2025 was a busy year for our wildlife rehabilitators. While we taken in more injured turtles in other years, we had a record number of frogs and toads. Here’s the breakdown:
We were able to release 21 of the patients that came in during 2025. We are overwintering 11 turtle patients who were not ready for release in September, six clutches of baby turtles who hatched in our incubators, and 10 turtles from prior years who are not expected to be releasable and will likely become educational ambassadors in the future.
While every turtle who comes in is important to us, we had some special cases last year we wanted to share with you.
Art
Art was the first turtle to arrive in 2025 and he came in with an injury we had never seen before. This male painted turtle was found on a road that crosses through a wetland, bleeding from minor shell cracks on his rear end, most likely from a vehicle strike. During his exam we discovered that he also had a hole through his front foot. We don’t know if he stepped on something walking or when he got hit, but it went straight through from the top of his foot to the bottom.
It was challenging to keep the wound clean and his foot stable, because painted turtles are not good at sitting still, but we were able to prevent infection and keep everything aligned while the hole closed. Art was released in September his foot had healed and he was walking and swimming just fine.
Carl
When a message went out from the North Country Wild Care hotline that a snapping turtle had been spotted with fishing tackle coming out of his mouth, we put our nets and waders into the car and set out on a rescue mission. Unfortunately, Carl was not sure he wanted to be rescued. He was hanging out near a public beach and boat docks and was clearly in distress, because he was trying to find a way to climb out of the water. Carl took off whenever we got close, though, and disappeared under the docks. After three hours, we found him tucked under the concrete wall of the pier and one of us was able to crawl under the dock and grab him. On examination, we could see that Carl had swallowed the hook and it was too far down to extract it. We called the Janet L. Swanson Wildlife Hospital at Cornell University at midnight and were on the road first thing in the morning for the four hour drive to the hospital. There, the amazing veterinary surgeons went in through the base of Carl’s neck to remove the hook. Luckily there was no permanent damage to his esophagus.
Carl came back to us after a week and stayed for another five weeks until his stitches were ready to come out. During his stay, Carl made up for however much time he had been unable to swallow and ate lots of fish. We were especially grateful to our donors because our food expenses were quite high while Carl was in care. Carl was released back to his beach at sunrise while it was quiet and he swam off, healed and with a full belly.
Willow
It is rare to get a northern map turtle in for care, and Willow’s reason for admission was a strange one. A kayaker noticed her hanging upside down, caught in a crack in the rock wall bank of the river, about three feet above the waterline. The kayaker freed her from the rocks but, when she put her in the water, Willow was not able to right herself or swim. She scooped her up again and put Willow in her kayak. When the finder reached out, we suspected she had respiratory complications from hanging upside down and brought her in. Willow was mildly dehydrated and had some scrapes on her shell from the rocks. We treated those as well as a potential respiratory infection and let her rest so her lungs would heal.
While Willow was with us, she showed us how much she liked to “hang out.” Whenever she was in for a soak, she draped herself over the edge of the tub or, sometimes, climbed up and balanced on the edge. After watching her antics, we were less surprised she got herself into the predicament she did. She also surprised us by laying eggs in her tub, because we never felt them and she had not acted like a gravid female turtle. We came to believe that she had been looking for a place to nest and either slid off the top of the rocks or fell trying to climb them when she got stuck. Unfortunately, the eggs were laid so late that they were no longer viable, but Willow went home to the river and will get another chance to nest this year.
WT
We love wood turtles, so when another wildlife rehabilitator asked for help getting one who had been a challenging long-term patient ready for release, we said yes. WT had been hit by a car in 2024 and one of his injuries was a broken jaw. He was cared for at the Janet L. Swanson Wildlife Hospital and cleared for release in the spring, but developed an infection in his jaw over the winter. After more trips to Swanson to treat the infection, he healed fully but showed little interest in food. Worried that he would not be able to fend for himself in the wild, the other rehabber sent WT to us to see if we could get him behaving like a wood turtle.
Hoping that he just needed a more natural environment for his instincts to kick back in, and since we had the funds available thanks to our generous donors, we purchased an extra-large raised garden frame and set it up on the ground in Turtle Hall, our outdoor enclosure where aquatic turtles spend some time in large stock tanks to readjust to natural sunlight and weather. What we thought WT needed was dirt, because wood turtles spend summers mostly on land. We dug a hole for a large soak tub and added a bubbler to move the water as an imitation stream, borrowed a hide from our opossum supplies, and added some plants.
