Turtle almost died

turtle was found stuck under decoration in tank, took him buut he was very limp and unresponsive, took him out and he is still breathing but not really moving around a whole lot, not being his normal self. Tried making water come out of his mouth by holding him head down. He is now sitting with his back legs sprawled out and pointing his head high and breathing. Not sure what to do now, i do not want him to die! Somebody reply asap

turtle was found stuck under decoration in tank, took him buut he was very limp and unresponsive, took him out and he is still breathing but not really moving around a whole lot, not being his normal self. Tried making water come out of his mouth by holding him head down. He is now sitting with his back legs sprawled out and pointing his head high and breathing. Not sure what to do now, i do not want him to die! Somebody reply asap this is my first reptile so everybody has the 1 that started it all

Best thing to do here is try and keep him dry until he rebuilds his strength. If hes weak don't place him back in the water he will more then likely drown. Hopefully some one else has more suggestions.

Keep him warm to with his basking light, still offer food and water to drink in dishes.

I would suggest taking him to a vet in the morning. He may have water in his lungs.

i put him in a rubbermaid with his basking light and water dish, hes semi aquatic so iddk what to do, he sank right to the bottom before i took him out of his tank. should i keep the light on alll night?

I've never dealt with a partially drown turtle before but I'll try to help.

Aquatic/semi aquatic turtles are sometimes "dry docked" when they are sick, especially if a disease is fungal on the shell or skin. What this is is leaving the turtle in a dry box or enclosure of some sort for 24+ hours and bathing him in shallow water 2-4 times a day so his shell can get wet. Some people do this in a shoe box.

If he is putting his head up toward the sky, I'd say that could be a good sign but I don't know for sure. I would leave him in a separate enclosure over night w/o food or water and and on a towel of some sort. I say w/o food or water cause it's over night and if he goes to get a drink and can't lift his head out of the water, you just defeated the purpose of dry docking him. You want to keep stress levels down as much as possible, so I'd leave the light off as well and possible put something elevated in the tank so he can kinda hang his head and hopefully help get the water out.

I would call your herp vet in the morning if you do not get anymore/better advice from the forums.

Disclaimer: This stuff sounds logical to me for now as I have no experience with a drowned turtle but do have 15 years experience with them. If someone with this XP is available I encourage them to chime in.

i would love to take him to the vet but i dont have money for it at all, i can barely pay for lunch at work. i need sometthing like home remidies ive already held him up trying to get water out, i tried pulling his legs and pushing them, that didnt work cuz he wouldnt keep his legs still. ATM i have him in a rubbermaid container with a water bowl, and paper towels with his heat lamp on over him. this is my first reptile that started it all for me and he needs to be okay, hes moving but not acting normal he ussually tries to bite me every time i touch him but i could touch him any where even his nose and he didnt do anything, definately not normal. he is a yellow bellied slider if that helps at all. thank you for your fast reply!

Take a deep breath and calm down. Things will turn out as they should. I said call the vet, not make an appointment. Perhaps they can give you advice over the phone.

I found this from a turtle forum I once frequented, it should help:

Sorry for the quick post, I just didn't want to waste time explaining why it should not be kept under a basking light after a near drowning event. It can take a turtle several hours to return to normal after nearly drowning, and placing it under a light source to keep it warm may seem like a good idea, but it really isn't. The turtle has very limited mobility during recovery, and you're running the risk of it fatally overheating while it's unable to move. Bubbling around the eyes or nostrils is common in turtles that are far too hot.

Plus, even if it's not that hot, you run the risk of the turtle moving itself back into the water while you're not looking, and unless fully recovered, it will quickly drown again. The best thing to do is keep the turtle in a dark box with a towel, and place that into a warm room. Check on it every few hours, and hopefully it will come around for you. It's very rare that they die if you are able to catch them in time before they completely drown, but a vet visit for any secondary issues that may crop up is a wise idea, also.

Thank you so much! Deffinately helps he is dry docked right now and hes a fighter so im hoping hell make it !

