Rockalina

Rockalina is an Eastern box turtle removed from the wild in 1977 and kept on the floor of a residential kitchen until she was rescued in 2025.

Rockalina was captured in 1977, likely as a young adult of 10 to 20, by a New York boy who brought her home and kept her on the family's kitchen floor, where she was fed primarily cat food and occasionally fruit or lettuce.[1][2][3]

Rockalina was rescued in February of 2025 by Garden State Tortoise, a reptile rehabilitation center in New Jersey.[1] When rescued, she was in poor health and dehydrated, with misshapen nails and beak, a missing tail, and was blinded by dead skin covering her eyes.[1][2] A rear leg had become wrapped in cat hair, cutting off circulation to the limb.[4][2] Her rehabilitation began with being placed in a bath of warm water, then into an indoor enclosure designed to mimic her natural habitat, and finally to an outdoor enclosure.[1] During the rehabilitation period her injuries were treated.[2]

In December of 2025 a hatchling Eastern box turtle named Pebble was introduced to her enclosure so that she could form a social relationship.[4] Garden State Tortoise was planning to add more box turtles to the enclosure to create a colony mimicking those of a box turtle's typical natural surroundings.[5]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Hartounian, Alina (2025-04-24). "After nearly 50 years cooped up inside, Rockalina the turtle finds the great outdoors". NPR. Retrieved 2026-03-13.
  2. ^ a b c d Bellware, Kim (26 April 2025). "After 50 years of neglect, a rescued turtle finally sees the sun". The Washington Post.
  3. ^ Phillipp, Charlotte (28 April 2025). "Turtle Kept in Darkness on a Diet of Cat Food, Feels the Sun for the First Time in 50 Years". People.
  4. ^ a b Goodyear, Sheena (16 December 2025). "Rockalina the turtle meets member of her own species for the 1st time in 48 years". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.
  5. ^ Hartounian, Alina (2025-12-12). "For 50 years, Rockalina the turtle lived on a kitchen floor. Now she has a new friend". WVTF. Retrieved 2026-03-13.
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