Happy Ending

[Markie Ross]

I have a tortoise story I wanted to share-both as a cautionary tale and because it has a good ending. We have three Desert Tortoises that have been in our family (or are descended from tortoises in our family, long story) for nearly 60 years. Last summer we built a new enclosure for them, pix attached. We made two burrows, and have since blocked all views to the outside. We underestimated the passion the tortoises have for escape and burrowing. I came outside one morning and my husband was looking for one of the three turtles. We were sure she was buried in the greens that had begun to overgrow in the enclosure, but could not locate her. I looked over to our swimming pool enclosure (which is ALWAYS closed!) and for some reason, it was wide open. We rushed to the pool and looked down to the bottom. There were several leaves gathered at the bottom, I thought. Right then, my husband leapt into the pool (clothes, shoes, cell phone and all) dove to the bottom and pulled up the turtle. She could have been down there for hours, we had no idea. Her eyes were open, but unmoving. We set her on the side of the pool and she just lay there, unmoving, I actually saw my own life flash before my eyes. In about 30 seconds she, as if she had been holding her breath, suddenly expelled EVERYTHING that was in her...lots of water, white matter from all orifices she owned. Then she slowly began to move. She stayed inert for at least the half hour it took us to get her to the vet. He checked her out, gave us some prophylactic antibiotic shots and told us to give her time to come out of shock. She is absolutely fine, now. My husband has renamed her from Pip to El Chapo, for her propensity to dig her way to freedom. We have since totally secured the enclosure and while they still burrow, it is within their enclosure. I am going to attach pictures of the enclosure, but it has since been planted with all tortoise friendly greens, the view to the yard is blocked and they seem to be very happy there. They are cozily asleep in our garage right now. PS- after this incident, I googled Tortoise CPR. It is very good to know!

 

[Yvonne G]

When trying to get water out of their lungs, I support the head then swing the tortoise from the ceiling down to the floor quickly. The centrifugal (?) force causes the water to come out.

You now run the risk of having this tortoise get pneumonia. I wouldn't let this one hibernate.

 

[wellington]

Scary. I wonder how long she was there and survived. So glad it worked okay. Thanks for sharing and the enclosure looks great

 

[Markie Ross]

When trying to get water out of their lungs, I support the head then swing the tortoise from the ceiling down to the floor quickly. The centrifugal (?) force causes the water to come out.

You now run the risk of having this tortoise get pneumonia. I wouldn't let this one hibernate.

I forgot to mention that this was about 8 months ago. The turtle is completely safe to hibernate now. Thank you so much for your input!

 

[Markie Ross]

Scary. I wonder how long she was there and survived. So glad it worked okay. Thanks for sharing and the enclosure looks great

SO scary! I think about how she just walked over the edge of the pool then had to WALK to get the the center! I felt like the worst mom ever....

 

[Yvonne G]

I forgot to mention that this was about 8 months ago. The turtle is completely safe to hibernate now. Thank you so much for your input!

thank you so much for sharing this experience with us. Not all tortoises float, and not all tortoises have enough depth perception to notice a drop off.

 

[Markie Ross]

When trying to get water out of their lungs, I support the head then swing the tortoise from the ceiling down to the floor quickly. The centrifugal (?) force causes the water to come out.

You now run the risk of having this tortoise get pneumonia. I wouldn't let this one hibernate.

Oh, also, there is a type of CPR that involves holding them at an angle with their heads pointed to the ground at about a 45 degree angle and the pumping their front legs back towards you. But yours sounds good too. I am hopeful never to have to use either again!