Patient Spotlight: Fang

Often in the spring we first see a migration of males, moving to new wetlands, before we start seeing females migrate to nesting sites. Fang was part of those early migrations. He was likely looking for a good meal after his long winter brumation (a reptile’s version of hibernation).

Unfortunately for Fang his home wetlands complex is bisected by a major highway. On the fateful day of May 22nd, 2023, NH Turtle Rescue’s executive director Dallas was on the way to a veterinary appointment. Along the way Dallas watched in horror as Fang entered the road. Just the wind from a passing big rig tossed Fang up like a leaf in the air, and as quickly as he went up, he came crashing down. As more trucks passed, at least one of the trucks hit him, and others just caused a burst of air that flung him this way and that.

It all happened so fast. Dallas pulled over as quickly as possible, and ran to grab him in the road before the next set of vehicles drove by. She got to him, but Fang was already in pieces. His injuries were shocking. She collected him into a cardboard box so he could be in a safe, quiet space during the journey. She was not sure if she should cancel or continue along the way to the veterinary appointment, but she was hopeful at least pain relief could be administered. She arrived at the Mitchell Animal Hospital, and the team agreed to administer pain relief first thing. We are so thankful for the team at Mitchell being there for Fang in his time of need, and getting him that relief as quickly as possible. Before we knew it we were headed back, and Fang could complete triage and be examined more fully back at the clinic.

With the severity of his injuries, there was no promise that Fang would make it back. He lost a lot of blood, and his shell was in so many pieces, some of which were broken off enough where they weren’t salvageable. There was also blood coming out of the mouth, which can be an indication of severe internal damage. But as we arrived at the clinic and brought Fang inside, a peak in the box showed he wasn’t giving up that fight! It was going to be a hard journey for him, but we don’t give up until they do, and Fang wasn’t giving up that easy.

The fractures were most severe around the bridge, which in our experience seems to be the most painful area to fracture. We were able to stabilize pieces of the shell to make it more comfortable for him, and after he received his first round of antibiotics, the shell was clean and stabilized, and he had his pain meds, he was ready for more rest time. It was a nerve-wracking 24 hours, but he was still alive in the morning. After that, he made it past the critical 72 hours mark. The prognosis stayed guarded because his injuries were so incredibly severe, but by the same token he was getting more stable, so we were just trying to temper expectations while being very happy about his progress.

Fang continued to impress. And here we are today, October 16th, and he’s completely stable. His wounds have healed fabulously, and he eats just about everything that enters his enclosure. Eating is one of the milestones we look for when determining comfort, as turtles will not eat for some time after a traumatic injury. We opted to keep him through the winter because he lost a number of pieces along the bridge, and those areas need to heal more and harden up. We did not want him to have to go through brumation in a weakened state. But he is going to absolutely be ready next spring, and he can’t wait! For now, he is a great eater and his favorite food is steak, so we’ll keep him content with his favorite foods until he can go home.

Fang is a survivor, and one of the many turtles we’ve met that absolutely blows us away with his resilience. Stay tuned for an update in spring 2024 when Fang is finally released!