Urgent Care :: Dude...The thermometer broke

[Safdar]

Well ya
I saw these little black beads in the tank
I quickly took them out and then more came
I was like HUH!
then i notices this


Well
all the black balls came out except for the ones stuck to the red stuff
It seems like the red stuff didnt come out
The black beeds are still intact around it

Also i have no clue
How a little guy like Tito could have broken such a big glass thermometer
Its bigger than him

But i did inspect Tito for wounds or and boo boos

Do i have to do a complete water change

[untsmurf]

He could've bitten the tip of it which made it smash against the side of the tank. Mikey used to do that all the time. I'm not sure about the water change though. I'm worried about if any mercury got out, but I honestly have no idea if there's mercury in those thermometers or if any got out... so, sorry on that part.

[Tenodera]

Let's hope mercury didn't come out...or you might just be looking at the newest member of teenage mutant ninja turtle.

[Safdar]

Awesome!
Hes already doing back flips =D

[rmicklit]

it should just be alcohol, but that wouldn't form beads. mercury is hydrophobic so it would tend to clump together. if i were you, i would change your water just to be safe. no need to risk heavy metal poison to your turtle.

[grey goose]

I really don't think they use mercury in thermometers anymore....I'd be more concerned about the little shards of glass. Do a full water change and check carefully for any little pieces of glass. Or any of those stray beads.
Then go get a digital thermometer..........

[Safdar]

No the beads were allready in the thermometer
The beads are some type of metal or magnet
I tried breaking them with a hammer
and it make a dent on my table.....

The beads arent part of the red stuff

[SpotsMama]

I think the beads are just lead weights to make the thermometer stand upright in the water. I think they are made of lead.

[Tenodera]

ooh then you better make a water change, large amounts of lead is deadly.

[Safdar]

Good thing i took it out right after

[untsmurf]

I agree with the complete water change... and make sure and clean off any object in the tank to make sure one of those little lead balls didn't lodge into something.

[Safdar]

Yup i did that
Dont want him to eat it on accident

[DavidY]

I doubt it was even lead. Lead is a soft metal so if you hit it with a hammer it should flatten a little. Most likely it's just steel or something. Like Goose said, the biggest danger is if there are any small shards of glass in the tank. But I'm pretty sure there wouldn't be anything toxic in there especially since it's meant for aquarium use.

[marisa]

There is no mercury in that thermometer and I also doubt that lead is used. I had a thermometer like that once break in the tank on me. I just cleaned up everything I saw (wasn't much), threw it away and got a better one.

I think the plastic in those cheaper thermometers is prone to cracking, even with age (being in the water). Mine was never near any rocks, and Tilly never had the slightest interest in it. (He's not interested in the probe of the one that is used in his tank either.)

[Safdar]

Thanks guys
I picked up a digital one last night