When John brought a Red-eared Slider turtle as an emergency to our hospital we didn't know if it was his pet or not. Released as pets, these turtles have become residents of our neighbouring lakes and streams. As it turned out John had parked by a lake to relax on Canada Day here in Nanaimo and was enjoying a bit of sun that had peeked out from behind the clouds. When he decided to leave he heard a thud and saw a round object rolling away in his rear view mirror. "I thought my hub cap had come off," he relayed " or at least it looked like that, rolling down the hill like a wheel!"
A thin line of blood trickled along a fracture line in the turtle's shell. The surface would normally be hard enough to protect from predators but the weight of a car could be devastating. I put a hand on each end to see how intact the shell still was. The shell parted slightly with even the smallest amount of pressure so we would need to reinforce it.
I was also worried about internal injuries but turtles are hard to evaluate because their shell allows them to retract almost everything out of sight. I decided to do an x-ray and found that the turtle shell was not the only shell I needed to worry about. Inside were over a dozen eggs.
"Our turtle friend will be okay," I explained to John. "The lungs are clear and none of the egg shells internally have cracked so it looks like an external shell repair needs to be done and our turtle will be good to go." I gently cleansed the shell crack with an antiseptic soap and then dried it before squeezing in a small amount of bone cement. A few stainless steel sutures further strengthened the integrity of the shell and would remain a permanent piece of jewelery even when the crack healed. Finally, a thin layer of water-repellent glue was applied so the turtle would be solid and waterproof. It felt more like I was working on a car than a living thing and in the end the 'body' work was solid and waterproof.
I knew the turtle had a job to do and sent John back with turtle in hand. Luckily her legs were not injured, nor her eggs - she would have some digging and egg laying to do.
