Question: What to do after finding an injured turtle ?

Answer: The best thing to do is to cover it with towel (it will calm it down) and put it gently in a cardboard box. If the injury is visibly small and superficial, like a small cut for example, the best thing to do after bringing the turtle home is to carefully rinse the wound, clean it and treat with antiseptic. The turtle should be left in clean, war and dry conditions for few days. There should be a container with shallow water in it so the turtle can enter it and have a drink. The wound should be taped to protect it from infections and checked periodically. Snappers, and any other injured turtles, with more serious injuries should be taken to a doctor of veterinary medicine ( a vet ) and given a proper attention. A turtle with small only visible injuries might in fact have more serious condition. Hit by a car the turtle might have just few scratches but extensive internal damage and if not checked by a specialist and treated will suffer a lot or just die. Also, any small cut might get infected and turn nasty. The given above plan of action is for emergencies only, situations where a vet is not available, and if only possible an injured turtle should be taken to an animal hospital for would cleaning and a shot of infection preventing antibiotics. To read more about snapping turtle health please click here Thanks for asking! Stan

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