Turtle painted with red nail polish safely returned to habitat

by ANNETTE JOYCE

Nancy Goldfinch and her husband, Edward Wentz, were out for a walk in their Oak Ridge neighborhood earlier this summer when they noticed an Eastern box turtle crossing the road. As they went to move the reptile from the middle of the street, they were shocked to see its shell had been painted bright red.

“We thought it was probably red paint,” Nancy said. “It turns out he’d been painted with red nail polish, which was worse than paint.”

Nancy knew a special kind of expertise would be needed to save the turtle, so she looked for local wildlife rehabilitators online and found Mark and Carole Bloom, a husband-and-wife team who has spent the last four years as rehabbers for reptiles, amphibians and small animals – working mostly with Eastern box turtles, black rat snakes and squirrels.

The Blooms, who live in Summerfield, arrived within 30 minutes of when Nancy contacted them and the unfortunate turtle soon began his journey to recovery.

Prior to picking up “V” – the name the Blooms gave the turtle because of a mark on his head – the couple had never seen a turtle painted with nail polish.

“Other turtles have been brought to us painted with acrylic paint and we cleaned them with Dawn (dishwashing detergent) and water,” Carole said. “This was our first case like this.” difficult to remove,” Mark noted. “You have to be extremely careful that the turtle is not injured (in the process).”

Carole first did research to find a chemical that would be strong enough for the task but not toxic to the turtle. She then worked on one small area of the shell for about 15 minutes a day, allowing a day for the turtle to rest and recover before begin ning the painstaking removal process again. It took nearly six weeks before V’s shell was mostly polish-free and back to normal.

Most people aren’t aware of the serious harm that’s caused when a turtle’s shell is covered with paint – or in this case, with nail polish. In fact, most people are completely unaware of the vital nature of the reptile’s shell. As Carole explained, “turtles are their shells. They don’t just live in them.”

Similar to the role human skin plays, a turtle’s shell covers and protects its inside muscles and organs.

“A turtle’s shell is made up of keratin, just like our fingernails,” Carole said. “Turtles feel through their shells.” can’t do if the shell is covered with paint.

“Like a lot of reptiles, they need UV light to metabolize vitamin D, which allows for strong bone growth,” Mark said. “Without that, they could get Metabolic Bone

Disease, (a potentially fatal condition).”

There’s also danger from the fumes of the paint. According to a June 2020 blog from the Wildlife Center of Virginia, “fumes from paints can be damaging to a turtle’s lungs and sinuses.”

In addition, painting a turtle’s shell makes it a target for predators. Eastern box turtles aren’t equipped to actively defend themselves. Their only defense comes from their camouflage, so cover that up – especially with shiny, red polish – and they’re likely to be noticed no matter where they hide.

After this incident, Nancy wanted to let others know the serious consequences that people can cause when they interfere with nature.

“Please don’t interfere with wildlife,” she urged. “I know it seemed a harmless thing to do and was probably a fun project for some kids to paint the turtle, but it is really harmful to the turtle.”

Thankfully, people like the Blooms make it possible for wildlife that has been tampered with or injured to be rehabilitated and placed back into the wild. And that’s just what happened with V a couple of weeks ago, when the couple returned to Oak Ridge and released him back into his original habitat.

That was the final, and perhaps most important, step to the turtle’s recovery – returning him to his home.

“Turtles don’t do well when you relocate them outside of their territory,” Mark said. “They have to go back to their home for their best chance of survival.”

Carole had one last word of advice to share.

“If you come across any reptile (or any animal) in the wild, leave it alone,” she said. “If it’s injured or ill, contact a wildlife rehabber.”

Locate a wildlife rehabber in your area at www.ncwildlife.org/injured-wildlife.