Found tortoise with cracked shell

MemoEP

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Joined
Aug 23, 2019
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Texas
A friend found this tort today. Because we have a male Leopard Tortoise, he asked if we could take it.
We don't mind caring for this guy, but he has a cracked shell... not sure how that happened or what
can be done.
Questions: can anything be done for that shell? And if we keep him (or her), would it be traumatic
for it to be in an enclosure with our Leopard? The enclosure is outside, 12' x 8'.
Thanks!Found Tortoise 7.14.21 (2).jpg
 

MemoEP

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Aug 23, 2019
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Texas
It's a box turtle, wild from the looks of it. The shell is an old wound from what I can see. I'd find a water source like a pond and let him go ideally in the same place he was taken from...
Maggie, thanks for your quick response. We have not seen this turtle/tortoise in person, so we couldn't tell from the photos. But there are a good number of turtles in and out of ponds and canals in this area. So maybe we should simply put him back into a pond with other turtles we've seen. Thanks again.
 

ZenHerper

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Very alert (prob. male) box turtle; carapace looks like it's chipping away an old trauma...if nothing about the shell moves when handled, no action/convalescence needed.

I'd return it to a safe part of the area it came from.

Thanks for caring!
 

Yvonne G

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Maggie, thanks for your quick response. We have not seen this turtle/tortoise in person, so we couldn't tell from the photos. But there are a good number of turtles in and out of ponds and canals in this area. So maybe we should simply put him back into a pond with other turtles we've seen. Thanks again.
Not INTO a pond, but rather NEXT to a pond. It's NOT a water turtle.

Box turtles are territorial and if your friend lets him go somewhere else other than where he was found, he's liable to be killed as he tries to find his way 'home.'
 

MemoEP

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Not INTO a pond, but rather NEXT to a pond. It's NOT a water turtle.

Box turtles are territorial and if your friend lets him go somewhere else other than where he was found, he's liable to be killed as he tries to find his way 'home.'
Yes, that's what I meant. Sorry for the confusion. We are helping this friend to get him back to where they found him (or as close as possible). Thanks again.
 

m irwin

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Feb 4, 2021
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Agree - let it go where you found it- it's most likely wild and another victim of wandering into the sight of humans who feel they need to "rescue" him. Un-rescue him right back to where he was found and let him go free and wild, as nature intended.
 

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