It was a success! WT started eating the wood turtle salads we made him, especially the earthworms we topped them with. Worms are wood turtles’ favorite food and they will dig them up and even stomp on the ground with their front feet or the front of their plastron to trick the worms into thinking it is raining so they come to the surface. Once WT was eating well from a dish and behaving like a wood turtle should, we started putting worms in the dirt for him to find. He dug for them and we even got to witness the worm stomp! Confident that he could find food on his own, we took WT home in September. We are sure he was happy to return after 16 months in care. Kay, the rehabber who originally cared for WT and got him through so much, joined our board of directors at the end of last year. We’re happy to have her as part of the Dancing Turtle rehab team in 2026.
Our 2026 Goals (and How You can Help)
/in Uncategorized /by Debbie PhilpDuring January, while the wild turtles are sleeping safely below the ice, our board of directors and executive director have been hard at work planning for the year ahead. We have some big goals for our fifth anniversary year, but our biggest goals are always to save turtles and bring an end to turtle road mortality. Check out what we’re working on and how you can help save turtles.
Thank you for supporting our 2026 goals. Let’s save turtles!
The Oxygen Problem (and How We Solved It)
/in Uncategorized /by Debbie PhilpLate last winter, we noticed Bit, one of “The Boys,” had stopped eating and was floating a little weirdly. The Boys are a group of non-releasable male painted turtles who were surrendered at various times during 2024. Little and Bit came in together, included with a surrender of several exotic turtles to another rescue who is not licensed for natives and passed them on to us. Bit was swimming slowly and tipped to one side, signaling a respiratory infection. He was scooped out, moved to a dry tub, and started on antibiotics, but it was too late. Within a couple of days, his breathing became labored and he died.
Turtles are very efficient in their use of oxygen. Their red blood cells are bigger than ours so they can hold onto much more oxygen than we can. That is one of the reasons turtles can spend the winter underwater. They may need extra oxygen when they are ill or injured, though, and they cannot get it if their respiratory system is compromised. That efficient oxygen use also hides respiratory problems until they are advanced. When we noticed Little’s slight tilt while he was swimming, we were afraid it might be too late for him, too. We needed to solve the oxygen problem.
It is hard to put an oxygen mask on a turtle who can just pull his head into his shell and out of the mask, so we needed to set up an oxygen tent. We had already been thinking about getting a large incubator, like those used for puppies and kittens, to have on hand for gradually warming turtles who were cold stunned or injured in early spring. We found a great one that was easy to clean, large enough for all but the biggest snapping turtles, and had the fittings for oxygen tubing. We ordered that right away, knowing the heat would be supportive for Little, at least, but our small budget did not include funds for the oxygen concentrator we would need to turn it into an oxygen tent.
We put the “Bit Oxygen Tent,” named in honor of our lost turtle, to use throughout injured turtle season for some of our toughest cases. They did not all survive, but some revived enough to hang on while we treated their injuries. We are celebrating our successes and are very grateful to the donor who made them possible.
None of the other Boys developed respiratory infections, so we believe Little and Bit contracted an illness from the exotic turtles they had been housed with prior to their surrender which became exacerbated during the cooler conditions in their winter housing. Exposure to new pathogens is not just a problem for turtles kept as pets. When exotic turtles, like red eared sliders, are released into new areas, they expose native turtle populations to viruses and bacteria their immune systems have never seen before. A turtle who becomes ill during winter brumation will likely die. Please do not release pet turtles into the wild. And if you see a turtle with mucus on their nose or swimming tilted to one side and never righting themselves, please contain the turtle and call a wildlife rehabilitator right away.
2025 Rehab Recap
/in Uncategorized /by Debbie Philp2025 was a busy year for our wildlife rehabilitators. While we taken in more injured turtles in other years, we had a record number of frogs and toads. Here’s the breakdown:
We were able to release 21 of the patients that came in during 2025. We are overwintering 11 turtle patients who were not ready for release in September, six clutches of baby turtles who hatched in our incubators, and 10 turtles from prior years who are not expected to be releasable and will likely become educational ambassadors in the future.
While every turtle who comes in is important to us, we had some special cases last year we wanted to share with you.
Art
It was challenging to keep the wound clean and his foot stable, because painted turtles are not good at sitting still, but we were able to prevent infection and keep everything aligned while the hole closed. Art was released in September his foot had healed and he was walking and swimming just fine.
Carl
Carl came back to us after a week and stayed for another five weeks until his stitches were ready to come out. During his stay, Carl made up for however much time he had been unable to swallow and ate lots of fish. We were especially grateful to our donors because our food expenses were quite high while Carl was in care. Carl was released back to his beach at sunrise while it was quiet and he swam off, healed and with a full belly.
Willow
While Willow was with us, she showed us how much she liked to “hang out.” Whenever she was in for a soak, she draped herself over the edge of the tub or, sometimes, climbed up and balanced on the edge. After watching her antics, we were less surprised she got herself into the predicament she did. She also surprised us by laying eggs in her tub, because we never felt them and she had not acted like a gravid female turtle. We came to believe that she had been looking for a place to nest and either slid off the top of the rocks or fell trying to climb them when she got stuck. Unfortunately, the eggs were laid so late that they were no longer viable, but Willow went home to the river and will get another chance to nest this year.
WT
Hoping that he just needed a more natural environment for his instincts to kick back in, and since we had the funds available thanks to our generous donors, we purchased an extra-large raised garden frame and set it up on the ground in Turtle Hall, our outdoor enclosure where aquatic turtles spend some time in large stock tanks to readjust to natural sunlight and weather. What we thought WT needed was dirt, because wood turtles spend summers mostly on land. We dug a hole for a large soak tub and added a bubbler to move the water as an imitation stream, borrowed a hide from our opossum supplies, and added some plants.
It was a success! WT started eating the wood turtle salads we made him, especially the earthworms we topped them with. Worms are wood turtles’ favorite food and they will dig them up and even stomp on the ground with their front feet or the front of their plastron to trick the worms into thinking it is raining so they come to the surface. Once WT was eating well from a dish and behaving like a wood turtle should, we started putting worms in the dirt for him to find. He dug for them and we even got to witness the worm stomp! Confident that he could find food on his own, we took WT home in September. We are sure he was happy to return after 16 months in care. Kay, the rehabber who originally cared for WT and got him through so much, joined our board of directors at the end of last year. We’re happy to have her as part of the Dancing Turtle rehab team in 2026.
Schroon Lake Farmers Market
/in /by Debbie PhilpWe will be at the Community Table at the Schroon Lake Farmers Market on Saturday, August 16th from 9:00am to 1:00pm. Drop by to meet some of our ambassador turtles and support our work in saving turtles and their habitats.
A Living Lake Presentation
/in /by Debbie PhilpCo-presented by Debbie Philp of Dancing Turtle Rescue and Denise Silfee of the Adirondack Center for Loon Conservation at a joint meeting of the Schroon Lake Association and the East Shore Schroon Lake Association.
Details to come.
Community Night at The Lodge
/in /by Debbie PhilpHave a cocktail, save a turtle! Every second Tuesday of the month is Community Night at The Lodge in Schroon Lake, when local nonprofits take center stage behind The Tavern bar. Dancing Turtle is the featured nonprofit in July. Come down, grab a drink, and raise a glass to turtles and their rescuers. You can meet some of our turtle ambassadors out front by the firepit, too!
The Lodge donates $2 from each drink sold, all tips to the celebrity bartender, and 100% of proceeds from the night’s signature cocktail goes directly to the nonprofit. Plus, The Lodge matches all proceeds raised from drinks, doubling our fundraising. Please join us for a fun evening!
The Hard-To-Spot Turtles
/in Education /by Debbie PhilpThe spotted turtle (Clemmys guttata) is a rare find in New York’s Adirondack region, so when we received one into our wildlife rehabilitation program in 2019, we were surprised. We went to work to save Spot, who luckily was not injured too badly by the car that hit her and was released in the late summer.
Our spotted turtle patient, Spot, healed from a vehicle strike and was released in 2019.
Spotted turtles are small freshwater turtles with yellow or cream spots on their black skin and shells. The pattern and number of spots change as these turtles age. Adult spotted turtles are 3.5 to 5.0 inches (9 to 12.7 cm) long.
Spotted turtles prefer small bodies or still water and live in marshy meadows, bogs, swamps, ponds, and even roadside ditches. Their coloring provides good camouflage in marsh vegetation. Unfortunately, these habitats have been disappearing and, as a result, spotted turtles are declining in numbers.
Spotted turtles are sensitive to pollution, toxicants, and poor water quality. Poaching for the pet trade is also responsible for significant loss of spotted turtles in the wild. Spotted turtles are considered a species of special concern in New York, and they have been protected in neighboring states Vermont and Massachusetts.
Small turtles that blend in are hard to spot on the road, putting spotted turtles at high risk for vehicle strikes during nesting season. Because turtles crossing roads are likely gravid female turtles in search of a nesting site and the reproductive rates of spotted turtles are low, deaths from vehicle strikes can be very detrimental for these at-risk turtle populations.
