Tortoises all dead, trader joes cucumbers poisoned them

[Tortuga_terrestre]

Were the cucumbers washed throughly before being served ???? I personally dont wash the spring mix I buy from Costco. But if it doesnt grow in your backyard and even then...you should wash everything you eat....We dont know where our food comes from or how its transported. I do know all produce carrying trailers have to sanitize their trailers with bleach to avoid mold and other bacterias from growing. My father owns a trucking company (Not hauling produce) and he has to endure strict laws and regulations set by state. I imagine for truckers hauling produce their list of rules is endless....... The contamination could have happened anywhere from where it was grown to your house....

 

[Maggie Cummings]

I could be off base here, but I think a gross necropsy is just a matter of looking at stomach contents and a visual scan of the organs. Necropsy's really don't show much. Unless she got the animals to the Vet over night a toxicology won't show anything either..

IF the trailer was cleaned it would have happened before the pallets were loaded. To my knowledge the only things loaded right into the trailer are potatoes and carrots and that happens right in the field. The trailer IF cleaned was sprayed with bleach not ammonia.

 

[Yvonne G]

A "gross" necropsy is only a vet cutting open the animal and having a look at the inside. A full necropsy tests the fluids and does a thorough job. Most vets can't do a full necropsy. That's why I suggested for Rachel to find out where the lab is and take the bodies to the lab.

 

[rachaell]

Hello, sorry I havent been around all day. To complicate things the internet and most of the power had been shut off in my area of long beach today.

I am afraid to disappoint you but apparently I cant do anything right:

Once TJs called, I took the torties out back and made them a sweet little grave. I wasnt thinking "LAWSUIT and anger".. just hurt and wanting to bury my babies. A few hours later I was at work and looking at your responses( via iphone) and votes to get the necropsy done. I called Dr. Greek and told him I couldnt be home until 5pm but I wanted to bring them in. (I switched to Dr. Greek after you guys mentioned the other vet being bad) He said that he would be out of the office by then since I work in Downtown LA, live in Long Beach, and his office is over an hour away. It would be a solid 36 hours before being able to get them to his office. He told me that after just 24 hours of being refrigerated the necropsy could give skewed results and since they spent time in the ground, about 8 hours, plus the time he could get me in that he felt like "I would not get what I was looking for and would end up wasting a lot of money".
I spoke to him for a long while. He also agreed that the ammonia(or any) poisoning is viable considering the symptoms and would affect the little ones quickly.

Ive been thinking about it a lot, obviously, and theres no doubt in my mind TJs has taken every measure on their end( tests or no tests) and said to me exactly what they needed to in order to escape any liability. They were the ones who offered up the ammonia diagnosis, it could have been more, but they did tell me some poison was on the cucs. which was enough for me to believe that was what hurt the torts. I dont want you to think Im blowing it off and not fighting for my babies but this whole thing has me emotionally drained especially since Im just getting over the shingles from the last week or so. Im very angry and I will not be shopping there again, but I believe this was some sort of freak accident. Its horrible and so horribly heart breaking.

Ill be stepping back from the forum for awhile.
Thank you all.

Please note what I used to save my remaining torts, incase any of yours ingest something toxic. Before you go to the vet that is.

 

[ChiKat]

Good advice sisters

I hope you're doing okay Rachael *hugs*

 

[oscar]

ammonia is used as a refrigerant, wonder if TJ uses it in there coolers, of course it would only pose a problem if there was a leak.

 

[Baoh]

I am wishing you and your surviving tortoises the best. Please take care, whatever you do.

 

[John]

ammonia is used as a refrigerant, wonder if TJ uses it in there coolers, of course it would only pose a problem if there was a leak.

ammonia has been pretty much phased out in refrigeration,not likely to be found in a grocery store.

 

[Isa]

Racheal, we totally understand why the first thing you thought about was burying your babies... Take care of you xxx

 

[Angi]

I am not in to law suits and understand how emotionaly taxing this has been for you. My family is going through a loss right now, my nieces husband. And a human is a bit different ,but they were still your babies. Any way I am so sorry for you. R.I.P. little torts<3

 

[kimmer]

This is such a sad and unfortunate story. My tortie has lots of wild weeds to eat but they don't last through the entire summer. I am going to get the tortoise mix seeds from Carolina Pet Supply. Growing my own seems the safest and healthiest bet.

I feel so bad for Rachael. Hope her remaining torts are healthy and give her comfort. R.I.P. little torts <3

 

[Speedy Gonzales]

I just cant think of anything else it could be. The hatchlings were fed indoors ( both dead) the CDTs were fed outdoors n their sun box (one dead), the russians were fed outside in their perma house.

I fed the TTs, cut with a different knife.

Boyfriend fed the others cut with a new knife a few hours later.

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I just dumped out every piece of dirt from their enclosures.

Im doing everything I can to just not thinking about what is going on.

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Hi,

Im sorry to hear of your loss, however are these all Hatchling Tortoises or were the 7 all well established older Tortoises? I'm asking this cas I feed Cumcumber almost every week. Why is it bad for them?
Oh and why haves your account been banned?

 

[John]

I just cant think of anything else it could be. The hatchlings were fed indoors ( both dead) the CDTs were fed outdoors n their sun box (one dead), the russians were fed outside in their perma house.

I fed the TTs, cut with a different knife.

Boyfriend fed the others cut with a new knife a few hours later.

---

I just dumped out every piece of dirt from their enclosures.

Im doing everything I can to just not thinking about what is going on.

---

Hi,

Im sorry to hear of your loss, however are these all Hatchling Tortoises or were the 7 all well established older Tortoises? I'm asking this cas I feed Cumcumber almost every week. Why is it bad for them?
Oh and why haves your account been banned?

---

This is an old post, I believe they were all less than a year old, and the thought was that something was in the cucs that caused this but we will never know for sure, Iwill say that one batch got recalled shortly after this in like 9 states for salmonella, California was not on the list though.