This is a photo of a painted turtle that came to us awhile back with a  cracked shell. Below you can see an X-ray of his shell from the side, and if you look at the middle of the top you can see an almost healed fracture. The wound was cleaned when he arrived, and zip-ties were used to pull the pieces together, analogous to how a human leg fracture would get a cast. Unfortunately this guy’s back legs are paralyzed from the injury, so he will likely never be able to be released. We did however managed to find a good home for him, so he’ll be able to live out the rest of his life in a safe environment.