Wild box turtle missing half its shell / injury

Makaylaiori

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I found this guy or gal in my yard today, missing nearly half it’s shell! The tissue is dry but very soft and pliable. There is also an empty space between the tissue and shell down the center of its back with grass seeds inside. I don’t want to let it go to surely die like this. It seems to have energy and a will to live. I have novice experience with turtles/tortoises and wish to help this turtle survive their injury. I need advice as to how to proceed. Please help.
- Makayla from Miami, OK

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ZEROPILOT

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@ZEROPILOT has seen some strange injuries in other species... Any thoughts on this one?
Since its wild...
Maybe a fire injury or a crushing injury. Run over by a car?
It could be a bacterial infection of the carapace. But those are all speculative.
It does not look fresh/new.
I've never encountered anything like that.
It's quite serious.
I'll bet someone else will know more.
 

Makaylaiori

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Since its wild...
Maybe a fire injury or a crushing injury. Run over by a car?
It could be a bacterial infection of the carapace. But those are all speculative.
It does not look fresh/new.
I've never encountered anything like that.
It's quite serious.
I'll bet someone else will know more.
Do you think there is a chance it might make it through this injury?
 

ZEROPILOT

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Do you think there is a chance it might make it through this injury?
Yes.
But I don't know how much pain it is in.
Or any idea what's going on with him.
To me, it looks like it's not a brand new injury.
 

Makaylaiori

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@Makaylaiori Do you have any idea how long ago the injury might have occurred?

I mean... It isn't super fresh and bloody..... Is it?
(Sorry everybody, I couldn't think of a more tactful way to put that, at the moment.)
It doesn’t look very fresh. There isn’t any blood and the turtle was energetic and pretty thirsty. There is a small spot that does look a little.. meaty? Almost like a lesion. There are also two seemingly old tooth holes on the intact side of the shell.
 

Pastel Tortie

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I'm hoping @Yvonne G or one of our box turtle experts is going to come along and tell us everything's going to be fine and that there's just a few things to do to aid in its recovery.

That being said, you may want to take a look at the Association of Reptilian and Amphibian Veterinarians (ARAV) website at https://arav.org and try out their Find A Vet feature (big green button at the top of their home page). You can at least see who they have listed nearby.
 

Makaylaiori

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I'm hoping @Yvonne G or one of our box turtle experts is going to come along and tell us everything's going to be fine and that there's just a few things to do to aid in its recovery.

That being said, you may want to take a look at the Association of Reptilian and Amphibian Veterinarians (ARAV) website at https://arav.org and try out their Find A Vet feature (big green button at the top of their home page). You can at least see who they have listed nearby.
Thank you for suggesting this resource. I did that and found 5 in a 100 mile radius, which is better than I expected. I’ve learned that finding veterinarians who will see exotics around here (I have a 50 year old blue fronted amazon) are few and far between. Tomorrow I will call a few of them and see what they think
 

Pastel Tortie

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Thank you for suggesting this resource. I did that and found 5 in a 100 mile radius, which is better than I expected. I’ve learned that finding veterinarians who will see exotics around here (I have a 50 year old blue fronted amazon) are few and far between. Tomorrow I will call a few of them and see what they think
I'm so glad to hear that. :)
It's possible there may be a Forum member nearby who can recommend a good reptile vet near you, but a lot of times, we live too far apart. If you can find an ARAV member, there's a decent chance they keep up with current issues and veterinary treatments specific to reptiles.
 

ZEROPILOT

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It doesn’t look very fresh. There isn’t any blood and the turtle was energetic and pretty thirsty. There is a small spot that does look a little.. meaty? Almost like a lesion. There are also two seemingly old tooth holes on the intact side of the shell.
So, maybe a dog or a coyote attacked him?
The part that looks raw, I'd place some general antibiotic ointment on that spot.
Maybe check for a local wildlife rehabber, too.
 

Pastel Tortie

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I have no idea what the captive wildlife regulations are in Oklahoma, but it's just a matter of time until someone asks the question whether you're allowed to keep the turtle while it's recovering and all. And if you're good legally to keep it, there may be issues with releasing it back to the wild after a period of time.

Soooo... If you happen to be suffering from insomnia tonight, you may want to add that to your research/reading list. Just so you can be thinking about all angles and options in deciding how to proceed. :)
 

Yvonne G

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Oh my lord! It's absolutely amazing what turtles and tortoises can live through.

There's nothing to worry about with this turtle. Whatever killed off the shell happened a very long time ago. What you're seeing is the new keratin that grew UNDER that dead bone, and it's a very good example for all to understand. You can see the dead bone clearly and the new keratin that has grown under that dead bone. I don't know how it's going to look once all that dead white bone pops off, but it's a very old injury and there's no doctoring or first aid needed. I'm going out on a limb here and GUESSING that someone has picked off the dead bone before it was quite ready to come off, hence the slightly red-looking area. All that white bone right above the normal scutes will eventually pop off too.
 

Srmcclure

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I have no idea what the captive wildlife regulations are in Oklahoma, but it's just a matter of time until someone asks the question whether you're allowed to keep the turtle while it's recovering and all. And if you're good legally to keep it, there may be issues with releasing it back to the wild after a period of time.

Soooo... If you happen to be suffering from insomnia tonight, you may want to add that to your research/reading list. Just so you can be thinking about all angles and options in deciding how to proceed. :)
In Oklahoma you can have them ?
 

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