Dancing Turtle Rescue and Education Program, Inc.

Dancing Turtle Rescue and Education Program, Inc. Let's save turtles! Wild turtle rehabilitation, turtle education programs, and conservation-focused outreach in northeastern New York.

Support our work: https://dancingturtlerescue.org/donate At Dancing Turtle Rescue, we rescue, rehabilitate, and release turtles injured by cars, fishing gear, or dogs in Essex, Warren, and Saratoga counties. We are New York State Department of Environmental Conservation licensed wildlife rehabilitators. We specialize in native freshwater turtles, such as painted and snapping turtles, nonvenomous

snakes, frogs, and salamanders. If we have space and resources available, we also take in orphaned baby squirrels and opossums. If you find another species, please see the resources below to locate a rehabber. We love turtles and share that love through public education programs. Our ambassador turtles join us to introduce children, teens, and adults to the wonder of turtles and their wetland habitats. We bring our programs to schools, nature centers, scout meetings, senior centers, and many public events. Please contact us if you would like to learn more about our programs. Dancing Turtle occassionally rescues non-native turtles. These turtles are either former pets who were released into the wild and end up sick or injured, or pets that have been abandoned or neglected. Some of our rescues are available for adoption. If you are interested in adopting a turtle, please visit our website at www.dancingturtlerescue.org for more information. To find a wildlife rehabilitator near you:
Animal Help Now nationwide listings (recommended): ahnow.org or download the app

North Country Wild Care (northeastern NY): 518-964-6740

NYS DEC wildlife rehabilitator listings: https://www.dec.ny.gov/cfmx/extapps/sls_searches/index.cfm?p=live_rehab

Tara is another turtle we are caring for on behalf of The Janet L. Swanson Wildlife Hospital at Cornell University . A d...
07/02/2025

Tara is another turtle we are caring for on behalf of The Janet L. Swanson Wildlife Hospital at Cornell University . A dog bit Tara hard and left dangerously deep punctures in her shell. There isn't much that can be done for her shell, since the wounds are too small to lift the shell pieces out, but we can continue the wildlife hospital's care and make sure she has antibiotics to prevent infection and a safe place to rest and heal from the inside out.

Ursula, one of the painted turtles who we are rehabilitating for The Janet L. Swanson Wildlife Hospital at Cornell Unive...
07/02/2025

Ursula, one of the painted turtles who we are rehabilitating for The Janet L. Swanson Wildlife Hospital at Cornell University , was hit by a car. She has a carapace fracture near her head and a nasty fracture of her bridge. She got some bling from the great vets and vet students at the wildlife hospital and all her fractures are stable. Ursula just needs time for her bones to knit back together. You have a safe place to heal here, Ursula.

Thank you, Karen J., for the reptile dish. We normally use them for water dishes for our turtle hospital tubs, but one o...
07/01/2025

Thank you, Karen J., for the reptile dish. We normally use them for water dishes for our turtle hospital tubs, but one of these is serving as a food dish for the wood turtle we are helping to reacclimate to the wild. Doesn't his worm salad look yummy? We appreciate the gift from our Amazon wishlist and your help saving turtles!

In between everything else last weekend, we've been working on getting overwintering turtles outside to reacclimate to t...
07/01/2025

In between everything else last weekend, we've been working on getting overwintering turtles outside to reacclimate to the sights, sounds, and weather. Two juvenile painted turtles are in the "bait tank," which was, in fact, a tank used to raise bait fish until it was retrofitted with a canister filter and a cedar and hardware cloth top. And May, one of Debbie's 2024 intakes who has been patiently waiting to go home after she missed the release window last fall, is working her swimming muscles in a hundred gallons of water in Turtle Hall. These three will be ready for release in a couple of weeks.

We tried so hard. Our board member, Danielle, drove hours this morning to get Xander to Debbie after she learned he was ...
07/01/2025

We tried so hard. Our board member, Danielle, drove hours this morning to get Xander to Debbie after she learned he was injured on the side of the road. Then she stopped for Yancy, a tiny snapping turtle probably enjoying only his second summer of life, laying motionless in the road. Both turtles succumbed to their injuries during the drive. We're so sorry, precious ones, that we weren't in time to save you. Every loss leaves us more committed to our mission, because we refuse to let turtles disappear from our world without a fight.

Yesterday we shared that Turtle Hall had a roof in part to keep turtles from climbing out. If you were wondering what we...
07/01/2025

Yesterday we shared that Turtle Hall had a roof in part to keep turtles from climbing out. If you were wondering what we were talking about, you should know that turtles can, in fact, climb quite well. Here is some evidence 😀. Carl was just trying to put himself away on one of our supply shelves, but snapping turtles have been known to scale chain link fences. You know the fence you were hoping would keep everyone out of your yard? Yeah, like that one. Please keep in mind that turtles instinctively return to the place they hatched to nest and don't really care about your fence.

If you do happen to find a turtle who seems trapped in a fenced-in area and you can't give them time to leave on their own, please move the turtle no further than the outside of the fence. Never relocate a turtle, even if you don't think there's any water nearby. Trust the turtles. They've been on this planet doing their thing many millions of years longer than humans.

Good wildlife rehabilitators collaborate. We are always considering who has capacity, who has the most appropriate set u...
06/30/2025

Good wildlife rehabilitators collaborate. We are always considering who has capacity, who has the most appropriate set up, and who has the right experience so each patient gets the best care. We are glad to be part of the North Country Wild Care network, where helping wildlife rehabilitators work together is the mission. Our friend and fellow member, Kay, had a wood turtle who had been with her for a year. He recovered from a broken shell and jaw and then an infection in his jaw, but wasn't eating well and needed some time outside to reacclimate before release. Kay asked if we could help.

