild. It was a huge old female, and the injuries were all healed. She was walking in a cow pasture on her four stumps looking for worms and slugs in the water-filled cow footprints.

 

[wellington]

That is not a Wood Turtle. It is a baby Box Turtle. Your best bet is to just release it where you found it. It is an old injury and is healed. The animal has been OK with it that way so far and will continue to do all right in the wild. I have found many wild turtles which are missing feet over the years. It is usually due to predator attacks (raccoons, possums, etc.).

I once found a Wood Turtle in CT which had all 4 feet missing, yet it was still doing fine in the wild. It was a huge old female, and the injuries were all healed. She was walking in a cow pasture on her four stumps looking for worms and slugs in the water-filled cow footprints.

I agree with Zovick.

 

[methos75]

Just saw this but yeah, it's a healed wound and doesn't really stop them. I have one with a similar issue and as you can see, it doesn't faze them in the least.

 

[jeff kushner]

LOL....she climbs up there.....or is that a wrap-around place to bask?

 

[methos75]

LOL....she climbs up there.....or is that a wrap-around place to bask?

She climbs everywhere lol