Rescued Florida Soft Shell Turtle Lake Isabella California

[EppsDynasty]

We received a message today about a Turtle that was seen on the bank of the lake. Instantly my wife jumped into action, getting in contact with the person that saw the Turtle, then the Fish and Game. We rounded up the animals and headed out. We did get the only location given out of the turtle. It was not an easy place to get to but this is what we found…


These are from the lake, once we got him home we went over the entire body for wound check. Rather extensive we felt, but we had to reconsider "He aint supposed to be here." We did a good rinse Hydrogen Peroxide then rinse , real good again. He is now in the house getting warm and cozy in his new home for now, outside will be introduced after we get a good assessment.


I really could use some tips @Yvonne G and I know there are others that I am not familiar with yet. Thank you for the help.

 

[Yvonne G]

Man, that's a mighty big softshell! My first thought because the sides of the carapace roll up, is long term captive. Use athlete foot cream on the fungus. If you're going to keep it for any length of time they need real clean water, or they get shell rot. I DO have a pair of them but I'm not a water turtle expert. Let's see if @Markw84 has any tips for you.

 

[EppsDynasty]

Man, that's a mighty big softshell! My first thought because the sides of the carapace roll up, is long term captive. Use athlete foor cream on the fungus. If you're going to keep it for any length of time they need real clean water, or they get shell rot. I DO have a pair of them but I'm not a water turtle expert. Let's see if @Markw84 has any tips for you.

We will be keeping him for now and he will be getting a very clean pond at least a 2000 gallon one. Thank you for the shell rot treatment. And I agree wow what a big shell. I will be waiting for Mark. 1 more thing his name is Wilson, from Cast Away the movie. Something that is far from where it belongs ..... but a survivor.

 

[EppsDynasty]

Good morning Wilson …

Well he made it through the night ... it was pretty rough though for me. Constantly checking on a living creature that is in misery suffering from the stupidity of humans, but we made it. To look at his eyes it is VERY evident of the suffering he has had to endure. Today will be 1. Treat Athletes Feet Fungus (treat the fungus with athletes foot cream) 2. We need to see if he is even able to be in the water. Can he swim or is he to weak, Is he to weak to function. If this is the case an experienced vet is on the docket.
I do remember @Yvonne G 2 Soft Shells, As soon as our children saw Wilson " That's just like Yvonne's." It was a fascinating feeling to see that Gigantic white turtle come up out of the water and ... look at you.
@Yvonne G ...The sores that are all over, do I need to treat or just let it take it's natural course of healing? Is Mazuri Turtle Pellets the best food to start with? If not what's the best food to try? We always have Mazuri Turtle Pellets and Tortoise Pellets, Always.

 

[EppsDynasty]

You can see in the second pic his Left Front Leg is missing. He has what I am going to call a Stump, it is VERY different than the other front leg. It does not move in the right way either, but this is just the way it's going to be it is an old injury.

 

[Yvonne G]

That poor turtle has been through the wars. I'm guessing he's too cold and that's why you were able to catch him so easily. I think once you get a light or a water heater on him he'll start being a bit more active. The only spots that need the athlete foot cream are the ones on the plastron. The spots on the neck and sides look more like bruises to me. I don't think he's going to eat until he's warmer, but then live offerings would be best.

 

[EppsDynasty]

That poor turtle has been through the wars. I'm guessing he's too cold and that's why you were able to catch him so easily. I think once you get a light or a water heater on him he'll start being a bit more active. The only spots that need the athlete foot cream are the ones on the plastron. The spots on the neck and sides look more like bruises to me.

I agree with the other sores/bruising, and know about the Plastron parts needing cream. Since heating large amounts of water is pretty expensive and hard to do We'll keep him in a smaller sized water container till we get a handle on what is happening. A 190 gallon Ag water container for now, then size up as he can handle larger amounts of water. I think .....
Yes on the cold part. The person who initially saw him let his dogs play with it, Wilson didn't move. We live 40ish miles from the lake so even at 75 80 miles per hour it took a little while to get there. Then the more than mile hike/run to get to the location we were given. And yes he was still there, waiting for us. And now we will be together till death due us part. I agree with the temperature issues, this is plan 1. Last night he slept in our kitchen next to the wood stove, I was able to keep his body temp above 65 all night. Today will be a BIG warm up using the kitchen windows as an infared heating system, like a greenhouse. Looks like I will be putting 5 or 6 100 watt fish tank heaters in some water and see how well it heats it up.

So Yes right now we have a 190 gallon Ag Water dish in our kitchen 2' away from the wood stove. And in 1 day 5 baby Ducks are needing to live in the kitchen as well .... What a Life.

 

[EppsDynasty]

Here’s a good look at the left stump …

 

[TammyJ]

Well, I think if he survives, it will be because of you guys! All the very best with him. When he starts eating, those baby ducks will be on his To Do List.

