Hi Folks
New here and not sure the topic has been covered.
I had a traumatic time at the weekend when two of my tortoises found themselves in my fish pond. (Hermans and a Spurthigh both 40+)
Someone had left the gate between the gardens open and they had wandered in and I can only assume chased each other into the pond.
Anyway, they were in there for several hours and when found I thought they were both dead. lifeless, floppy and a horrible colour.
Tortoises have a different way of breathing than most creatures and I think this may have saved them. i took them out of the pond and opened their mouths and tipped them upside down to drain out as much water as possible. Then gave them mouth to nose resussitation (just a gentle breath every 5 seconds ). While upside down i tapped quite firmly on their undershells to try and dislodge as much water as possible. Gently pressed in their back legs to compress the insides again to expel water if possible.
By some miracle they both began to show signs of life and this continued to improve over night (kept them warm infront of the fire) and by the next day (Sunday) they had eaten something and were mobile again. iam now hoping there will be no long term effects.
Apparently this is not uncommon and tortoises that have been trapped by floodwater have been known to survive in much the same way.
Just thought you all might be interested to know you must not give up hope if your shell mate does decide to take a dip.
MaBlo
New here and not sure the topic has been covered.
I had a traumatic time at the weekend when two of my tortoises found themselves in my fish pond. (Hermans and a Spurthigh both 40+)
Someone had left the gate between the gardens open and they had wandered in and I can only assume chased each other into the pond.
Anyway, they were in there for several hours and when found I thought they were both dead. lifeless, floppy and a horrible colour.
Tortoises have a different way of breathing than most creatures and I think this may have saved them. i took them out of the pond and opened their mouths and tipped them upside down to drain out as much water as possible. Then gave them mouth to nose resussitation (just a gentle breath every 5 seconds ). While upside down i tapped quite firmly on their undershells to try and dislodge as much water as possible. Gently pressed in their back legs to compress the insides again to expel water if possible.
By some miracle they both began to show signs of life and this continued to improve over night (kept them warm infront of the fire) and by the next day (Sunday) they had eaten something and were mobile again. iam now hoping there will be no long term effects.
Apparently this is not uncommon and tortoises that have been trapped by floodwater have been known to survive in much the same way.
Just thought you all might be interested to know you must not give up hope if your shell mate does decide to take a dip.
MaBlo