Grace arrived at Dancing Turtle Rescue just as the calendar was flipping to 2021 with Frankie, a yellow-bellied slider, and Leaf, an Asian leaf turtle. Grace is a Florida cooter, and all three turtles were being kept in crowded housing by caring folks who were unable to better provide for them. Many of our pet rescue turtles come with sad stories. Grace was one of those.

Grace and Frankie were sharing a small tank without much room to move, and Frankie became aggressive and bit Grace’s shell, which broke off the sections of shell above her back legs. When we took her in, that part of her shell was raw and bleeding.

Grace stretching into a yoga pose

We separated the turtles and placed Grace in a dry tub to keep the injured shell out of water while we treated it. Grace, we guess because of the trauma of being trapped with Frankie, panicked in the tub and struggled to escape. She only remained calm when she was on the floor, so we laid down a towel and clipped a heat lamp above it. Grace slept and basked on the towel, climbed into a low pan of water to eat and hydrate, and spent the rest of the day exploring our house. We often found her sharing a sunbeam with one of our cats, napping on the dog bed, or hiding under furniture.

When she isn’t caring for turtles, Debbie teaches yoga classes online. Her virtual studio is in the room where Grace’s towel and, later, her custom escapable tub are. While she sometimes joins Debbie on her mat, most often Grace is just off camera, “practicing” along with the class under her basking lamp.

Grace is very friendly and willing to have her shell and feet touched, which makes her an excellent ambassador for the rescue turtles. Her shell is healing but will probably never grow back completely, but we love her as she is. Grace will be staying with us.

We have many other turtles who are ready to be adopted. Please visit our rescue page and meet some.