Cool beans. I think if he is breathing and conscious, he should be able to fully recover. If he is still kicking in the morning I'd say he has a great shot to be ok. You may still have to take him to a vet at some point.

thank you so much foor your help, i put him ina rubber maid container with a turtle dock for elevation, not food or water, on paper towels. i might just go bare bottom cause hes already torn up the paper towels with his claws. hes currently "basking" on the turtle dock and ill shut his light off for the night hopefully it doesnt get to cold in my room over night , maybe ill put a blanket aaround the container? any suggestions on how to keep it warm with out the light on over night? my rooms the rooom thats really hot at night but cold in the mornings which sucks in this situation.

You're welcome.

You can probably get away with taking out the paper towels and go bare bottom or maybe use a dish/hand towel. Wrapping the tub in a blanket wouldn't hurt so he doesn't catch a draft.

Hope he is chipper for you in the morning.

thank you so much for all of your help! it is greatly appreciated! me and iron man thank you so much very knowledgeable!

No advice, just positive thoughts for your turtle. I hope he's better in the morning.

What type of turtle are we talking about?

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Crazymonkee

What type of turtle are we talking about?

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That's a good question and didn't think to ask. He/she? Guessing "marc" is a dude here., did state it was aquatic.

Most first time turtle keepers get some type of slider/cooter or a painted depending on region and availability.

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Originally Posted by Pyrate81

That's a good question and didn't think to ask. He/she? Guessing "marc" is a dude here., did state it was aquatic.

Most first time turtle keepers get some type of slider/cooter or a painted depending on region and availability.

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I know but I try not to assume lol

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thank you :)

welcome. :)


Hey marc, what kind of turtle is it?

He is a 9 month old yellow bellied slider, had him since he was the size of a quarter his name is iron man, i really need him to pull through again thank you guys for your help! :)

cool bean. let us know how he is in the morning. I'll be checking in from work around 9:30am est.

Deffiantely will, i will probably post around 6-7 cause thats when i get up and leave for school

Its about 630 here and i woke up turned his hear lamp on and sprayed him with water, that seemed to wake him up, i went and took a shower, came back and he was "basking" idk what to call it since he basks no matter where he is in the cotainer

I put him back in his tank with extreme supervision, he pooped and ate some reptomin pellets, i still wasnt sure tho, and put him back into the rubbermaid. He was swimming and floating and trying to bite his fish friends. This seems like a full recovory for him but im not turtle expert. Im going to leave him in the rubbermiad with the light off and see how he is afterschool

Sounds like a plan. Sounds like he's doing a ton better so when you get home from school try putting him in his enclosure for 30minutes to an hour with supervision and if he seems normal then I'd say he's in good shape. :thumb up:

Keep an eye on him for the next week or so for odd behaviors.

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he does keep doing this weird thing with his head, kind of like he has the hiccups, kind of like bobbing his head? but only once. not sure if he actaully does have the hiccups or something not really sure. thats the only odd behavior i saw this morning or last night. but i will try that once i get home

I know anything about turtles but maybe somebody can tell me if it would be a good idea to dry dock him one more day after being in the tank? I hope he made a full recovery for you though.

Dry docking him for another day probably won't matter unless there is something wrong.

If marc puts him in the tank when he gets home from school and everything looks normal for the first 30-60mins, then I'd say all should be well. You'll probably know in the first 5-10minutes if he is swimming wrong or he doesn't seem right in the tank.*

If you want to be cautious about it, let him swim around for 10-15 minutes then leave him in the rubbermaid over night again. Do the same in the morning before school and then put him back in full time after school tomorrow.*

My one turtle sometimes climbs out of the tank and walks around the apartment for a good part of the day while I'm at work and when I put her back in the tank, she sometimes has to get her "swimming legs" back under her which takes a couple minutes. So when I put her back in I'll hold onto her for a few seconds before I let her go and watch her to make sure she is swimming fine. If she isn't, she gets pulled back out and I'll hold onto her for longer while she swims in place.

marc- the head bobbing I have seen before. Not sure exactly what it is(my male RES used to do this so I guess it's a display of some kind) but In this instance it would be something to watch and see if it progresses or see if looks like he's doing it for a reason.



