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Hope: For the Future
From the Rescue Files
This female ornate box turtle got the name Hope because the day we got her we hoped that she would live and thankfully, she did.
I found a message on the answering machine from our vet one day in June of 2003. I had to call him back right away when I found the message because I didn't quite understand what he wanted but I understood that he had a box turtle who needed help. When I called back he told me the story. It seems he had in his possession an ornate box turtle who had a problem from the too common vitamin A deficiency, leading to closed eyes, then pneumonia. Box turtles in this region are always out for spring by the end of April at the very latest and he said that this turtle had been out all this time unable to see therefore, unable to eat.
It all started when her owner who apparently is one of these people who confines wild box turtles in her backyard but then doesn't care for them, brought the turtle to him two weeks previously. He'd treated her with vitamin A and the turtle's eyes opened up right away. When the person was due back for the check up the vet thought he'd see a turtle in much better shape, feeling better after having eaten on her own.
Unfortunately when the woman brought the turtle back not only had both eyes closed but both ears were now abscessed as well. The vet then explained to the woman what needed to be done for the turtle. First she needed surgical procedures on the ears, medication, then hand feeding to get her on the road to recovery.
The woman had the nerve to tell the vet that she wasn't going to waste money on a turtle, no instead she'll take the turtle home and RUN HER OVER WITH THE CAR.
Sorry for shouting but this still makes me angry. Car-Tire-Smash-Flat-Turtle: that is an AVMA approved method for euthanasia, right? Sheesh!
The vet said "No wait, let me keep her I know someone who can help."
He then had the woman sign the turtle over to him because he wasn't giving this turtle back to her. What he wanted from me was for me to take the turtle and keep her. He said that her choices are either I take her in and care for her or it's curtains for her, euthanasia (via AVMA approved drugs not tires).
He said if I would agree to do it, he'd do the surgery and treatment she needs. He didn't have time to nurse the turtle himself and didn't want to treat her without the assurance that she'd have a full time nurse. He really did not want to kill this turtle, not when he felt she had a good shot at living.
Sucker that I am I agreed to take this baby on and this is how she looked when I got her, nail polish on her carapace and all. I brought her home on a Thursday after her abscessed ears had been surgically treated the day before:
The first thing Hope did when she got to her new home was soak in a nice warm bath. After her bath I hand fed her and I could tell then that she really wanted to live, she was very hungry. I used a slurry of Mazuri and Reptomin turtle pellets mixed together for her meals. After the first feeding I dropped artificial tears on her eyes and one eye opened. I thought this is good, one eye is already open and we've only been home for two hours. She then took her medication and by 8:00 PM was put to bed, which was a heated and covered pet taxi.
The next morning both eyes were closed but she took a warm bath and the one eye opened again. I fed her small meals every three hours or so. Then she again took a bath, had her medication, and this time both eyes opened. They stayed that way from then on. By Saturday morning she was able to eat a cricket on her own. By Sunday I stopped the hand feedings completely and let her eat crickets and worms on her own.
This is how she looked one week after coming to her new home. Pardon the bit of sand on her head, she'd been basking in the sun in the outdoor box turtle pen:
We were happy that later she and our other rescue, Shell E the formerly broken desert box had no problem getting along with each other, both are female. Hope hadn't been here but maybe a month or two when we realized that this turtle is a spoiled brat.
This is Hope boldly stealing dog food off the dog's plate when he turned his back and she's doing right in front of the humans. No we don't feed her dog food on a regular basis but since this dog food is a high quality, high fiber, low protein, low fat prescription diet, we let her eat this one bite since she had the nerve to steal it.
One day Hope and her new friend Shell E will live outside full time but not until both are completely well and ready to be outside in our yard, protected from predators and stupid people who'd run them over with cars.
By Jan McArthur, RVT