All baby shampoo does is "deadens" the nerves [ with a chemical ] so the chemicals in the shampoo don't irritate the eyes, etc.! Source: a 'hairdresser' friend of mine.

nerd

This post was last modified: 05-20-2008 08:34 AM by Redfoot NERD.

STATUS UPDATE:

After an hour with a soft plastic brush, a writhing tortoise (strong aren't they?) and many tubs of warm water with fairy liquid, Nefti now has a clean shell (top and bottom)! Woohoo!.

Head, neck, legs and tail ( the soft bits) are black and repel water which means they are oily too, but it's very difficult indeed to get to them. Hopefully time will repair - shedding skin etc.

He (I think it's a he) has crack in his shell which I could see pink through. What do I need to do about that?

Some pics attached of the oilfield where we found him and Nefti himself before the wash. Post-wast photos to follow.

Thanks for all your help
Steve

Poor Nefti!! However, it looks like his shell got the most of the oil. In the pics the legs don't look too bad. I can't imagine how hot that must have made the tortoise (having all that oil and dirt stuck on him).

Yvonne

Had a good long look at Nefti this morning. He's much easier to handle now that his shell is clean.

2 new questions:

1. The leading edges of all 4 legs are pretty clean, but the backs of legs and his "armpits" - right under the shell if you know what I mean - are still very oily, and so is his tail. Do you think I should try to get the oil off his soft skin and armpits? I'd have to hold his leg out, then use cotton buds soaked in petrol (gasoline) I think, then rinse with fairy liquid, then rinse with water. Or should I leave it? I'm worried about his skin's abilty to breathe and absorb water, but I don't want to stress him out.

2. He has damage to his shell, including one crack which I could see pink through. Any action required? Now the oil is off his shell and the sun can get to it hopefully the shell will repair itself?

Thanks as ever guys
Steve
PS clean Nefti pics to come when I download from camera.

I definitely would NOT use gasoline on his soft flesh. It would burn him. I would use dish soap, like Dawn, with a good degreaser in it and a soft brush. Just don't brush against his scales. Can't wait to see the "real" Nefti.
Good luck
Patsy

Thanks Patsy,

Tried dish soap and basically it only works when accopanied by very vigorous scrubbing. On his shell it took 1 hour of vigourous scrubbing with a nail brush and dish soap to get the oil off.

Obviously I can't brush his skin vigorously.

Azeri light sweet crude is what he's covered in, and this already contains volatile fractions similiar to gasoline (I know this, I work for BP!). The crude oil is irritating his skin already. I could use a few drops of WD40 on a cotton bud and in a few minutes remove the crude, then rinse off the WD40 with dish soap and then clean water.

I'll let you know how I go.

Steve

Crude THis , so (

Hi folks,

GOOD NEWS: The WD40 worked a treat and Nefti is now free from pretty well all visible oil!

A couple of other questions now crop up, re milky urine and his cracked shell - I'll start new threads for those.

Steve

i think its such a fantastic thing your doing i would love to be able to rescue tortoises but i wouln't no where to find them let alone where to start

It's great you were able to find him and get him all cleaned up (poor thing). The milky urine is called urates and that is normal (white watery paste), as for the cracked shell, post a pic so we can look at it. Good Job!!