Meet Our Vet!

  Rehabilitating an injured ,wild animal is not always easy, as often times, a wild animal is not as cooperative as a domestic animal. Different medical care is required for each animal. Our vet is not on site, so most of the medical care and rehabilitation is administered by the BTN staff. In more serious cases, an animal is brought to our vet for check ups, surgeries, and tests. Our team is dedicated to getting an injured animal the care it needs to get them back to their home. This process can sometimes take months.

  A Florida Snapping Turtle

  Helping a Turtle heal a broken shell can take many months. Someitmes you have to look at scientific research to see if they might heal better on their own in the wild.
  This Florida Snapping Turtle was ran over by a car. Most snapping turtles you see are going to be females looking for someplace to lay eggs. The bandage on her back had dried into the wound.
  Removing the bandage was one of the most emotionally challenging things I've ever done. First I soaked the whole turtle to soften the tape and ace bandage. I had to put my fingers into the wound to hold the broken shell down while I lifted the tape and bandage off and you know the turtle wasn't happy about it. I think it hurt me more than the turtle.
  It started healing right away and a month later when there was sufficient skin re-grown between the broken shell peices for us to release her. This snapper had learned to trust me, so when it was released I sat with it a long time and waited for it to slowly survey her new swamp home. It dug into the mud of under a fallen tree and out of sight. I'm sure later that night it came back out and laid the eggs that got her in trouble in the first place.