For those who are new to our page, Turtle Hall is an outdoor area completely enclosed in chicken wire, including the roof, so it is predator proof and prevents the escape of some of our more ambitious climbers. Within Turtle Hall, aquatic turtles can finish healing or get ready for release in large stock tank while basking in sunlight and experiencing a variety of weather conditions. Turtle Hall is also a great place for a wood turtle, but we needed to limit his roaming so we didn't lose track of him amongst the stock tanks.

Yesterday, Debbie used a raised garden bed kit to construct a wood turtle enclosure within Turtle Hall. A shallow water area has an air stone to gently move the water the streams wood turtles soak in during the summer. The vegetation got a bit trampled during the setup but it should pop back up. And the damp ground is full of yummy earthworms, a wood turtle favorite. We're watching to see if the natural environment improves his appetite, but he already seems more active.

Although the situation has improved tremendously over the last decade, there is still a shortage of turtle rehabilitators. Unlike fast growing or healing mammals and birds, every turtle intake has the potential to be in care a year or more and long-term care requires an investment in husbandry equipment. In a year like this, when we are all overwhelmed with intakes, Dancing Turtle Rescue is able to assist thanks to our supporters.

You can help us further improve our capacity, our set ups, and our experience. Visit our website, which is in the bio, and make a donation today.

Sorry we got quiet for a couple of days. It was anything but quiet here! For the first time since we started seven years...
06/30/2025

Sorry we got quiet for a couple of days. It was anything but quiet here! For the first time since we started seven years ago, we had to get another table so we could utilize both sides of the Turtle Bus for patients. We transferred in five painted turtles from The Janet L. Swanson Wildlife Hospital at Cornell University through North Country Wild Care and we're still trying to get them settled. These turtles were brought to the wildlife hospital by members of the public, treated, and needed a wildlife rehabilitator to care for them while they heal. Our fellow North Country Wild Care member Kay initially took them in but was quite full already, so we agreed to care for these turtles until they are ready to go back to Ithaca for release. It's the least we can do for all that the wildlife hospital does for us.

Jen's snapping turtle patient, Lee, who had severe head trauma and a broken beak, was transported to the wildlife hospital yesterday by another North Country Wild Care member with a couple of Kay's weekend intakes. We are hoping the great vets there can help Lee or compassionately end his pain. We lose too many turtles to head trauma and hope a teaching veterinary hospital like Swanson can come up with a treatment so we can save more turtles. Meanwhile, send good thoughts to Lee.

Usually the turtles we get in for care were injured because of human actions, but sometimes a turtle manages to get hers...
06/28/2025

Usually the turtles we get in for care were injured because of human actions, but sometimes a turtle manages to get herself into trouble. We've seen a few weird things, but Willow's circumstances are a first for us. We don't know how she did it, but Willow, a northern map turtle, got herself wedged between rocks above the water and was hanging upside down. Luckily, a wildlife rehabilitator, who was just trying to get a few hours of relaxation during the busy baby season, paddled by in her kayak and spotted Willow. She was able to free Willow but when she put her in the water, Willow couldn't dive and floated sideways. She knew something was wrong so Willow got to go for a paddle, too. Thanks for the rescue, Jessica!

When she reached out to us, Debbie knew right away that those were symptoms of a respiratory infection. Being upside down for more than a few minutes puts strain on a turtle's lungs and if Willow had been stuck overnight she would have been exposed to the colder nighttime temperatures, both of which can make a turtle ill. We wish we didn't have the experience we did last winter with our non-releasable painted turtles, but it helped us develop a good protocol for treating respiratory infections. Debbie will do all she can to make sure Willow is healthy before she returns to the wild, and hopefully stays away from those rocks.

Respiratory infections can be deadly in turtles. Turtle lungs aren't just for breathing. They control their buoyancy, too. If you come upon a turtle who doesn't dive when you approach, especially if they flail around like they are trying to but can't, or is floating sideways in the water, please scoop them up if you can and find a wildlife rehabilitator to help. Let's save turtles!

Thank you so much to whoever sent the reptile dish from out Amazon wishlist! We just transferred in five (5!) painted tu...
06/27/2025

Thank you so much to whoever sent the reptile dish from out Amazon wishlist! We just transferred in five (5!) painted turtles who were dropped off injured to the wildlife hospital by members of the public and sent home with our rehabber friend, Kay, for recovery. Like us, Kay has many turtles in care so we agreed to take these turtles so she can focus on several critical cases. Every turtle will need to be set up with a water dish so this one will go right to use. We appreciate your help saving turtles!

We are beyond thankful for your support in helping us get incubators! We are gifted two, which are already full, along w...
06/27/2025

We are beyond thankful for your support in helping us get incubators! We are gifted two, which are already full, along with a few of our old DIY incubators. We also received enough donations to be able to purchase two more, which are now set up and ready for any eggs our patients are carrying or if we are able to save eggs from another fatally injured turtle. We are having very unsettled weather, flipping between very hot and unseasonably cool, and the new incubators are dealing well with both, keeping the eggs at the same temperature no matter what. We are very grateful to have them. We can't do what we do without you. Thank you for saving turtles with us.

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On The Hill
Schroon Lake, NY

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