Find out more about spotted turtles and New York’s other turtle species in our Totally Turtles educational outreach program. If you are in northeastern New York and would like to bring a program to your school, library, club, or scout troop, please contact us.
Wonderful Wood Turtles
/in Education /by Debbie PhilpWood turtles (Glyptemys insculpta) are a freshwater turtle species you might find in northeastern New York, but they have some unique characteristics. Wood turtles are found along the east coast of North America, from Nova Scotia in Canada to Virginia in the United States, and as far west as Minnesota, in and around flowing water in forests and woods.
Our overwintering wood turtle patient likes to sun herself on top of her log hide for part of the day.
The wood turtle’s carapace, or upper shell, is rough with ridges in pyramid shapes. The ridges resemble tree rings, and the carapace is usually a dark mahogany color. The wood turtle’s neck and legs are splashed with orange, which creates a striking appearance.
Wood turtles are omnivorous and are the only freshwater turtle in the Adirondacks that can eat out of water. They eat beetles and other insects, slugs, and worms, and dine on some mushrooms, mosses, and grasses. They may also pick at carrion.
In New York, wood turtle numbers are declining, and they are considered a species of special concern. We do see some wood turtles in our wildlife rehabilitation program. We are currently overwintering a wood turtle who was hit by a car late last summer. We treated her for both a shell fracture and eye injuries. Because of they are more terrestrial and have different dietary requirements, we had to house the wood turtle differently than our fully aquatic patients.
We share information about wood turtles and the other turtles of northeastern New York in our educational outreach programs. We are looking for additional schools, libraries, clubs, and nature centers to host our programs. If you can recommend a place, please contact us.
Adirondack Wetlands
/in Education /by Debbie PhilpIn an earlier post you learned about what wetlands are and why they are important. The Adirondack Park has marshes, peatlands, and swamps you can explore.
This marsh, which surrounds a pond, was the release site for a turtle hit by a car nearby.
Marshes are the deepest – up to six feet – and are the most biodiverse of the Adirondack wetlands. Marshes are found around ponds and lakes and along the slow-moving backwaters of rivers. Plants such as grasses, reeds, rushes, water lilies, and loosestrifes grow well in the nutrient-rich soil. Deer may be spotted along the edges of marshes and otters may be seen playing in the water, but there is an abundance of other life too. Turtles and frogs inhabit marshes. Many kinds of are found in marshes, too, including red-winged blackbirds and herons.
In peatlands, conditions are too cold and wet for plants to decompose; instead, they accumulate as peat soil. There are two types of peatlands in the Adirondacks: bogs and fens. Bogs are isolated from other water sources and are, therefore, dependent on rain. The peat in bogs tends to be acidic and nutrient poor. There are some plants that are happy in bogs, though, such as Tamaracks, Black Spruce, and Bog Laurel. Some orchids thrive there, as do pitcher plants and sundews, who have evolved to eat insects. And there are plenty of insects in bogs which bring in the birds, such as warblers and cedar waxwings, especially when they are feeding young. Some Adirondack bogs are over one thousand acres in size.
The other peatland you might find in the Adirondacks is a fen. Fens also have peat soil but get water from the surrounding watershed and are less acidic. Fens host a greater variety of plants than bogs. Wood frogs are often seen in and around fens.
The final Adirondack wetland is the swamp. Swamps are dominated by conifers and shrubs and are seldom more than a few inches deep. Because they are shady, plants like ferns and mosses are happy, as well as some shade-hardy wildflowers.
Interested in learning more about our Adirondack wetlands? Check out our Wild Wetlands educational outreach program. We would love to bring Wild Wetlands or one of our other programs to your school, library, or club. Contact us to find out how.
Food for Aquatic Turtles
/in Turtle Care /by Debbie PhilpRed eared sliders and other aquatic species of turtles are easy to feed thanks to a variety of commercial pelleted turtle foods that are widely available. We get different brands donated to the rescue and do not recommend one over another. Whichever type you chose for your turtle, however, make sure it is age and size appropriate, as a turtle’s nutrition needs change over time.
Dandelion greens, swiss chard, and shredded carrots is one of our rescue turtles’ favorite veggie combos.
As they age, your turtle will be healthiest when provided fresh greens and vegetables in addition to pellets. Safe and healthy greens that our turtles enjoy include:
Other vegetables you can offer occasionally are:
If you are interested in keeping a turtle pet, please visit our adoption page for a care sheet, which includes all the housing and food basics, and to meet our adoptable red eared sliders.