A Turtle's Remarkable Recovery

I am usually not available for consultations, but when animal communicator, Danielle Tremblay, contacted me about a problem with her turtle, Oliver, I felt called to help solve the mystery.

Danielle explained:

I have never encountered what I'm experiencing with one of my animals.

I have two male red-eared sliders in two aquariums side by side. Oliver was smaller, quieter, skittish and shy compared to Franklin, who was larger, more confident, and exuberant. This is about Oliver who is about 26 years old and has been with me for about 23 years.

Around December 2024, Oliver suddenly came up lame in a hind leg. He showed zero use of it for about 4 weeks. He and I talked about the injury, and he made a 100% recovery on his own with no vet intervention. His leg remains normal.

It was after this recovery that I did not recognize the energetic signature of Oliver. His energy FEELS vastly different to me now. Some behaviors have subtly changed, too.

This could be a walk-in experience, though I have no prior experience with this. I also wonder if Oliver has been dramatically upgraded as a result of healing his leg (and any deep inner trauma associated with it).

I feel his energy is stronger/feistier than the Oliver I previously knew. What's also baffling to me is that when I turn my inner focus upon him, I feel he's pushing away from me. I've never felt this before with an animal.

I’ve been waiting for it to shift for months. Or to give me time to get out of my way if that's what this is about. But it's still there, and I don't know what to make of this.

I have sat with myself in order to sense in what way I may be contributing to or projecting onto Oliver. I wonder if he seeks freedom outside of my care, as I'm sure he's sensed how time has made me weary of aquarium tank management, despite loving my turtle companions.


Now to find out what Oliver felt about this situation Danielle had brought forward.



Oliver quickly expressed his feelings and how they related to Danielle. He told me that he had been ill for most of his life. From what he showed me about his body and how he felt, it seemed that he had carried a viral infection since he was young, which made him weak throughout his life.

Thanks to Danielle’s communication, concern, and healing energy, Oliver gradually experienced a breakthrough, and his 26-year-old body finally overcame the infection. This is why his energy was so different from what Danielle had experienced before. He was now well and strong! What an amazing recovery!

He showed me how he hardly knew what to do with all the energy he had. He felt like he wanted to run and burst forward—something he had never been able to do before. No longer shy and quiet, he reveled in his newfound health and strength and felt he had a new life.

Danielle had wondered if her weariness about managing the aquarium was negatively affecting him. However, Oliver had no complaints and loved Danielle, as she had always been a friend to him. He simply wanted the space to “run.” Danielle mentioned how he now pushed against the sides of his aquarium, which she had not understood before. She and her husband had discussed building a pond outside for the turtles to enjoy during the warm season. Oliver and Franklin thought it was a great idea. It was exactly what Oliver needed to express his new vitality.

We ended the session with Oliver feeling happy to express what was going on with him, expanding his newfound state, and Danielle having her puzzlements about her turtle friend dispelled.


Danielle expressed:

Thank you for helping me understand Oliver's situation! I am grateful for the clarity. My heart is especially happy that he is feeling so strong and healthy now. I had no idea he was ill all these years. I'm thrilled to know he is feeling so full of vitality now, and I see it. What a drastic before and after feeling of him! He is SO deserving of feeling phenomenal. Thank you for tuning into Oliver, Penelope.

I did not know Oliver’s background, so Danielle supplied it for this article.

I adopted Oliver from the SPCA back when I was a vet tech there.

His people were moving. The mom was tired of caring for her children's turtle. They relinquished him in a 20-gallon tank of dirty water, 6-8 inches deep. His shell had pits and crevices in it and was peeling abnormally.

Even though I already had one turtle, I worried that if I didn't take him, no one would take care of him. I figured this new guy just needed the appropriate lighting and good food to help him get better.

Oliver completely stopped eating a few weeks after arrival. He wasn't lively like my other turtle, either.

The reptile vet was excellent in her skills and knowledge of how to treat him.She said he had the worst case of shell rot she'd ever seen. She was surprised he was still alive, and she didn't know if he'd make it through treatment.

She explained that shell rot is often caused by poor husbandry, involving poor water quality and no place to fully get out of the water to bask and dry off. Under these poor conditions, the shell gets soggy, bacteria grow, and the shell (which is part of their skeleton) rots. He was systemically very ill, and she said it would take months to recover.

Treatment included: two surgeries under anesthesia to debride his shell, rounds of antibiotic injections, a special cream placed on his shell regularly (used for human burn victims), and being dipped in a dilute betadine solution at intervals. I also had to put him in a bare dry tank with UV and heat lamps with half of the tank dark should he need to cool down. He had an infrared heat lamp for night use to prevent his sick body from becoming too cold. This special bulb would not interfere with his circadian rhythm. I switched it out for a heated daylight bulb during the day. He was dry-docked for all but 2 hours a day, when he soaked in water to drink through his skin.

After a month into the treatments, he finally began to eat. According to my vet, this was not a surprising length of time to go without food, as he was toxic internally due to lack of care.

I was just beginning to learn animal communication, so during his treatment I hired another animal communicator to connect with Oliver. He said he didn't know if he wanted to stay in his body because someone promised to take good care of him, and then they did not. He felt very let down. I also hired a shamanic practitioner to do a healing for him.

After his recovery from most of the signs of shell rot, his body suddenly grew. It was like Popeye eating spinach! Poor care had stunted him.

One thing Oliver told me in the early days of being with me was that in his prior home, his people would sometimes leave his tank light on for days at a time. He said it made him feel like he was going crazy. He felt lonely too, always kept in a room separate from people.

Since Oliver's health transformation, he feels strong and feisty. He is more confident, like he's been reborn.

Thanks again for helping me grasp what I was sensing regarding Oliver. He's had quite the life experience! I'm thrilled he now feels amazing in his body.