My RES almost drown, looking for advice!

Katelyn McComb

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I am a Michigander with a RES. I’ve had her for over a year now and we have been doing well. Last night, I came home from work and she had gotten her head stuck in a decoration I had in the tank (I have since thrown it away to eliminate any risks). I’m not sure how long she was there but she wasn’t doing well when I finally rescued her. I put her in her dry tank and called the vet and I was advised to leave her there over night without her heat lamp to regain some energy. I have placed her back in the tank with clean water and she has eaten today but she is not as active as usual, however she has swam around a bit and she doesn’t seem lopsided as she swims. I haven’t noticed bubbles by her nose, and she doesn’t seem to be struggling to breathe. I’m wondering if she is just recouping from the stressful event, or if I should be concerned about other issues. I have raised the temp in her tank to help her be less lethargic and fight off any possible infections. Has anyone ever dealt with anything like this? If so, how did you navigate through it, and is there anything I should be doing other than just waiting?
 

crimson_lotus

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this reminds me of @Moozillion and her turtle Jacques. He had brain damage after drowning so keep watching their activity and behavior.

Hopefully your turtle wasn't stuck long and this case is different!
 

Pastel Tortie

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this reminds me of @Moozillion and her turtle Jacques. He had brain damage after drowning so keep watching their activity and behavior.

Hopefully your turtle wasn't stuck long and this case is different!
I was thinking the same thing... but I was thinking primarily along the lines of a respiratory infection.
 

crimson_lotus

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I dont think my turtle drowned, but he had a respiratory infection by aspirating dirty water...it was very apparent as he was swimming lopsided though. We confirmed with an x-ray
 

Moozillion

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I am a Michigander with a RES. I’ve had her for over a year now and we have been doing well. Last night, I came home from work and she had gotten her head stuck in a decoration I had in the tank (I have since thrown it away to eliminate any risks). I’m not sure how long she was there but she wasn’t doing well when I finally rescued her. I put her in her dry tank and called the vet and I was advised to leave her there over night without her heat lamp to regain some energy. I have placed her back in the tank with clean water and she has eaten today but she is not as active as usual, however she has swam around a bit and she doesn’t seem lopsided as she swims. I haven’t noticed bubbles by her nose, and she doesn’t seem to be struggling to breathe. I’m wondering if she is just recouping from the stressful event, or if I should be concerned about other issues. I have raised the temp in her tank to help her be less lethargic and fight off any possible infections. Has anyone ever dealt with anything like this? If so, how did you navigate through it, and is there anything I should be doing other than just waiting?
Hi, Katelyn.
I'm so sorry you and your turtle had such a frightening mishap.

Yes, as others have pointed out, I had a mud turtle who drowned (appeared to have gotten tangled in tough plant stems underneath her basking platform) but was revived. I'll briefly share some of the pertinent points.
I found my turtle unresponsive and limp, tangled under her basking platform when I got up one morning. I have no idea how long she was trapped or in that condition.
I held her head-down and firmly but gently shook her in an up-and-down motion (kind of like getting ketchup out of a ketchup bottle) which helped water dribble out of her nose.
When no more water was dripping out, I pushed her legs in and out of her body, to pump her lungs back into moving.
After a few minute of pumping, I gently touched her eyeball and she tried to blink, so I set her down in a dry area with a lamp on her. Once she started moving, I set her in the water- making sure she could move around well. She climbed onto her basking platform and stayed there for almost 2 DAYS.
Unfortunately, she went on to develop pneumonia. The symptoms she had were not eating, hiding a lot and floating lop-sided (it was like her right shoulder was heavier than her left shoulder).
I'll stop here and ask a few questions about your turtle.

When you say she "wan't doing well" when you got to her, what exactly do you mean? Was she unresponsive and limp or responsive but weak?

Just so you know, it took at least 2-3 WEEKS for my turtle's pneumonia to develop. So you'll want to keep an eye on her, but don't drive yourself nuts (I know, that last bit is hard to do! :<3: )
 

Katelyn McComb

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Hi, Katelyn.
I'm so sorry you and your turtle had such a frightening mishap.

Yes, as others have pointed out, I had a mud turtle who drowned (appeared to have gotten tangled in tough plant stems underneath her basking platform) but was revived. I'll briefly share some of the pertinent points.
I found my turtle unresponsive and limp, tangled under her basking platform when I got up one morning. I have no idea how long she was trapped or in that condition.
I held her head-down and firmly but gently shook her in an up-and-down motion (kind of like getting ketchup out of a ketchup bottle) which helped water dribble out of her nose.
When no more water was dripping out, I pushed her legs in and out of her body, to pump her lungs back into moving.
After a few minute of pumping, I gently touched her eyeball and she tried to blink, so I set her down in a dry area with a lamp on her. Once she started moving, I set her in the water- making sure she could move around well. She climbed onto her basking platform and stayed there for almost 2 DAYS.
Unfortunately, she went on to develop pneumonia. The symptoms she had were not eating, hiding a lot and floating lop-sided (it was like her right shoulder was heavier than her left shoulder).
I'll stop here and ask a few questions about your turtle.

