Wichita Falls Reptile Rescue

[ 7/29/09 ]

This water turtle, believed to be a species of Cooter, was rescued by a good samaritan from a golf course. He was headed toward the road. Upon getting a closer look, it was obvious he was hurt pretty badly. The right front quarter of his carapace had been fractured and was hanging free of the rest of the shell, only connected by the underlying tissue. The bridge between the carapace and plastron was shattered into many pieces. This injury was likely sustained after being hit by a mower or other piece of equipment. The caring lady brought the turtle to a local reptile vet, and found my rescue a few days later.  

After receiving the turtle from the vet, where only initial supportive care was offered, several shards of non-viable bone/shell had to be removed from the wound, and some cut away from the tissue. There was no way to save and reconstruct them. A large portion of the shell was simply missing, and it will have to be reconstructed. The wound was irrigated with chlorhexidine and betadine/saline, then packed with silver sulfadiazine.   

4 wire tie anchors were attached to the carapace across the fracture, using quick set epoxy.

Wire ties were inserted and the shell partially pulled back into place to stabilize it. Only light tension is applied to the fracture seam at this time, as there are underlying wounds that will have to have an opportunity to heal before it can be completely sealed. The turtle has received 2 injections of gentamicin and will be starting a course of oral antibiotics and meloxicam for pain management. This will be a protracted recovery and will be a while before this turtle is healthy enough for release, if there are no serious complications along the way from this wound, like pnuemonia or necrosis of the shell/bone and sepsis.

[ Update 9/09 ]

This is Sweetie, an older female Ornate Box Turtle. She was found by the same person in the Vernon area who found the above Slider. Sweetie had some type of palpable mass and swelling within one of her hind legs, which made it impossible for her to withdraw her leg into her shell completely. This condition could have very well cost her a limb, either from the condition itself, or from a predator being able to grab her unprotected leg. This often happens when a raccoon or a dog finds a turtle.

I performed surgery on Sweetie, believing this to likely be an abscess with caseous debris to be removed. It turned out to be some type of non-vascularized tumorous growth. 3 hours later, after carefully incising around blood vessels and muscle tissue, most of the growth was removed. Sweetie had to deal with local anesthetic, but was a very good patient and did not begin to protest until I was suturing her leg. What remains is the excess skin that had grown over the tumor. It may have to be removed as well. She can now tuck her leg back into her shell however.  

6 of 8 Ornates

[ 6/09 ] These are 6 of the 8 Ornate box turtles that I received from someone in NY. He saw them in a pet store for sale, knew they were native to Texas and the SW, and wanted to know if I could release them. He did not want to see them sold as pets. Well, not that easy. I don't release anything I don't know the home range it came from, and I have no idea if they even came from Texas. 

They were overnighted down to me, at considerable cost to this guy I am sure. Six of them developed respiratory infections with discharge from the nose and noisy breathing. This was probably a result of the shock or stress from the trip and change in climate. They have been treated with oral Baytril and other maintenance items, and seem to have recovered. They will now either be adopted out to knowledgeable keepers with outdoor enclosures, or they will stay here and go to an outside enclosure.  

[ 6/09 ] This girl was named Lucky by the little girl who saved her from the road downtown, near the old foundry. I just so happened to be at the park where he and her brother were about to release Lucky. Admirable, but not exactly always the best course of action ( see the found/relocation page ). I can spot someone with an animal they are about to release or catch from a mile away, and I took Lucky for evaluation and to see if she could be returned to where she was found. The area she was found certainly lacks suitable habitat around, only a 100 yard or less strip of it in the median between the two sides of Kell.  She will likely just get into the street again if returned, so she is here waiting for a determination. Upon observation though, I am not sure lucky was entirely wild. She is far to responsive to me, and very aware that I have the food. I believe that she may have been kept as a pet at some point and may have been lost.  

