The Cooters have been examined and a plan of action for their care has been made. Here's the current situation of each of the cooters in the pond and their introductions (or re-introduction in Scooter's case). Clicking their images will bring you to their specific galleries.

Scooter Lg. Female River Cooter Scooter was found back in December in the middle of a Taco Bell Drive-thru lane. She had a serious fungal infection / shell rot. Click here to read her entire story though note it is graphic and horrendous in parts. Over the past 7 months Scooter has healed up wonderfully and is now living healthy and happy in the new pond, that was built for her. She is very much enjoying the new pond mates that arrived last weekend and eating well. Thankfully she will still eat the nutritional Reptomin Sticks which make keeping her healthy a great deal easier.

Duenna (do enya) Lg. Female Peninsula River Cooter Duenna was found crossing a large hiway. How she made it as far across the road as she did, no one knows. Thankfully a turtle lover stopped and rescued her. Duenna is our one eyed turtle. No one knows what happened to her eye but upon arriving at our place we noticed a great deal of puss coming from it and after cleaning and examination determined that at least 95% of the eye, if not all of it, is in fact missing. Duenna is at high risk of predation due to her inability to see 'what's coming' from anywhere on her right side. Keeping Duenna clean and fed, while ensuring she has a safe haven should allow her to live out the rest of her life in peace. Releasing Duenna would likely lead to an early death. Duenna is otherwise a large and healthy turtle that has quickly become a friend to Scooter as they swim and eat together.

Duenna is a Portuguese word meaning female chaperon. It seemed fitting since she was obtained to help care for Scooter. She's a great chaperon as far as Scooter is concerned since she's willing to turn a blind eye to anything Scooter would rather us not know about (har har -- get it? Blind Eye! ok ok..that was bad )

Rocko Huge Male River Cooter Rocko is an exceptionally large male river Cooter. He's quite dark in color and extremely active. I believe he was also found trying to cross a busy street. So many of the turtle habitats in the world have been destroyed that they are often pushed into unsafe conditions. Though Rocko's shell appears healthy for the most part, the turtle inside is extremely malnourished and underweight. With some strong feeding and a nutritional diet containing a large variety of plants and vitamins, Rocko should regain his strength and thrive in his new pond with the two lovely ladies by his side. Keeping him clean and the pond healthy will also play a role in removing a great deal of the algae that is covering Rocko's shell. Some good solid sun bathing/basking will be the biggest help in that area however.

Cecil Medium Male River Cooter Cecil was pulled from an overcrowded pond. It seems a subdivision and golf course that went up shrunk what used to be a thriving turtle habitat. Now it's just a small area with more turtles than it can support within it. Cecil is a SERIOUSLY Malnourished turtle that likely would not have thrived much longer in his previous location. Cecil has a good amount of shell rot, is underweight, and did not produce his new scutes adequately enough to form a healthy new shell after his shed.

We will be giving Cecil Nolvasan and Betadine baths often, watching his diet closely to ensure he builds up his strength and working toward returning him to a healthy turtle status. Cecil has a great deal of spunk left in him. He is a fearless turtle that cannot be scared back into his shell. He's quite rambunctious and difficult to handle for this reason.

Filburt Medium Male River Cooter Filburt was pulled from the same location as Cecil. His condition resembles that of Cecil's only a little bit worse. Filburt is the most malnourished of the bunch and we'll need to be quite serious about improving his diet to bring him back to full health. Thankfully none of the turtles appear to have a problem eating... they just need the opportunity to do so and a healthy diet laid out in front of them.