Drowned Nearly

DoubleD1996!

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Thank God I was home!

I went to the backyard to do my feedings. I went to the pond and noticed my super enthusiastic diamondback terrapin, Almond didn't rush me.

I kept stomping and calling his name and realized he wasn't moving. He was stuck to one of the pumps. I have a cloth bag that's supposed to be on it, but things happen.

Immediately, I jumped in the water and pulled him out; hardly any movement.

His arm was stuck in the propeller guard.

Quickly, I ran in, grabbed some pliers, destroyed the pump and pulled his arm out.

Swollen. I Immediately held him vertical face down, pumped his arms and legs in and out, and blew in his nose.

He's finally responsive and taking breaths after 30 or so minutes.

Glad he's alive, but I'm open to suggestions as to what to do for the swelling. Hope my little dude pulls through. Thank guys.
 

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Ink

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I have no ideas on helping the turtle, but I wanted to say Great Job saving Almond! I hope your turtle does well! Please keep us posted.
 

DoubleD1996!

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I have no ideas on helping the turtle, but I wanted to say Great Job saving Almond! I hope your turtle does well! Please keep us posted.
Thank you, and will do. I'm going to give him a little salt soak once he strengthens up
 

wellington

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Oh wow, how scary that must have been. Glad you were there to save him. I don't know of anything you can do for the swelling. I think I would put him in isolation until it goes down.
I can't believe with the bag that could happen. I guess you will have to rig a cage around it. Maybe put the pump in a bucket with some holes in it and fis the hose to come out the lid.
Hope he recovers quickly.
 

DoubleD1996!

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Oh wow, how scary that must have been. Glad you were there to save him. I don't know of anything you can do for the swelling. I think I would put him in isolation until it goes down.
I can't believe with the bag that could happen. I guess you will have to rig a cage around it. Maybe put the pump in a bucket with some holes in it and fis the hose to come out the lid.
Hope he recovers quickly.
Thank you. And the bag wasn't on that pump, but the other. I'm going to give him a soak in some aquarium salt once he gets his strength back and just keep him in the house for a week or so until healed.
 

Phreeflow

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Wow, glad you were able to save it. Isolation, clean water, raise salinity, and if that doesn’t work, you can try acriflavine. Read up on it…works well will aquatic turtles.
 

mark1

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my opinion is a vet visit .... antibiotics and anti-inflamatories , maybe steroids ......... lots of secondary problems arise from near drowning ....... quick is best ....JMO

good luck with him ......
 

DoubleD1996!

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Wow, glad you were able to save it. Isolation, clean water, raise salinity, and if that doesn’t work, you can try acriflavine. Read up on it…works well will aquatic turtles.
Yeah I know about acriflavine. Might order some more. Thanks!
 

DoubleD1996!

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my opinion is a vet visit .... antibiotics and anti-inflamatories , maybe steroids ......... lots of secondary problems arise from near drowning ....... quick is best ....JMO

good luck with him ......
I'd have to travel out if the city for that, but if issues arise I'll handle it
 

jeff kushner

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I had one of those guys for nearly 15 yrs, some of the most beautiful of any turtle to me.

You might want to use wire netting, like I use to cover Matilda's outdoor enclosure, form the wire into a basket for the pump to reside in, then put the entire thing in a bag like you had it. I do this for my walkout space basement sump pump to keep the frogs from getting macerated!

Good luck with your guy....I know that you take good care of your little ones!
 

DoubleD1996!

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I had one of those guys for nearly 15 yrs, some of the most beautiful of any turtle to me.

You might want to use wire netting, like I use to cover Matilda's outdoor enclosure, form the wire into a basket for the pump to reside in, then put the entire thing in a bag like you had it. I do this for my walkout space basement sump pump to keep the frogs from getting macerated!

Good luck with your guy....I know that you take good care of your little ones!
Thank you! Would it corrode in the water?
 

jeff kushner

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No, It actually has lasted for years, the cloth-screen from the modern screen doors is what I wrap it all with, one layer. Making a ball increases the surface area exponentially, making it more difficult for sediment, leaves and junk to clog to the point of choking the pump.
 

DoubleD1996!

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No, It actually has lasted for years, the cloth-screen from the modern screen doors is what I wrap it all with, one layer. Making a ball increases the surface area exponentially, making it more difficult for sediment, leaves and junk to clog to the point of choking the pump.
Oh I've done that before. I may have some in the garage. Thanks jeff.
 

Moozillion

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Boy, does this bring back memories- bad ones.

I had an eastern mud turtle who somehow got herself trapped under her basking platform one night. When I got up in the morning and found her, I almost freaked. Like you, I grabbed her out, held her head down and pumped her legs. She finally started to move, so I set her in an empty tub, on folded paper towels with a warm lamp on her. When she appeared strong enough to handle being back in her tank, I put her back in.

She seemed ok for a couple of weeks. Then I noticed that when she swam or floated, she was lopsided: her right shoulder was lower in the water than her left shoulder. I took her to an exotics vet who diagnosed pneumonia.
This will be a very long story if I don’t summarize, so I’ll summarize.
A week in Hosp with daily antibiotic injections, daily nebulizer etc, then home.
Seemed better but the pneumonia came back 6 months later.
Hospital again, more intensive treatment, then home after a week or so.
Another 6 months and the pneumonia came back- this time the exotics vet referred us to the state veterinary school. (I live in Louisiana, and our vet school has a reputation of being particularly good with exotics).
They treated similarly. But it just came back again.

By then it was a year and a half since the original downing incident. She was just slowly getting worse over time, and I opted for euthanasia and a necropsy.

The necropsy report showed that she still had crud from the aquarium water in her airways- after a year and a half!!!!! That crud was acting like seeds of bacteria causing the pneumonia. As long as the crud was there, it would just start another pneumonia after one had been treated. TURTLES CANNOT COUGH- they don’t have diaphragms like we do. WE can cough out crud in our airways- they can’t.

She was slowly dying for a year and a half despite our best efforts.

I will add my voice to what some of the other members have already said: PLEASE TAKE HER TO AN EXOTICS VET to be examined and possibly treated.
I wish you the very best of luck with this.❤️
 
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