General Care Discussion :: My turtle almost died in my floating turtle log

[Adora4Him]

I have one of those large floating turtle logs. When I got up this morning, I found that my turtle had gotten stuck in the hole on the top of the log. His head was in the water and his behind was up in the air and he was stuck really hard and I thought he was dead. When I found him he was completely lifeless for about 15 minutes. I took the log out of the tank and put the old platform back in that sticks on with suction cups, except that I didn't put the suction cups on. It's floating free. It does stay in one place because of the filter that's pushing water in one direction that holds the thing in place. Just wanted everyone to know that those logs can cause a turtle's death if the turtle gets stuck in it head first. I have 3 turtles altogether. They are all about 3-1/2 - 4" big.

[jenaero]

Is the turtle ok now?

Yes, it's very important that we make sure that there are no tight spaces that they can get into. These logs may be fine for larger turtles.

[Adora4Him]

He's fine now. When I found him though, I thought I was going to have to bury him. Thankful he's alive and doing OK.

[Nettle]

Wow, I'm glad he's ok!

If you still want to have it around, you can stick things in the holes and make them impermeable. I have two holes in this log that are just right for getting them stuck (and knowing them they would), so I shoved a plastic plant and a shell in them so they're covered. Or you could try aquarium silicone to fill the holes (I don't know if this would work, just a theory).

[industrial_girl_2000]

Wow, glad you found him. FYI - getting stuck & drowning is one of the biggest dangers for the little ones since they have shells that are just flexible enough to get stuck in certain areas of he tank (behind the filter, under a rock, etc.). One they get to be adult-size, that issue is minimal since the turtle is strong enough to get out of the situation.