The most common reason injured tortoises arrive at wildlife rescue centres is straightforward: lawnmowers, strimmers, garden tools. The animal was hidden in long grass, the person using the machine didn't see it. In seconds the shell is cracked.
If you've found an injured land tortoise — or one that's been flipped over, or sitting in the middle of the road — this guide tells you what to do and, above all, what not to do.
First of all: a flipped tortoise is an emergency
In summer, a tortoise flipped upside down in the sun can die of heat stroke in 30–40 minutes. The shell heats up rapidly and the animal can't right itself.
If you find one upside down, turn it over carefully — keep it horizontal, don't tilt it to one side — and move it to a shaded spot. Don't put it in water.
The shell is not plastic: don't use glue, tape or filler
A tortoise's shell is living bone covered with keratin plates. It has blood vessels, it feels things, and it can become infected. A shell fracture is effectively an open bone wound.
The "DIY fixes" that circulate online — hot glue, insulating tape, body filler — not only don't work: they can cause serious infections and make subsequent veterinary repair impossible. The rescue centre will have to remove everything before it can even begin treatment.
What to do with a shell fracture:
- Gently clean the injured area with 3% hydrogen peroxide diluted 50/50 with clean water
- Don't immerse the tortoise in water
- Don't try to close or reattach the fragments
- Keep it in a dry, ventilated container at room temperature (18–22°C)
- Take it to the rescue centre as soon as possible — every hour counts with an open wound
Don't put it under heat lamps without a vet's instructions: the wrong temperature can reduce circulation to the injured area.
Don't feed it or give it anything
An injured, stressed animal should not eat. Don't give it fruit, vegetables or large amounts of water without knowing whether it can swallow properly. The rescue centre will assess its hydration and decide how to proceed.
Which species you'll find in the wild in Italy
The two wild Italian species are Testudo hermanni (Hermann's tortoise) and Testudo marginata (marginated tortoise). Both are protected. You can tell them apart by the shell profile and size: the marginated tortoise is larger and has the rear edge of the shell flared outward like a wave.
If you've found a tortoise that looks like an "aquarium turtle" abandoned in a park, it's almost certainly a Trachemys scripta — the red-eared slider, an invasive alien species. In that case too, contact the rescue centre to find out how to handle it: it can't be released into the wild, but it shouldn't be left there either.
Where to take it: not all centres accept reptiles
Not all wildlife rescue centres have vets specialising in reptiles or the equipment for shell repair. Shell repair on a Testudo requires specific techniques, targeted antibiotics and weeks or months of follow-up.
Use WildSOS to find the centre in your area that accepts land tortoises — filter by species and you'll immediately find the right ones, with direct contact details.
Something worth knowing
The incubation temperature of tortoise eggs determines the sex of the hatchling. At temperatures below 29°C, predominantly males are born; above 31°C, predominantly females. Sex is not fixed by the egg's genetic code, but by how much heat it received in the first weeks.
Hermann's tortoise can live 50–80 years. The animal you've found today has probably been there longer than you'd expect — and may have been living in that area before your garden existed.
Legal protection
Hermann's tortoise and the marginated tortoise are listed on CITES Appendix II and protected in Italy under Legislative Decree 92/2000. In practice:
- It's illegal to trade them without CITES documentation
- It's illegal to keep them without registering with the competent authorities, even if you received them from someone in good faith
- You cannot pick one up in the countryside and take it home "to care for it" without notifying the rescue centre or authorities: technically that's unauthorised possession of a CITES species
Emergency rescue and transport to a competent centre are always lawful — but they should be reported and documented as soon as possible.
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