This male Ornate box turtle was found wandering with an old war wound. His shell, healing after a probable run in with a lawnmower blade, concerned the woman who found him. After evaluating him, it was determined that the uneven shell, while unsightly, poses no threat to his continued well being. Given the size and depth of the injury, he was very lucky to survive in the wild with this wound. He will be released into a safe area where he was found if we are able to speak to the person who brought him in again.

Update: We recently learned that this docile boy was found in an alley in a residential area. We don't know if he was born around that area in a nearby park, or if he was displaced and wandering in search of a new home; but, we cannot release him back in that area. Even if it was his home range, he would not be safe there, and there's not much for habitat around. We may consider release in a safer undeveloped nearby location, across SW Parkway...but, chances are looking like he will stay here for now. 

WFRR has a secure outdoor habitat for turtles.

Baby turtles sold at the flea market or fair

Today we caught one of these fly by night turtle mill vendors. See the rest of the story below.... 

[ 6/1/08 ] Above: Today we "confiscated" ( strongly encouraged the voluntary surrender ) 53 Red Eared Slider hatchlings from an asian vendor at a trade show taking place at the MPEC convention center. We have been keeping tabs on this kind of reptile trafficking in this area for some time, and looking for an opportunity to catch them in the act. These poor turtles were packed in like sardines and the ones on the bottom had no means of fighting to the top of the water in order to breathe, as dozens of other babies were on top of them. If this wasn't inhumane enough, they were being sold indescriminately to anyone who came along, and the vendor was advising the buyers that they would not get any larger than this. The truth is that if properly cared for, they will live for decades and grow to be the size of the one below. Not only was this vendor committing fraud by deceptive business practices, but he was also in violation of federal FDA regulations. Title 21 CFR Sec. 1240.62 (b) prohibits the commercial sales to the public and interstate traffic of turtles with a carapace length of less than 4 inches. Penalty for violation may result in fine of up to $1000 and/or 1 year confinement FOR EACH OFFENSE. With 50+ turtles, he would have faced more than 50 counts. In addition, city ordinances prohibit the sale of animals at any temporary event, and prohibit the sale of animals within 50ft. of any eating or drinking establishment. This vendor was selling turtles within 20ft. of the concession windows.

The vendor, after revealing the turtles that he had for sale, was advised that he could surrender the turtles to us to be rehabilitated and released, or we would inform the local PD and county health dept. that he was in violation of federal commerce regulations by offering these turtles in a public venue. He surrendered the turtles, and we saved him a lot of trouble and money in fine amounts.

In order to discourage this vendor further from ever attempting this again, we would have preferred to make the call and involve the relevant agencies, which could have assessed the fines, however we discovered that this activity was taking place at approximately 5:20pm and the event closed at 6. By the time we got on scene and located the vendor to verify what he was selling, there was no time to wait for Texas Parks & Wildlife Dept. or any other agency to come out on a Sunday afternoon, as some have suggested. This vendor would not have still been there by the time a game enforcement officer or health dept. official arrived on scene, if they even decided to act on the information; therefore, we acted to prevent the turtles from leaving the scene with him and being sold elsewhere.

The turtles have been moved to larger suitable accommodations, where they will be reared for a short time while we decide suitable locations where they can be released.    

[ Update 7/09 ]: Over the course of the Summer several of the babies died of illness or managed to escape the enclosure. After finding a few of them missing on occasion, I discoverd one of them sitting on top of the chicken wire frame which covered the top of the enclosure and pool. Apparently they were able to reach the screen somehow and climb out, though they would have had to balance on their hind end in order to do it! I have seen box turtles do this, but never a Slider. Last Fall 12 of the largest and healthiest babies were released into a small man made lake in the new residential area near Weeks Park and SW Parkway. 13 remain. One, which is the runt and was born with one eye, will not be released, but adopted out; as he requires assistance with finding his food. The remaining 12 of these will be released this Summer, probably at the same location, or at Sikes Lake.     

