On the way to the Gopher Tortoise Survey, my wife and I came up on a large Snapping Turtle that had been hit by a truck. I managed to load him up and get him to the park where we could administer first aid. After gettinghim cleaned up, we administered Chlorhexidine and topical antibiotics. Then Brett and I applied gauze and wrapped the turtle. Poor thing looked like it was wearing a diaper. It made the first step and survived the weekend. After bringing it home I unwrapped it and checked its wounds. Believe it or not, this looks better than it did at the park.
He had full movement and was pretty active. No blood in his mouth or stool so I decided to patch him up after contacting a wildlife rehabilitator that i work with.
The first step is to cover the gaping wound so the shell can heal. THis was done with fiberglass mesh tape and denture adhesive.
Finally, it needs to be patched up. Marine grade epoxy is used to cover the wounds and tape. This keeps out water and infection and allows the shell to heal over the next year under the epoxy.
He doesn't look like he appreciates my efforts.
If all goes well, he should be released where I found him this weekend.
Here he is at the park gauzed up.
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