General Care Discussion :: Food stuck in throat?

[ytse411]

Hi all,

Had a bit of a scare this morning with Syvlia. She got her ripped up lettuce and some carrots bits for breakfast, then I heard this noise coming from her tank and realized she had a bunch of lettuce stuck in her throat. Being Sunday morning, I found a vet an hour away, but was afraid to transport her w/o water in case that was helping her breathe. The food was too deep in her mouth to just pull out. I didn't think I'd be able to get her head to stay out; keep her mouth open; and pull out the food without losing a finger or two. (she's full size, about 6 lbs). She's gotten ahold of a finger before and I very clearly remember the pain!

By the time my mom stopped over with a bucket (I recently moved and downsized considerably, so no buckets!) she had coughed up a bunch of lettuce and her throat was no longer distended, but she was still opening her mouth a bit out of water and her breathing had some gurgly noises to it. after a few more minutes there was no longer any open mouth breathing and no abnormal noises.

Then, as mom and I were chatting and watching her, Sylvia crawled onto her basking spot and made a HUGE yawn. I've only seen her yawn in water, so at first we almost passed out from fright and thought it was the end, until I realized it was a yawn! I figured that was an excellent sign of no breathing issues. lol.

damn critters!!!

She's acting completely fine now, but I'm afraid to feed her!! (of course I will - small bits at a time for now) Has this ever happened to anyone? If so, what did you do?

[steve]

I have not seen it... but wow, that's pretty scary. If you leave larger pieces, she might have to eat a little bit slower.

[dumbork14]

I've experienced this with cuttlebone, I put a chunk small enough to fit her head, but large enough for her to swallow whole. she keeps scratching her mouth with her claws, as if trying to remove it, to no avail. She burped out the big piece after a few minutes. Another scenario is the use of too thin cuttlebone. it got stuck in her beak and she was always trying to remove it with her claw.

I just observed her and tried to remove the clinging thin piece with a cotton bud, but she bit the cotton bud. That happened many times now, and thank goodness she can spit it out on her own.

[ytse411]

I've tried the larger pieces in the past, and she just tries to shovel the whole thing in at once...she doesn't understand how to pace herself. LOL.

I've been giving her tiny little pieces a bit at a time.

[PridgNYC]

I just throw the whole thing in the tank with the back partially removed. (I leave a small spine of the hard stuff along the center to keep it together) My turtle has no problem taking bites out of it. This helps trim their beak as well.

Now that I think about it, it has been a while since I added a cuttle bone to the tank. I just checked and the previous cuttle bone is about the size of a large postage stamp, consisting of a postage stamp size piece of backing with a small mound of the softer bits in the center. I guess it is about time to add another. He has officially gone through 2 large cuttlebones in a year.