Injured wild turtle

Question

Turtle   Hello,
I found a wild turtle that is bleeding from its mouth, its shell is 4" long x 3" wide. I believe it is a wood or bog turtle, it is definitely not a box or snapper turtle.  I found it in Ocean City, MD, near wetlands.

I called my vet and they will treat it if I pay, or will put it down for me for $30.00.  The turtle can still move and walked about 3 feet from when I found it until when I went back to get it.

Is the turtle likely a lost cause?  Is there anything I can do to help it?  I have to stay at work another 2 hours before I can leave to take it to a vet.
Thank you.

Answer
I can't and won't say that something that is still alive is a "lost cause". For faster response and direct consultation about it I suggest that you contact me at my facebook page "Wichita Falls Reptile Rescue" at http://facebook.com/reptilerescue

Bleeding from the mouth, the first thing I would have the vet check for is a fishhook, either visually through the mouth or via xray. You can't make a judgement call on whether something needs to be put down if you don't know what the injury is yet. There are any number of survivable injuries a turtle can have yet still bleed. I rehab them all the time run over by cars with shells busted to pieces and internal organs visible. Turtles have much better prognoses than other animals. If the vet doesn't know that, then he's not the right vet for this.

For now keep the turtle in a box, in a quiet and dark place, room temp, no direct heat, and no a/c or other drafts. Being too warm will encourage further bleeding and inflammation to get worse, but the turtle should not get too cold either because this will skew response to stimuli that is needed to get an accurate assessment of it's condition. First thing the vet should do after the initial check for the source of the injury, is to rehydrate with SQ injection in the rear thighs of Normosol R preferably, or another replenishment IV solution. Check for sunken in globes of the eyes. This is indication of dehydration, hypovolemia, or hypotension. Another important life saving protocol I use for cases of traumatic injury and head/oral cavity/spinal injury/inflammation is dexamethasone, .25mg/kg, but in the initial stages of bad cases I will often give a couple of times this dose to get them started.

After the turtle is assessed and stabilized, yo can let me know and I can give further instruction, find a local turtle REHABBER (not simply a rescue), or the option is available that you can overnight ship the turtle to me and I will rehabilitate it if it can be stabilized and the source of the hemorrhage found and mitigated.

Again, contact me at my facebook page and provide more pictures for better response. If the vet requires, I can be somewhat available for consult. I am a lafebervet.com contributor. Let him know that. Also, as an aside, I have to say that for a vet to charge for humanely euthanizing a wild animal that is suffering is a bit off putting to me though. That said, how cheaply the animal can or cannot be put down or euthanized is not going to factor into my advice to you a bit. If it is still alive and can be treated, my advice is to treat, not kill.