*This is how I would do things depending on the situation and how I felt about how the turtle was doing. I'm not an expert. If someone knows more than my opinion and XP, please chime in.

thank you im in class replying right now haah but thank you ill deffinately try before i go to work after school ! :)

Pyrates got it, watch for signs of respiratory infection, especially if it's chilly where the turtle is staying. It occurs most in young ones but with the ordeal it went through just keep an eye out. You'd see bubbles from nose/mouth, also not being able to swim correctly. Looks like one side is down lower, has trouble floating.

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respitory infections symptoms are? i know what they are for snakes, are they the same thing? same symptoms? wheezing, mucus, oozing? all that good stuff. his poop was solid and he did eat a few sticks of reptomin, whichi think is a very good sign, i deffinately am keeping a close look on him as much as i can.

Nice!! I'm glad Ironman pulled thru the night all of what you said seems like hes doing great now. I'm also glad that Pyrate was able to help you out, I learned a couple terms and things from him about turtles to.:gj:

I would agree with Pyrate and say that he sounds like he would be good to go back in, just keep a eye on him and monitor his first couple minutes swimming. No one mentioned this and I'm sure you already know but what ever he got stuck under in that tank, take it out.

actuall;y when i found him i threw that into the wall while i was panicing and made a hole in the wall... oops lol that is defiantely not ogin back in and it sucks because that was my center piece of the tank but i might just fill the bottom more with fake plants. But all is well hes at home right now in his rubbermiad container on my dads heated water bed so hopefully hes not cold. thanks for your help guys ill keep u updated when i get home today from school

I put iron man back in his tank he is swimmming a little slower than normal but he ate, and seems to be fine, i have to go to work now but ill update once i get home tonight :)

Sounds good. Keep us update. :)

Im at work now, but my mom told me that iron man was alive, didnt seem interested for food, said he stayed towards the bottom of the tank, but still coming up for air, when i saw him he was still lathargic so maybe he just is stressed ouy and will return to normal in a couple days

Good to hear he's doing ok. You had mentioned before you didn't know how to keep the tank warm without the light on, what kind of light are you talking about? You shouldn't have a normal light on 24/7 as it stresses them out, but if you meant like a night time bulb like red or blue, that's ok to have on.

I have his uvb bulb on, along with his day time bulb, i believe its a flukers heat bulb

They do best with a normal day/night cycle of light.
If you're worried about tank temp get an aquarium heater for the water.
Glad he's doing better, keep us posted!

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Marc,

When you get a chance and have IM settled back in, could you describe your setup or post pics of it? ty.

hes in a 29 gallon tank, gravel bottom, like 6 fake platns there was a barrel hide for my fish but thats obviously not in there anymore, he has a zoo med turtle dock, with a 40 gallon tetra whisper filter, 10.0 uvb and a heat lamp i can post pics probably later tonight

he has a heater for 15- 30 gallon tank, and his lights are on 13 hours of day and off the other 11 than soon im gonna make it an even 12 than 13 hours of night nad 11 hours of day near winter time than switch it back and chenge it with the seasons

Awesome.

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It may be a good idea to contact Marc from Little Res Q. He's seen hundreds of turtles, and many of them being sick. http://www.littleresq.net/

Sounds like your setup is in good order.


10.0 UVB sounds high though... I think turtles only need 2.0 or 5.0 and don't remember if anything higher will help/hinder them at all. You're probably fine, I'm just typing/talking/thinking out loud.

:goes and gets refresher course on tutle UVB requirements:

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Originally Posted by Pyrate81

Sounds like your setup is in good order.


10.0 UVB sounds high though... I think turtles only need 2.0 or 5.0 and don't remember if anything higher will help/hinder them at all. You're probably fine, I'm just typing/talking/thinking out loud.

:goes and gets refresher course on tutle UVB requirements:

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Lol that made me giggle because honestly I don't remember either

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well for like 2 months he didnt have uvb because i had a red belly cooter hatchling i found at my local fishing pond, i had him for some time buthe was growing so fast i didnt have room for him so i put him back which was better for the both of us, so i just got the 10 just so it could "catch up" inna way idk it made sense in my head, but as long as he has it though right? haha

Yeh I don't see it posing any problems, honestly they loose a little umph every time it's turned on, and should be replaced every 6 months. So I don't see a problem with the 10

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yea its only about 2 months old now maybe 3 but i have back ups, they were on sale at my petsmart for 6 dollars a piece so i picked up some spares