weight: 4lb 6oz  length: 10"  approx age: 30 yrs

Rain washed this baby Red-Eared Slider down into a storm drain/overflow sump at the local prison, where an employee found him struggling to get out. He took the baby turtle home, where his young daughter of probably 5 years old took care of him for some time. She was happy to turn him over to animal rescuers however, and she was happy for the turtle. ( We find that many times when the situation is explained to children, they are all for letting the animal be happy and letting it go where it can live long. It is normally the parents who protest and give us grief about taking away something wild that they want to make a pet out of. Frequently, they use the possible hurt feelings of the kids as an excuse for keeping the animal...but just ask the kids about the animal being free, and see what they almost always say ;-) ). The gentleman was unsure of where this little one had come from, and, due to the restricted nature of the surrounding grounds, we will have trouble getting access there to find the pond he may have come from. For now he is being cared for here, until we decide where to release him in another suitable habitat.

This little male Ornate box turtle was turned over to us by someone who found him wandering in a parking lot. As can be seen, he might have been a recent pet. His shell shows little abrasion, he was clean, and his nails were sharp, instead of slightly worn as would be the case with a wild turtle. He might have been in captivity for a little while. But painting of his shell leaves us a little ticked off at the former keeper, or person who did this. He is called an "Ornate" box turtle for a reason. He already had a pretty decorative shell pattern, as you can see showing under the paint. This paint looks a whole lot like Testors model paint. Such paints could be toxic, could interfere with his thermoregulation and proper shedding, and the paint fumes alone would have been harmful enough to expose this poor turtle too. This was done by an immature and ignorant person.

We will be working to safely remove this paint and show off his naturally pretty shell. When that is done, we will post new pictures of this cute little boy.

[ Update 7/09 ] Below: This little male turtle is maturing and his coloration is changing a bit, but he is still cute, and looks much better without the man made paint. He has been named Amarillo ( Yellow ).

This is "Little Girl". Nobody ever came up with a better name. Little Girl was just flatly taken away from someone last year, who had taken her from the wild as a baby and neglected her for at least 2 years; rarely feeding her, never giving her UVB exposure, nor regularly cleaning her substrate. She suffered shell deformities known as Metabolic Bone Disorder as a result. She could not even fit into her shell. Her shell was too small for her, and it began to curl upward at the marginal scutes. Since taking over her care and managing her diet, with regular UVB exposure and calcium gluconate supplements, her shell has corrected and grown slightly. Improvement is noticeable this year.

[no photo available]

This poor female slider was rescued from Kemp Street and brought to us by good samaritans.  She is yet another victim of a hit and run.  She has a shattered shell, severe damage to her legs and head and may lose an eye.  We are working hard to help her and hope she will be able to live through this, but whether or not that will be in the wild again is not looking good.  She may need long term placement if she is unable to fend for herself.

Update: We placed her on antibiotics and analgesic to ease her pain until we could get an exotic vet to see her, however, her carapace was severely damaged and she was expelling blood from her mouth. Unfortunately this poor girl died from her injuries 4 days after we received her.

This poor boy was found on Hwy 79 after being hit by a car.  He has injuries to his shell to include several cracks, a broken right front leg with serious abrasions, and a possible pre-existing eye infection. Though plenty of turtles get onto this road normally, this eye condition may have contributed to his wandering out into traffic. 

This is Lucky. He is a young male Red Eared Slider of about 4-6 years old. We found him while on our way down Kemp next to the Lake Wichita dam one night. With a dark shell on a dark road, we just spotted him on the road in the nick of time and narrowly avoided running over him. I quickly bailed out of the car and ran back 30 or so yards to grab him before the next car arrived. We set him loose the next day at the creek just under the dam.

Some of our special needs cases require extensive medical attention and this can get costly. You can help by sponsoring one of these darlings. Your money will go directly toward the medical, food, and housing costs for the turtle you select.  You can name your turtle and will receive photos and regular updates on his or her treatment and progress. If one of these poor babies touches your heart, please consider helping us get him/her the care s/he desperately needs.

For information on how you can become a little turtle's guardian angel, please see our Contact page and email us today.

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