Thought he was a goner
Posted: Mon Feb 01, 2010 6:00 pmI just thought I would share my morning with you all because as fellow turtle lovers you can understand what I went through better than others.
I came home this morning to find my turtle, Penn, under water looking like he was stuck between the intake tube of the filter and the back of the tank. I went to go help him out and get him unstuck only to discover that his leg was stuck in the intake pipe of the filter. I pulled him out and put him on his floating dock and immediately started to cry because I thought he was dead. He sat up there for a while motionless while I called my BF and tried to figure out what to do with a dead turtle. I was too traumatized to look at him let alone touch him but luckily for me I have a great BF who was going to help me bury him and in the process of picking him up discovered he was moving. I didn't believe that he was actually alive, I just figured it was some last bit of life twitch or something but he did it a couple more times so we decided that he wasn't actually dead. I discovered there is a vet that treats turtles right down the street from my house and so we quickly rushed him there. Thankfully the vet was able to save him, they gave him oxygen through a tiny mask, an IV to get his fluids balanced, a shot of antibiotics to prevent infection and a shot of vitamin A and D. I've never been so happy to see my turtle alive than I was when the Dr. took my into the back to see him.
I've been keeping an eye on him since I brought him home and slowly he is becoming more active, he even pooped! He's in a tuperware with a small amount of water just to keep him moist and he has moved around a bit. Everyone keep your fingers crossed he is in the clear cause I don't think I could handle finding him dead again.
I came home this morning to find my turtle, Penn, under water looking like he was stuck between the intake tube of the filter and the back of the tank. I went to go help him out and get him unstuck only to discover that his leg was stuck in the intake pipe of the filter. I pulled him out and put him on his floating dock and immediately started to cry because I thought he was dead. He sat up there for a while motionless while I called my BF and tried to figure out what to do with a dead turtle. I was too traumatized to look at him let alone touch him but luckily for me I have a great BF who was going to help me bury him and in the process of picking him up discovered he was moving. I didn't believe that he was actually alive, I just figured it was some last bit of life twitch or something but he did it a couple more times so we decided that he wasn't actually dead. I discovered there is a vet that treats turtles right down the street from my house and so we quickly rushed him there. Thankfully the vet was able to save him, they gave him oxygen through a tiny mask, an IV to get his fluids balanced, a shot of antibiotics to prevent infection and a shot of vitamin A and D. I've never been so happy to see my turtle alive than I was when the Dr. took my into the back to see him.
I've been keeping an eye on him since I brought him home and slowly he is becoming more active, he even pooped! He's in a tuperware with a small amount of water just to keep him moist and he has moved around a bit. Everyone keep your fingers crossed he is in the clear cause I don't think I could handle finding him dead again.
we love our turtles so much, don't we!