Injured turtle rescued, but now what?

Kekewalks

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Hi everyone! Im new here and only happen to find this forum bc my killer of a dog snagged yet another turtle from our yard. Luckily enough, i was able to stop him before he got to the very gushy insides, however shell damage did occur. I hate that this happens but the get in our fenced in backyard and I cant see them, yet my dogs finds them like a magnet.

We dont have an exotic vet, but our local vet helped us apoxy the shell on the following Monday and I had treated the turtle for any infection.

We have it in a nice little setup as it heals. Not sure if it will ever be able to go back into the wild. Still not 100% sure of the species. Almost cetain its a type of box turtle, but unsure of which.

20180807_200058.jpg IMG_20180809_205443_735.jpg 20180807_200104.jpg 20180810_225057.jpg But bc of that reason, weve been very unsuccessful in getting it to eat. It has been drinking water but still refuses to really eat... we are on day 6 since the attack. Any advice or wisdom? These guys are more and more rare to find in the wild and I do feel horrible about my dog causing the harm in the first place. This turtle was found in Georgia.
 

Maro2Bear

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Greetings and OUCH!!, that right side looks so raw and sore. Poor little guy :-(. Thanks for doing your best to rescue and care for that little guy.

Definitely a Box turtle, he might be too traumatized to eat, or internal damage/sore - but, what are you attempting to feed?

It might be tempted by a large juicy worm or two.

Best of luck...
 

Toddrickfl1

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You might want to contact the DNR about where to take it. Just a heads up box turtles are illegal to keep here in GA.
 

wellington

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Nice enclosure you made for him. Be sure it's humid. You might also keep him off any substrate that could get in the wound. Keep him hydrated and try the worms mentioned. It's is a Box turtle looks young, but not sure the kind.
 

Yvonne G

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It's very difficult to get wild box turtles to acclimate to captivity. Since the turtle has been taken care of by a vet, the best thing you can do for it is to put it back outside your fence, try to seal up all the spots where they get in, and wish him luck. I've seen wild turtles with much worse injuries and they've managed to heal and live on. One time a wild Pacific Pond turtle came to my rescue. She had a dime-sized spot on her carapace that had healed, but you could tell it had been an open hole at the time of occurrence.
 

Kekewalks

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When I contacted the DNR here in Georgia they advised me that the closest rehabilitation center was at Birmingham Alabama and that there was no where locally that could help me.
 

Kekewalks

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The vet also advise not to put the turtle back out until its wounds had fully Hilde the smell alone could attract predators are giveaway its location as long as it was eating and drinking it's been drinking plenty of water and up until yesterday we didn't even know it was a Box turtle so today we're trying with some Calci-worms, wax worms, earthworms and just seeing if anything takes
 

Kekewalks

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The really weird thing about this turtle is that it has 2 different eyes that's not from what happen with my dog it was obviously born that way but one eye looks like a finding nemo eye, while the other one looks like a yellow /Orange turtle eye
 

ColleenT

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Box turtles are very sensisitve to change and obviously, this guy was traumatized pretty badly. thank you for taking him to a vet. They can go off food with any changes. Good luck.
 

PJay

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That's an eastern box turtle (Terrapene carolina carolina). Be sure to keep the substrate damp and soak it in about an inch of water a couple times a week. They can dehydrate quite easily.
 

William Lee Kohler

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That's an eastern box turtle (Terrapene carolina carolina). Be sure to keep the substrate damp and soak it in about an inch of water a couple times a week. They can dehydrate quite easily.

I disagree. The lack of any pattern makes me think it is a Gulf Coast Boxie. I think they're the only ones with a plain shell. I wonder about the epoxying of wounds as it will prevent any shell growth at those locations just like the paint they used to put on pet shop turtles shells? It can be carefully removed later but if he's healthy he will be growing soon and this will need attention soon as well.
 

Pastel Tortie

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If the box turtle was found in or around Columbus, Georgia, there's a good possibility that it's an intergrade. I'm looking at the distribution map of T.carolina subspecies in my copy of Turtles of the Southeast (by K. Buhlmann, T. Tuberville & Whit Gibbons)... On the Columbus side of the Chattahoochee River, there are Eastern box turtles, but it isn't too far north of where you find Gulf Coast box turtles in the Florida panhandle. On the other side of the Chattahoochee River (in Alabama) are three-toed box turtles.

I'm leaning more toward the turtle being (primarily) an EBT, but I'm also seeing a little bit of GCBT influence (in the shell pattern and the head profile).

Can you show us a picture of the turtle's carapace from above? I would like to see if there's any sign of the telltale GCBT flare toward the back... On the turtle's left side, anyway, since that side is still intact.

How is he/she doing?
 

Pastel Tortie

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Have you measured the length of the shell yet? Depending on how big this one is, someone here may be able to determine if the turtle is male of female. No big deal if it's male or not developed enough to tell yet... however, if it's likely a female, that could complicate things (if she had eggs in progress).
 

Yvonne G

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I disagree. The lack of any pattern makes me think it is a Gulf Coast Boxie. I think they're the only ones with a plain shell. I wonder about the epoxying of wounds as it will prevent any shell growth at those locations just like the paint they used to put on pet shop turtles shells? It can be carefully removed later but if he's healthy he will be growing soon and this will need attention soon as well.
the lack of pattern is only because it's a young turtle. I agree it's an eastern
 

orv

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Bless you for caring for this sweet boxie. I've been following this thread and am so greatful the he is finally responding to your efforts by eating. Yuvonne is a true expert here on the forums, so I'm so pleases that "Steve" broke the norm and is responding to your care.
 

NickA

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If it’s a full eastern it defiantly has abnormal lightness in color almost hypo. Iv never seen one with the skin tone and shell lightness of that one. But diffferent ranges have different genetics
 

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