East York Veterinary Center, York PA

Not the typical Capt. Hook Turtle learns to watch his diet the hard way

November 21, 2007
Section: MAIN
Page: 01, 06
TERESA McMINN For the Daily Record/Sunday News
Dr. Theresa Flowers-Gosik had just returned to the office from her lunch break when she heard that someone had brought in a turtle.

At that point, she imagined a little guy.

Then she got a look at the angry beast that resembled a dinosaur.

Flowers-Gosik, a doctor of veterinary medicine at East York Veterinary Center, said a "good Samaritan" found a 15-pound snapping turtle, saw a cord was hanging from its mouth and took it to another animal hospital that turned down the case. He then took the turtle to the Springettsbury Township center where Flowers-Gosik works.

An X-ray showed that a hook about 5 inches long attached to the cord was inside the reptile. She suspects someone set an unattended trap for snapping turtles, and the reptile got hooked when going after bait.

"It was actually down into his stomach," she said.

The prognosis wasn't good.

At that point there were two options: The creature could be euthanized, or surgery could be attempted to save it. Working with the turtle was a challenge, Flowers-Gosik said.

"He could take your finger off," she said.

Fortunately, one of the nurses at the center participates in a snapping turtle trap-and-release program, she said. "So she kind of knew how to handle him.

"He's a wild reptile, so you can't really handle him except for extremely cautiously," she said. "They can actually leap up from the ground. One of my nurses found that out."

Additionally, anesthesia can be tricky with turtles, she said.

"The real challenge with reptiles with anesthesia is for them to come out of it," she said. "It's hard to tell if they're alive or dead. . . . I honestly didn't think he was going to make it."

East York Veterinary Center owner Valerie Miller - who has been doing pro-bono wildlife cases for more than 10 years - said trying to gas a turtle is tough because they can hold their breath for a very long time. And you can't just put a tube down their throats because they'll bite it off, she said.

But Miller and Flowers-Gosik managed to put the snapper under and operated on it for about an hour to remove the hook.

"He was actually awake and moving around the night of the surgery," Flowers-Gosik said.

The turtle underwent a course of antibiotics, has been eating well and gained about a pound since the surgery, Flowers-Gosik said. Recently, when temperatures reached nearly 80 degrees, she took the turtle outside for fresh air and exercise, she said.

Flowers-Gosik said the staff started calling the turtle Captain Hook around the office. Because of what was found in the turtle's stomach, they though it was appropriate, she said.

Because the turtle is still healing, it cannot be allowed to hibernate this season, she said.

"He's in a heated area," she said. "We just have to give it time to heal."

When he's fully recuperated, Flowers-Gosik plans for the turtle to live at a wildlife park. "We got the best possible results we could have hoped for. . . . This poor turtle could have died a very slow death."

Miller, who works with wildlife rehabbers, said she understands other vets' reluctance to treat a wild snapping turtle.

"A snapping turtle doesn't draw up cozy feelings in most people, but they are just trying to earn a living like the rest of us," Miller said. "But if we vets don't take these creatures in, who will?" PIC: DAILY RECORD / SUNDAY NEWS - KRISTIN MURPHY Dr. Theresa Flowers-Gosik carries the snapping turtle 'Captain Hook' by his tail into another room for a portrait Friday at the East York Veterinary Center in Springettsbury Township. PIC: DAILY RECORD / SUNDAY NEWS - KRISTIN MURPHY PIC: An X-ray shows the 5-inch-long hook caught inside the stomach of 'Captain Hook,' the snapping turtle at the East York Veterinary Center in Springettsbury Township. PIC: DAILY RECORD / SUNDAY NEWS - KRISTIN MURPHY 'Captain Hook' poses for a portrait Friday at the East York Veterinary Center in Springettsbury Township while recovering from surgery that removed a hook from his stomach.