General Care Discussion :: Turtles Can Drownd

[Evelyn]

This is what happen to my male turtle years ago.
I had a canister filter set up, I did not use the sprayer bar, just one tube or hose, for input, one tube for out put. I put a strainer cap on the out put tube, the strainer fell out one Sunday afternoon, his foot got sucked up into the tube or hose. My husband heard all the noise from him trying to free him self and told me. I though he was dead, of course I started to cry which did not help the turtle at all. I put him under a heat light and kept rubbing him, shaking him, after a few minutes he started to move.
After warming him up for a while longer, I let him walk on the floor for about an hour.
NOW IF SOMETHING LIKE THIS HAPPENS THAT IS ONE REALLY SUPPOSE TO DO ???
To much water in the lungs.
His Name is Trouble, from day one he has got into trouple.
Evelyn

[pumpkinsherbet]

yeah my little aeryn's trouble, too. she got herself stuck in the little bars that hold up her basking dock (the part that has the suction cup). fortunately, i happened to be watching her at the time she did this, and freed her pretty quickly. scared me like mad, though, and i had to move the tank around and the suction cups at the bottom are no longer stuck to the aquarium wall. she likes to wedge herself into places like that and it freaks me out.

what to do when they have a near-drowning experience i do not know. but someone please tell us b/c aeryn's little habits do tell me that's going to be something i need to know. no matter what i do she always seems to find another place to get herself stuck in.

[N4784N R4613]

Check out this link, it will tell you what to do, just in case...
http://www.turtlecare.net/drown.htm

[pumpkinsherbet]

like turtle cpr

thanx!

[SpotsMama]

The turtle CPR instructions are excellent.

To prevent this sort of thing from happening in the first place, look at everything in your tank and try to imagine if there is any way your turtle can get stuck. Some examples are:

1. If the strainer on the intake tube falls off a little turtle can get stuck and not be able to free himself. To correct this, if the strainer can be knocked off easily, use aquarium silicon to "glue" the strainer to the tube. Follow the instructions on the aquarium silicon container for curing.

2. Turtles can get stuck behind something like the bars on a Zoo Med basking dock. Since turtles, for some reason, like to wedge themselves into tight spots, this isn't uncommon at all. To correct this, turn the plastic bars upside down so the horizontal bar is at the top, out of the water. Then, remove the rubber suckers from the bars that are under water - they're not necessary. These things allow the bars to move more freely so the little turtle can get himself loose.

3. Look for holes or openings in things like toys and underwater decorations that a turtle can stick his/her head in. If a turtle sticks his head and/or feet in there - and they will because they like to explore tight places - and can't get them loose they will drown. To correct this, either remove the object or fill the hole with aquarium silicon and let it dry thoroughly before putting it back in the aquarium.

A word about aquarium silicon - what ever you put in the tank, be sure it's trimmed neatly so there aren't any pieces that the turtle can bite. If they bite off and swallow pieces of silicon, it can get stuck in their digestive track and stop them up and even kill them.

REMEMBER - whatever your turtle can get stuck in he probably will. It's just part of their curious nature!

[Evelyn]

Thanks to you all, I put the cpr in a folder.
Thanks Evelyn