Guy my other half works with told us about a turtle his niece was rehoming because she got pregnant. (Yeah, not sure what one has to do with the other...) As it turns out, it is probably the best thing to happen to this poor turtle since it had been scooped up in the wild as a baby.
We have a vet appointment after the holiday. I called for the appointment after seeing that first pic and before I even had the thing in my hands. Until then I am trying to figure things out and educate myself as much as possible. I think we might find a way to convert the old hermit enclosure into a home for him which will make water changes easier and give him more space than I otherwise could.
As far as I know it has never had water more than ankle deep, zero humidity (set up like a tortoise) and zero UVB, and a giant heat lamp that had to be roasting it. This is a Central American Wood Turtle - they are bog critters and live in muck and shoreline. It's been kept dry for years.
Best my herp friend and I can figure is that the damage to... Well.. everywhere, is a combination of calcium and vitamin deficiencies, low humidity and no UVB.
The wound on top the head has supposedly always been there. It may be an old burn, but that weird horn is not supposed to be there at all and couldn't be from a burn so that worries me the most.
Has a cracked beak. Have yet to see him eat, but we think he was on an all pellet diet. Fingers crossed he can actually pick at real food on its own. Will let him settle in for a few days before panicking.
The shell is undersized, curled severely on the edges, has that weird crack across the middle that filled in, and the scutes are just layers upon layers of bad growth and bad shed. They are rock hard (good, I guess?) but peeling badly. I had to soak him and scrub him down with a toothbrush to get all the dried bedding off his shell. He didn't like that so much!
Has swollen eyes, possibly from the vitamin deficiency, possibly from the dry conditions, may be an infection. Vet will have to say for sure. Can clean and correct vitamins in the meantime.
Can't tell either if he is seriously obese from the bad diet, or if his shell is just that insanely undersized from not having enough calcium to grow properly. My friend knows what she is doing and couldn't tell if it was male or female because the shell says female but the tail says male but both could be affected by the bad growth.
Oh, and I didn't find out we were actually getting him until 4 pm this afternoon. Hubby brought him home at 7. Kind of scrambling to put stuff together for him for the weekend while we figure out more permanent digs that can accommodate a stinky, mud loving poop machine. Poor Sage lost his UVB bulb for the week until we can order in another!
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Glad he's in good hands now.
