injured snapping turtle

pandora1985 · #1 (**permalink**) 09-21-2004, 01:36 AM

A girl at my college just brought in a snapping turtle she found thats badly injured. It has a fishing hook stuck down its throat and the wire attached to the hook has cut into the corners of his mouth. Currently we have tried to contact several vets to see if we can help (we dont have a lot of money to spend so we are hoping for donation of services), but many are refusing because "its a snapper." The local wildlife center will be opening its doors for animals in a week or so....but if we cannot find help until then any advice? Should we attempt to feed it or even to cut the wire down some so the turtle cannot pull on it with its claws?

JuliusSqueezer · #2 (**permalink**) 09-21-2004, 03:45 AM

How big is the turtle? Can you let it chomp down on a thick piece of wood and carefully get to the hook with a long forceps? It's ok to cut the wire and there is a good chance that the turtle will spit the hook out in a few days but there s also a good chance that it can't so if at all possible, get it out but be careful where you stick your fingers! Good Luck. I've removed a lot of hooks from a lot of snapping turtles. It's NEVER easy.

pandora1985 · #3 (**permalink**) 09-21-2004, 04:16 AM

The shell is about a foot in length. We managed to securely open the jaws in an attempt to remove the hook....but the hook is so far down the throat its not even visible....so needless to say we were unsuccessful. Right now, the turtle is locked up in the schools conservation lab...we put it in a nice container with plenty of water. Tomorrow I will cut the wire down and hopefully we have some news from some vets we left messages tonight. I'll let you know it goes...thanks for the advice.

pandora1985 · #4 (**permalink**) 09-22-2004, 03:40 AM

okay i have good news. we cut the wire down so its no longer cutting into its mouth. we also found a local reptile expert at a wildlife clinic that is willing to take the turtle this week.

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