When you say she "wan't doing well" when you got to her, what exactly do you mean? Was she unresponsive and limp or responsive but weak?

Just so you know, it took at least 2-3 WEEKS for my turtle's pneumonia to develop. So you'll want to keep an eye on her, but don't drive yourself nuts (I know, that last bit is hard to do! :<3: )
I was thinking the same thing... but I was thinking primarily along the lines of a respiratory infection.

Thank you so much for your reply and I am sorry that you had to experience that. I just returned from a trip to the vet and they confirmed that Nerdle does not have brain damage because her limbs are all functioning and responding to touch, and her eyes are looking normal. I will be updating them as time goes on to make sure she doesn’t develop any RI symptoms.

To answer your question, she was weak but she would move her legs if I touched them. Within an hour she began to move a little more, but she was pretty lethargic as can be expected, and by the end of the night she was lifting her head and moving around in her dry tank. The vet has instructed me to only allow her in the water when I’m around to watch her for the next few days so she doesn’t lose strength and can’t get back up out of the water.
 

SJTort

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I am a Michigander with a RES. I’ve had her for over a year now and we have been doing well. Last night, I came home from work and she had gotten her head stuck in a decoration I had in the tank (I have since thrown it away to eliminate any risks). I’m not sure how long she was there but she wasn’t doing well when I finally rescued her. I put her in her dry tank and called the vet and I was advised to leave her there over night without her heat lamp to regain some energy. I have placed her back in the tank with clean water and she has eaten today but she is not as active as usual, however she has swam around a bit and she doesn’t seem lopsided as she swims. I haven’t noticed bubbles by her nose, and she doesn’t seem to be struggling to breathe. I’m wondering if she is just recouping from the stressful event, or if I should be concerned about other issues. I have raised the temp in her tank to help her be less lethargic and fight off any possible infections. Has anyone ever dealt with anything like this? If so, how did you navigate through it, and is there anything I should be doing other than just waiting?
My only similar experience was with a land tortoise. He got water in his lungs when his bathtub was too deep. After I got him out, I could hear him wheezing and could see him stretching his neck really far as he was trying to get more oxygen. I immediately drove him to the emergency vet. He was on oxygen therapy for the next 4 days as supportive care (he was breathing on his own but the extra oxygen made his lungs not have to work so hard. They gave him diuretics to dry up his lungs, antibiotic injections for two weeks to prevent pneumonia and took a chest X-ray.

My situation is different in that my tort isn’t meant to swim and that it was obvious that he was struggling. I definitely did everything the vet recommended in hopes of giving him the best possible chance, but that’s not necessarily appropriate in all situations. If it were me, I’d probably take your RES in for a chest X-ray to be sure he doesn’t have water in his lungs or any hidden injuries. I’m ultra careful like that though. It gave me a bit of peace of mind to know that I had done everything possible. He’s completely recovered now and has a much more shallow bathtub!
 

Moozillion

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Thank you so much for your reply and I am sorry that you had to experience that. I just returned from a trip to the vet and they confirmed that Nerdle does not have brain damage because her limbs are all functioning and responding to touch, and her eyes are looking normal. I will be updating them as time goes on to make sure she doesn’t develop any RI symptoms.

To answer your question, she was weak but she would move her legs if I touched them. Within an hour she began to move a little more, but she was pretty lethargic as can be expected, and by the end of the night she was lifting her head and moving around in her dry tank. The vet has instructed me to only allow her in the water when I’m around to watch her for the next few days so she doesn’t lose strength and can’t get back up out of the water.

Great! It sounds like your turtle is improving already! :)
 

Moozillion

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My only similar experience was with a land tortoise. He got water in his lungs when his bathtub was too deep. After I got him out, I could hear him wheezing and could see him stretching his neck really far as he was trying to get more oxygen. I immediately drove him to the emergency vet. He was on oxygen therapy for the next 4 days as supportive care (he was breathing on his own but the extra oxygen made his lungs not have to work so hard. They gave him diuretics to dry up his lungs, antibiotic injections for two weeks to prevent pneumonia and took a chest X-ray.

My situation is different in that my tort isn’t meant to swim and that it was obvious that he was struggling. I definitely did everything the vet recommended in hopes of giving him the best possible chance, but that’s not necessarily appropriate in all situations. If it were me, I’d probably take your RES in for a chest X-ray to be sure he doesn’t have water in his lungs or any hidden injuries. I’m ultra careful like that though. It gave me a bit of peace of mind to know that I had done everything possible. He’s completely recovered now and has a much more shallow bathtub!
WOW!!!! That sounds scary! We sure learn a lot, parenting these unique animals! ;)
 

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