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‘Dehydration, curled up feet’: Turtle kept in New Jersey home on cat food sees sun for the first time in 50 years. Watch
A turtle named Rockalina, rescued from a New Jersey home after 50 years. She was picked up by a boy in 1977.
The story of a turtle seeing sunlight for the first time after almost 50 years has left social media emotional. The wild eastern box turtle, kept inside a New Jersey home for decades, developed several health issues, including crooked limbs.
“Rockalina, the eastern box turtle, lived on a kitchen floor and was fed cat food for almost 50 years after being taken out of the wild in 1977. After a remarkable recovery, once she was surrendered to Garden State Tortoise, she is getting to feel the sun for the very first time in 5 decades,” rescue and rehabilitation centre Garden State Tortoise, which played an essential role in the rescue of the turtle, wrote. The organisation also shared a video on YouTube.
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Who is Rockalina?
"In May 1977, a young boy captured an adult box turtle in New Jersey. For nearly 50 years, this turtle lived in the family’s home on the kitchen floor and was fed cat food,” it added.
This left the turtle with a list of issues, including severe dehydration, curled-up claws, discolouration, disfigured back, and necrosis in the back legs.
How did social media react?
An individual wrote, “To think that this turtle has been away from nature for longer than I've existed is unimaginably sad.” Another added, “This turtle is so popular because she was clearly on the brink of death, and her life was so bad. To see her have a decent life and recover is uplifting for us all.”
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A third commented, “The shot of her just after eating all of the worm! Look at her eyes! Have you ever before seen a box turtle pop such a full-face smile?! It is in her eyes! You can actually SEE the joy in those eyes as she eats real food for the first time in 50 years. Truly AMAZING! THANK YOU for sharing this with us.” A fourth posted, “How does a box turtle survive 50 years indoors without sun? Amazing how resilient they can be.”
The turtle is improving every day. Though she won’t be able to live with other turtles, she is learning how to burrow into the ground.
