10/14/2026
Ten years of neglect, four months of recovery and one second chance 🥺 it's time for a CRICKET UPDATE!
Today marks 4 months since Cricket, a common snapping turtle, came into our care at MARS. And looking at his before-and-after photos, it's almost impossible to believe we're looking at the same turtle.
For approximately 10 years, Cricket endured unimaginable neglect, confined to a plastic cricket keeper and deprived of the proper nutrition and environment his body desperately needed.
When Cricket first arrived, he wasn't just thin. He was severely emaciated and suffering from years of nutritional deficiencies. His condition was so extreme that you could actually see pronounced bony contours through the tissue covering his plastron (the bottom portion of a turtle's shell). Consider just how severely deprived an animal must be for its body condition to deteriorate to that extent. The fat reserves and soft tissue around the back of his head had become so depleted that the contours of his skull were clearly visible. His limbs were painfully thin, and his skin and shell had taken on an extremely pale, almost white appearance.
His body had spent years simply trying to survive.
But look at him now! Four months of proper nutrition, appropriate husbandry, veterinary guidance, and dedicated rehabilitation have made an extraordinary difference.
Cricket has CHUNK! His legs and neck are filling out, his body condition has improved tremendously, and that beautiful, rich brown-and-gold coloration characteristic of a common snapping turtle has returned.
He's finally beginning to look like the turtle he should have been all along 🥺
But there's something important about Cricket's story that we want everyone to understand... Not all damage caused by neglect can be undone.
Cricket suffers from severe Metabolic Bone Disease (MBD), a condition associated with improper nutrition, calcium imbalances, and inadequate husbandry. When a reptile cannot obtain or properly utilize the calcium its body needs, its skeleton can become weakened, leaving the animal vulnerable to deformities and fractures. After a decade of improper care, Cricket has sustained permanent skeletal damage. You may notice that Cricket holds himself a little differently than a typical snapping turtle. His posture almost resembles that of a little puppy, with his limbs positioned in a way that reflects the changes his body has endured. While his nutritional health can improve and the metabolic disease can be managed with appropriate treatment and husbandry, the permanent skeletal deformities he has developed cannot be reversed. Which also unfortunately means Cricket will never be able to return to the wild.
A wild snapping turtle needs a strong, functional skeleton to navigate its environment, hunt, defend itself, and survive. Cricket's lasting skeletal abnormalities would put him at a serious disadvantage. And this brings us to a much larger conversation about why wild turtles should be left in the wild.
Turtles are not disposable pets, temporary curiosities, or animals that should be collected simply because someone finds them interesting. They are complex, long-lived animals with highly specialized environmental, nutritional, and behavioral needs.
Depending on the species, turtles can live for several decades. Properly caring for one is not a short-term commitment. It can be a responsibility that lasts a substantial portion of someone's lifetime, and sometimes longer. Providing appropriate care also requires far more than a plastic container, a little water, and occasional food. Many aquatic turtles, especially large species like snapping turtles, require substantial amounts of space, specialized lighting, powerful filtration systems, appropriate water temperatures, carefully balanced nutrition, and access to qualified reptile veterinary care. For species that require it, appropriate UVB lighting and basking opportunities are also essential. Meeting these needs can be expensive, time-consuming, and physically demanding. And as an animal grows, those requirements become even more significant.
If someone is considering a turtle because they believe it will be an inexpensive, low-maintenance, easy pet, they are already approaching turtle ownership with a fundamental misunderstanding of what responsible care entails.
Turtles may be quiet, but that does not make them simple. They may be resilient, but that does not mean they can thrive under inadequate conditions. And perhaps most importantly, just because a wild animal exists within our reach does not mean we are entitled to take it from its natural environment for our own entertainment.
Wild turtles are not free pets.
They are an important part of functioning ecosystems. They contribute to food webs, nutrient cycling, scavenging, and the balance of aquatic habitats. Removing them from the wild can have consequences beyond the individual animal, particularly for species whose populations depend on adults surviving and reproducing over many years.
Even when someone has the very best intentions, good intentions alone do not guarantee good animal welfare. A person may genuinely love an animal and still be completely unprepared to meet its needs. And when that happens, the animal is the one that pays the price.
Cricket is a heartbreaking example of what can happen when a wild animal is placed into human care without the knowledge, resources, and lifelong commitment required to keep it healthy. An animal that should have spent the last decade growing, exploring, and fulfilling its natural behaviors instead spent those years confined to an enclosure that could never meet his needs.
And now, despite the incredible progress he's made with us, he will carry the physical consequences for the rest of his life.
We encourage anyone interested in keeping turtles to thoroughly research the species, understand the financial and long-term responsibilities, and consider adopting an animal already in need of a suitable home rather than removing one from the wild. Admiring wildlife does not require owning it. Sometimes the greatest act of appreciation is simply allowing an animal to remain exactly where it belongs.
We cannot give Cricket those ten years back and we cannot erase every consequence of what he's endured. But we can make sure the rest of his life looks nothing like his past.
Happy four-month rescue anniversary, Cricket. You've come such a long way, little guy, and we're so proud of you.
At MARS, we provide rehabilitation for cold-blooded animals, both wild and domestic. By working alongside a veterinarian who focuses on reptiles and amphibians, we're able to ensure that every patient who comes through our doors receives the specialized, compassionate, and often life-saving care they deserve.
