How stupid & cruel can people be ? (image may be disturbing)

[Marshall]

This is for info only in case you see someone do this someday please try and prevent it.
So how stupid can people be ? or cruel ? Well pretty stupid and very cruel in this case. Now when I mention marking a turtle with paint I mean putting a color dot of non-toxic paint on one scute and not covering even the entire scute. What these people did was number one make the turtle look stupid but also gave them a death sentence. If you paint an entire shell in a captive one it will suffer from lack of UV and lack of shell being able aerate and shed properly. If you paint a wild one and let it go then you basically just put a label that says "hey predator come kill me I am bright green!" Also some asshole drilled a hole in one of these turtles to "leash it" to it's "home". Do I even need to mention why drilling holes in a live animal is wrong?

 

[peter hillman]

This is for info only in case you see someone do this someday please try and prevent it.
So how stupid can people be ? or cruel ? Well pretty stupid and very cruel in this case. Now when I mention marking a turtle with paint I mean putting a color dot of non-toxic paint on one scute and not covering even the entire scute. What these people did was number one make the turtle look stupid but also gave them a death sentence. If you paint an entire shell in a captive one it will suffer from lack of UV and lack of shell being able aerate and shed properly. If you paint a wild one and let it go then you basically just put a label that says "hey predator come kill me I am bright green!" Also some asshole drilled a hole in one of these turtles to "leash it" to it's "home". Do I even need to mention why drilling holes in a live animal is wrong?
View attachment 86152

I can't believe it...

 

[Marshall]

I can't believe it...

I was shocked myself and I get turtles in the rescue and especially the emergency quarantine that have been busted open, crushed, cut, smashed by rocks and a number of other gruesome injuries but this just made me shake my head in disbelief that people are really this cruel and frankly dumb.

 

[haver79]

Marshall I know little about turtles. What do you do when you get a turtle with a cracked or crushed shell. Do they heal themselves in time? And as for the paint, that
is ridiculous. Do you try to remove the paint?

 

[Marshall]

Marshall I know little about turtles. What do you do when you get a turtle with a cracked or crushed shell. Do they heal themselves in time? And as for the paint, that
is ridiculous. Do you try to remove the paint?

If the paint is as bad as those images then yes you would want to try and remove it because the shell will begin to rot and infect if it stays and as they get in the water and then under the sun the paint will seep into their body and might cause kidney failure. To fix a cracked or crushed shell you first have to make sure it did not spur into the organs and then clean the wound and disinfect it. To repair the crack you use a 2 part epoxy to put the shell back together. If a part is missing you can patch it with a donor scute or make on from resin. I have also used carbon fiber to patch a scute on the plastron side.

 

[haver79]

Thanks Marshall. So they do not "heal" or grow back together. Sounds like without repairing the shell they would not fair well and possibly die? Good of you to take this on and try to nurse them back to good health or at least give them a better home. To many people out there that shouldn't own pets of any kind.

 

[Lisak1]

People truly can be ignorant. So sad.

 

[Marshall]

Thanks Marshall. So they do not "heal" or grow back together. Sounds like without repairing the shell they would not fair well and possibly die? Good of you to take this on and try to nurse them back to good health or at least give them a better home. To many people out there that shouldn't own pets of any kind.

The scute will grow back eventually from underneath and will replace the repaired one but it takes quite a bit of time so without the repair they would not be able to heal.

 

[addy1]

We find wild turtles now and then, they get looked at, never touched and wander on their way. The only time I interfere is if they are in the middle of our roads. I just move them over to the side of the road they are heading to

 

[Marshall]

We find wild turtles now and then, they get looked at, never touched and wander on their way. The only time I interfere is if they are in the middle of our roads. I just move them over to the side of the road they are heading to

That is a really good way to interact especially considering that box turtles are killed by vehicles more than any natural predator. I tell people to observe them and let your kids observe and learn but allow the turtle to do what he wants and if he retreats then don't follow him. Stress is a big factor in turtle health and can become an acute health issue pretty easily.