Turtle Rescue of NC

07/13/2025

Doing a routine check of the eggs tonight and found our first hatchling of the season! ❤ welcome to the world little one!

07/09/2025

It’s been a while since we’ve checked in with you all, sorry I’ve just been busy “turtle-ing” lol that’s my new word for Wednesday.

We wanted to share some egg-citing news. (There I go with the madeup words again) Two of our Common Snapping Turtles laid their clutches of eggs in care while healing from being hit by cars. One laid 34 and the other 44! This brings our total common snapping turtle eggs to 144! (Not all will hatch or be viable, but theres ALOT of them showing promising development!)

They both had begun laying on their own and since they were being laid in the water we quickly removed them and induced them to finish laying their clutches so the eggs would not be lost.

They can accidentally crush their eggs since they arent meant to be laid on flat land… or in water…but in a hole they would dig into the ground. Despite offering many opportunities for these girls to dig in substrate filled dig boxes, rehab is scary and stressful for them and they don’t want to lay their eggs here. It’s not natural for them to be in captivity like this. Therefore, Induction is often necessary to keep them from egg binding if their stay is long term or from their eggs being destroyed.

We are working on building out a better induction pit but this rough one we threw together got the job done. One of my favorite things about rehab is the necessity of making it work with what you have and being creative.

Fingers crossed for lots of tiny snappy babies in the future ❤

07/04/2025

We wanted to send out a huge thank you to everyone who donated towards the purchase of the UV solar meter! It warms our hearts to know people care about the work we are doing here and want to be part of helping them heal, grow, and thrive! ❤️🐢🦎🐸

06/25/2025

Just a few faces of our current patients ❤ We have a LOT of turtles, snakes, various turtle eggs in incubation, and a few amphibians in care right now. This we are in need of trash bags and small paper plates that we cut in half and use to feed patients to cut down on the amount of dishes and laundry we go through on a daily basis. We also are really trying to save up for a UV meter (around $250!) to be able to test the UV output of our bulbs to make sure our reptiles are getting adequate UV so if you’d like to donate towards that we would be all grateful!

Amazon wishlist:

https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/2CZJMDTZ4L3U6?ref_=wl_share

06/24/2025

Amazing work as always out of NC State University and their turtle rescue team program!!!

06/22/2025

Anyone in the Indian Trail area know of a reliable, affordable HVAC tech? Sigh we can’t seem to catch a break lately. We have replaced the capacitors and inside air filters and now the condenser and lines going from the unit are frosting/freezing over and we still don’t have cool air inside. The reptiles don’t seem to mind, but the mammals and us humans aren’t enjoying this unprompted indoor heat wave 🤣

06/19/2025

We also were able to release this beautiful black racer after a brief stay in rehab to rehydrate and rest. He is very lucky his finders found him in time and cared enough to want to help him.

He was caught on a glue trap intended to target small rodents. GLUE TRAPS ARE INHUMANE AND SHOULD BE BANNED! No living animal deserves to die slowly and painfully starving to death and dehydrating stuck with no chance of escape. They catch far more than just rodents and we HAVE to do better for our wildlife!! Please do not use them. There are much more humane methods of pest control.

06/19/2025

Last week was a whirlwind of a week! We just wanted to share some more happy release pictures! The first retention pond turtles and frogs were released on this past Saturday back to their newly completed updated abode. ❤ The second set is set to release later this week. The third pond was drained early this week and we did not find evidence of anything other than tadpoles in that pond when we arrived. Thank goodness!! The goldfish were all placed through the efforts of CWR and will surely thrive in their new fish pond thanks to all of your help and support! Now it’s back to our regularly scheduled chaos with the 80-ish reptiles currently in care at the clinic. ❤

06/14/2025

Great news! 🎉 We are going to be able to release the first batch of turtles back home this afternoon. Construction there is complete and the rains have filled their pond and it’s safe for them to go home! More to come on that later- but in the meantime- they aren’t the only ones ready to go home!

Alot of the tadpoles rescued from the mud and excavation on day one of this adventure have finished metamorphosis and are ready to go back home too! 🐸 We wanted to share the absolutely adorable pictures of these babies in their temporary home setup. We cannot handle the cuteness! Thank YOU for helping us help them!!!

More great news!! 🎉 🎉Our generous donor has matched your donations and we will be able to save so many lives thanks to all of your support! We are so grateful!!

06/14/2025

Awesome work being done by our friends at CWS! Happy life Boulder!

Happy Freedom Friday, everyone!

Today is a truly special day here at Carolina Wildlife Sanctuary, especially for one of our shelled friends, affectionately known as Boulder. This magnificent box turtle arrived at our sanctuary a while ago, needing a little extra care and rehabilitation. We’re thrilled to announce that after a successful recovery and a thorough assessment, Boulder was released back into the wild today!

Watching Boulder crawl off into his natural habitat, strong and healthy, fills us with immense joy and reminds us why we do what we do. Every release is a victory, a testament to the dedication of our staff and volunteers, and the incredible resilience of these animals.

We wish Boulder all the best as he embarks on this new chapter in his wild life!

How You Can Help

Boulder’s journey back to the wild was made possible by generous donations from people like you! If you’re able to help us continue our vital work, please consider contributing. Every dollar helps us provide food, medical care, and safe habitats for the animals in our care.

Venmo:
PayPal: https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/carolinawildlife
Amazon Wishlist: https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/2AKS69BMH4P3R?ref_=wl_share