Three Toed Box Turtle - Tiny
This little juvenile Three-toed Box turtle less than 3 inches long was the victim of a dog attack.
Dogs love using turtles as chew bones. A woman discovered her dog chewing on the little turtle in her yard. She thought the turtle was dead so she threw it in the trash. Two days later the woman noticed that the turtle was still alive. She got it out of the trash and contacted the GCTTS and brought it to one of the rehabbers.
Upon examination it was obvious that a large chunk of the carapace was missing over the left front leg. The tissues deep under the carapace were also damaged and the left leg was not being used. This could point to muscle or nerve damage. There is also a deep puncture wound on the carapace above the area where the chunk is missing. This is in the lung area and there could be a lung puncture.
The wounds were cleaned and injectable antibiotics were started to help prevent infection. Cleaning of the wounds was made difficult because the blood was drying due to the two day delay in getting to the rehabber. You can also see tooth scrapes on the plastron.
After a few days the little three-toe starting moving the leg some, which is a good sign. The turtle is now eating and recovering from his initial trauma but will need to be watched closely for a while because of the chance for a recurring infection and see if it regains full function of its left front leg.
Your donations will help pay for his medications and care.
Please note that some images of injured turtles may be disturbing.
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Follow-up on Tiny 11-2004: Tiny spent the summer and fall outdoors when his wounds sealed and has shown no signs of infection. He has regained full use of his foreleg and is a happy and healthy turtle. Tiny is available for adoption following a successful hibernation, and is listed on our adoption page.
Tiny has a permanent home! Tiny was adopted to a GCTTS member with a wonderful outdoor habitat Oct, 2005.