 

[EppsDynasty]

@TammyJ ... Thank You for the kind words, we are giving this a monumental effort to keep him alive.

 

[Yvonne G]

Just a word of advice - water turtles should be in water. Dry docking for an hour or so a day is ok, but the other 23 hours should be in water. Doesn't need to be deep. Just a puddle is fine.

 

[Markw84]

Good luck with her! Must be extremely cold as they are normally very fast and aggressive. You could never approach one on land and if you did, they strike aggressively and have very dangerous, sharp jaws. Be careful as you warm her up! Handle her as you would a snapping turtle.

They rarely come out of the water, so as Yvonne suggests, put her in water to keep hydrated. They are amazing swimmers and can chase down and catch fish. So they do need lots of swimming room. Will eat most anything it can catch - birds, fish, etc. Once accustomed to it, they will do fine on a good pellet food as well.

 

[EppsDynasty]

Good luck with her! Must be extremely cold as they are normally very fast and aggressive. You could never approach one on land and if you did, they strike aggressively and have very dangerous, sharp jaws. Be careful as you warm her up! Handle her as you would a snapping turtle.

They rarely come out of the water, so as Yvonne suggests, put her in water to keep hydrated. They are amazing swimmers and can chase down and catch fish. So they do need lots of swimming room. Will eat most anything it can catch - birds, fish, etc. Once accustomed to it, they will do fine on a good pellet food as well.

Thank You ... you say her, is this a female? The tail seemed to go well past the Carapace so we assumed male.

 

[EppsDynasty]

Just a word of advice - water turtles should be in water. Dry docking for an hour or so a day is ok, but the other 23 hours should be in water. Doesn't need to be deep. Just a puddle is fine.

The sun has just come out and this is the what will be happening in the next hour. I am trying to figure out a way to keep him in water at night in the house. Heating the water and him being outside will be difficult to say the least. Everyday will be a challenge but we are up for it and ready to get it done!

 

[Markw84]

Thank You ... you say her, is this a female? The tail seemed to go well past the Carapace so we assumed male.

I would assume a female that large. A male is normally smaller than that and has quite an obviously large tail. The vent of the tail would be quite a ways past the end of carapace in a male.

 

[EppsDynasty]

I would assume a female that large. A male is normally smaller than that and has quite an obviously large tail. The vent of the tail would be quite a ways past the end of carapace in a male.

We think you are correct, female. After putting her in water the tail was easy to view and it is small.

We have her in water with heat and will be working on filtration. For now water changes will be what is done, multiple times daily if need be. I would like to thank you @Markw84 .

 

[Paschendale52]

@Markw84 @Yvonne G
Would y'all recommend putting in some filter/pool sand in part or all of the stock tank so it can burrow in and feel more secure? Or should that wait until the plastron is more under control as far as fungus/sores?

 

[SinLA]

So what do you think happened? Was she living in the lake for a while, or did someone recently dump her there?

 

[EppsDynasty]

@Markw84 @Yvonne G
Would y'all recommend putting in some filter/pool sand in part or all of the stock tank so it can burrow in and feel more secure? Or should that wait until the plastron is more under control as far as fungus/sores?

Just as an FYI we have a 10,000 gallon pond that is currently having the filter repaired. It shall be up and running within a week, after that it's just a matter of time for my system to build the needed bacterial colonies to filter the pond(s). And the bottom of the pond she will go in will have at a minimum 6 inches of sand. I feel a lot of the issues she has suffered is from an improper substrate, decomposed granite. Our lake is a man made lake built with granite boundaries. The sand here is nothing like what they got in Florida. So I know there had to be some issues caused from the wrong substrate. I am fortunate to live in the desert and next to a rock quarry, sand is not an issue even sifted sand.

So what do you think happened? Was she living in the lake for a while, or did someone recently dump her there?

I was thinking she had been in the lake a while (couple years minimum, more likely 10+) but in a previous post @Yvonne G mentioned rolling up of the outside shell. I don't see any of the shell rolling up, don't know if it was a bad pic on my part or me just not seeing it. There is quite a lot of shell rot and a real bad wound under the chin that is rotting so I'm not sure how long it would take to do that. In the summer it's 100 degrees all the time so no problems in the summer. Winter though it freezes here like in the teens cold so there is some serious problems with her being awake during those months. We (my wife and I) look at the wounds and think of a turtle at the bottom of a rock filled lake bed rocking back and forth. We honestly think she was on her last breath of life and was just waiting to die. Of course we know she was basking but she didn't move for hours if not days. When I did put her in water she was thirstyyyyyy. We only had her out of water overnight but yesterday put her in a "puddle" kinda bit of water. We think she was just about out of strength and giving it literally the last in the tank.

 

[SinLA]

Thank you for taking care of her!