The leader of the Turtle Haven is Tamás Mikula - a dedicated turtle fan - who is also an assistant at the Tüskevár Veterinary Clinic and a member of our Foundation. In most cases, those turtles who no longer require intensive treatment are in his care until adoption or repatriation (European pond turtles).

The case of Mocsi and the hook

We received a European pond turtle who swallowed a hook that got stuck in the esophagus. The X-ray and further examinations under anesthesia made it clear that the foreign body could only be removed using an endoscope or through an esophageal incision. In this case, despite a long struggle, the hook could not be removed with an endoscope, necessitating the esophageal incision, which finally gave the expected result. 

After a few weeks of postoperative treatment and recovery, Mocsi was released into the wild in the Otter Park in Petesmalom.

We receive a lot of turtles, including many pond sliders whose owners cannot or do not want to

take care of them any longer. In all cases, we perform a general medical examination. In most

cases, due to being kept inadequately, these small animals have deficiency diseases that can be cured if treatment is started promptly.

Most of the European pond turtles brought from the banks of the Danube are victims of

accidents. They migrate during the egg-laying season and get injured by a dog or a car. After an

appropriate condition assessment and several days of applying medication and wet bandaging,

broken turtle shells can be glued using a special hoof glue. After the recovery period, the turtles

can return to nature in a stable condition. The glue will "grow down" after a while.

There was a turtle mom who suffered an accident, and then a few days after we started her

treatment, she laid eight eggs. In the end, we managed to hatch one turtle egg.

A couple of pictures from our turtle gallery: