I have a soft spot in my heart for turtles. I am the proud owner of a Red Eared Slider named Schlomo. My husband and I got her online when we were in college on website called turtleshack.com. When she arrived in a Tupperware container she was the size of a quarter. We later found out that she is an invasive species and owning this type of turtle as a pet is not recommended. But we were 20-years-old and didn't do much research. You know how it goes!

Schlomo as a baby:

Steven Greenberger via Facebook
Steven Greenberger via Facebook
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Now, 10 years later, Schlomo is still kicking! She has moved with us several times and is an important part of our family. She certainly keeps us on our toes since we thought she was dude for the first 8 years of her life. One day she decided to lay eggs and to our shock and disbelief we found out that HE is actually a SHE. We kept the name Schlomo to avoid confusion and of course we love her no matter what pronoun she chooses to associate with.

Schlomo more recently:

Kira Lew via Facebook
Kira Lew via Facebook
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I follow the Center for Wildlife in Cape Neddick, Maine, and a recent post of theirs caught my eye because it involved a reptile who looks like a distant cousin of my dear Schlomo. Back on September 20th, the Center for Wildlife posted about an ancient snapping turtle who had been hit by a car. (so sad!!!) He was suffering from a fracture and the center was asking for donations to aid in his treatment. This post got ALOT of love, it was shared 70 times and got hundreds of reactions.

On September 22nd we received an update from the Center for Wildlife that the turtle was on antibiotics.

His fracture was being stabilized with a bracketing system.

They profusely thanked everyone who donated! They don't receive state or federal funding so they honestly couldn't have treated this creature without the donations that came pouring in!

Center for Wildlife via Facebook
Center for Wildlife via Facebook
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The Center for Wildlife is an unbelievable organization and this creature could not be in  more caring hands. According to their Facebook page they:

"treat an average of 2,500 injured and orphaned wild animals that are brought to us due to human caused injury, representing 190 different species with the goal of releasing back to the wild."

Learn more about their efforts and how you can help at CenterforWildlife.org and Follow them on Facebook to keep up with this Ancient Snapping Turtle and his healing journey, as well as all of the other animals they treat!

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