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We had a turtle come in that had obviously been hit by a car (see photo with tire marks on it). The turtle's shell was fractured top and bottom and had pieces missing from the side.
Did some research and saw that vets and reptile rehab places use fiberglass to make a permanent prosthetic shell. We pretty much only do wild mammal rehab, but the turtle appeared to be healthy other than the shell problem, so we figured we'd try. We cleaned up the wound and got the bleeding stopped. Then cleaned up the shell, got rid of jagged pieces that would cut or abrade his innards. After that, a light coat of resin topped with two layers of fiberglass cloth. Once dry, sanded it smooth. The turtle was last seen crawling into our stock tank and swimming away under his own power.
Tire track on shell (dark discoloration visible at top):
Broken shell with parts missing - A little blood (just keepin' it real):
Good as new:
Did some research and saw that vets and reptile rehab places use fiberglass to make a permanent prosthetic shell. We pretty much only do wild mammal rehab, but the turtle appeared to be healthy other than the shell problem, so we figured we'd try. We cleaned up the wound and got the bleeding stopped. Then cleaned up the shell, got rid of jagged pieces that would cut or abrade his innards. After that, a light coat of resin topped with two layers of fiberglass cloth. Once dry, sanded it smooth. The turtle was last seen crawling into our stock tank and swimming away under his own power.
Tire track on shell (dark discoloration visible at top):
Broken shell with parts missing - A little blood (just keepin' it real):
Good as new:
4 door
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