thank goodness all is well!!!
Very interesting. Thanks for sharing this!Mooz:
The roots of the pothos or any plant's roots should not be a drowning problem for a turtle. I use plants extensively in tanks and ponds for both biological action and hides for the turtles. A CHANGE in water level can be a problem if a favorite resting spot is suddenly turned into a spot where the turtle can no longer reach the surface, as they are used to resting there and just stretching their neck to get air.
By far, the most common times I see turtle drowning is with a mud, spotted or blandings. Those species are very aquatic, but poor swimmers. When their body temps cool and they slow down, they can often have trouble swimming to the surface without being able to climb. So they develop favorite paths they use to climb to the surface. When being handled, and then placed back in the water, if they are not allowed to equalize their buoyancy, they will often dive to the bottom in flight mode and be negative buoyant to the point of not being able to swim to the surface. Whenever I handle one of those and place them back in the water, I always place them where they are floating on a plant or on a rock in shallow water where they have their head above water when I remove my hand. I want them to breathe in enough and equalize their buoyancy. I have had to teach my oldest grandson this as he frequently loves to go hunt my spotted turtles and study them!!
Mooz:
The roots of the pothos or any plant's roots should not be a drowning problem for a turtle. I use plants extensively in tanks and ponds for both biological action and hides for the turtles. A CHANGE in water level can be a problem if a favorite resting spot is suddenly turned into a spot where the turtle can no longer reach the surface, as they are used to resting there and just stretching their neck to get air.
By far, the most common times I see turtle drowning is with a mud, spotted or blandings. Those species are very aquatic, but poor swimmers. When their body temps cool and they slow down, they can often have trouble swimming to the surface without being able to climb. So they develop favorite paths they use to climb to the surface. When being handled, and then placed back in the water, if they are not allowed to equalize their buoyancy, they will often dive to the bottom in flight mode and be negative buoyant to the point of not being able to swim to the surface. Whenever I handle one of those and place them back in the water, I always place them where they are floating on a plant or on a rock in shallow water where they have their head above water when I remove my hand. I want them to breathe in enough and equalize their buoyancy. I have had to teach my oldest grandson this as he frequently loves to go hunt my spotted turtles and study them!!
Thank you!Glad she seems to have bounced back, my heart sank while reading this, Jacques is literally the only water turtle on the forum that I know by name thanks to your cute photos and updates.
Thank you!
I am tremendously relieved that she is ok, but still in a bit of shock and feeling guilty that it ever happened at all. But I have learned a valuable lesson, at least.
We'll all be thinking of her and sending our love.Thank you wellington and Anthony.
Yes, I've heard of animals and people appearing to recover from drowning only to go downhill in the following days.
Other than removing the pothos (which has been done) and decreasing the water level, I'm not sure what to do other than watch her. Hubby says I'm hovering over her I'm going to give her a complex!
Today she has hung out at the OPPOSITE end of the tank from where the near drowning occurred. She's wedged herself between a fake rock cave and the back of the tank with her face out of the water. She turns and looks me when I come by, so she's plenty alert. She's not hungry at all, but I'm not really surprised.
mark, how would I know if she develops pneumonia?I sure hope he's alright ...... as has been mentioned multiple times so far , some of these aquatic turtles are really poor swimmers and need sloping river bank type sides , or lots of ramp type climb out spots , all the underwater hides should have more than one way out ....... as Markw said , I've too noticed if you just drop a turtle into the water after handling it , they have a hard time getting back to the surface , I've seen this in blanding's and wood turtles , C.A. and N.A. .... along with the secondry drowning aspect which would happen reasonably soon , aspiration pneumonia is also a possibility in the near future , it'd be a bacterial pneumonia and easily cured .......... thank God you found him when you did , i'm hoping your guy is back to normal soon ....... as Carl said , I agree with the shallow water approach ......
I am not Mark but I would say:mark, how would I know if she develops pneumonia?
What are the signs?
I am not Mark but I would say:
Loss of appetite
noise while breathing
bubbles coming out of the nose
being lethargic, not want to swim, often lying under the heat lamp
When a pneumonia is only in one part of the lung ( maybe only on the left side ) they often swim wonky. When the pneumonia is in both parts of the lung you often see nothing while the turtle swims.
When a pneumonia is progressing there can be red lines or spots on the plastron.
I sure hope he's alright ...... as has been mentioned multiple times so far , some of these aquatic turtles are really poor swimmers and need sloping river bank type sides , or lots of ramp type climb out spots , all the underwater hides should have more than one way out ....... as Markw said , I've too noticed if you just drop a turtle into the water after handling it , they have a hard time getting back to the surface , I've seen this in blanding's and wood turtles , C.A. and N.A. .... along with the secondry drowning aspect which would happen reasonably soon , aspiration pneumonia is also a possibility in the near future , it'd be a bacterial pneumonia and easily cured .......... thank God you found him when you did , i'm hoping your guy is back to normal soon ....... as Carl said , I agree with the shallow water approach ......
Sorry .... for my answer...How is the pneumonia treated?
Should I treat her ANYWAY as a precaution?