An Overview of Turtle Rehabilitation

By Katie Kulcon

The Indiana Wildlife Rehabilitators Association hosted their 11th annual continuing education workshop on Saturday, November 2nd. They covered a variety of topics, including parasitology, raptor rehabilitation, and compassion fatigue. One particularly interesting topic discussed native turtles and common threats they face in our increasingly urbanized world.

Eastern box turtle crossing the road

Sarah Maddox of Wild Care, Inc. gave her talk titled Native Turtle Rehab: How to Get Started. She’s particularly passionate about box turtles. Turtles are an ancient order of reptiles that first evolved around 260 million years ago. Unfortunately, more than half of the turtle species we share the planet with are now threatened with extinction.

Turtles in the state of Indiana face a number of threats in the wild. Some of the most common reasons a turtle may be admitted to a wildlife rehabilitation facility include vehicle and farm equipment strikes, predation from pets, respiratory illness, illegal possession, and abnormalities in the ears or eyes. These abnormalities are often a result of exposure to organochlorine compounds commonly found in pesticides, which causes vitamin A deficiencies in turtles. Symptoms of Vitamin A deficiencies include swollen ears or eyelids, skin abnormalities, and even infection of the respiratory tract. Box turtles in particular also tend to have very high site fidelity. This means that they become accustomed to their specific territory and will often fail to thrive if moved outside of that territory.

If you encounter a turtle attempting to cross a road and can safely assist, be sure to move it in the direction it was heading. Always check your surroundings and prioritize your safety at all times. If you find an injured turtle in the wild, contact a wildlife rehabilitator. Attempting to treat it yourself is against the law and almost always unsuccessful for the turtle. Be sure to note the location where the turtle was found so it can be returned to its original home range. Thank you to Sarah Maddox for this fascinating presentation, and to the Indiana Wildlife Rehabilitators Association for hosting the workshop!