Re: MW – Need your expertise
Chun- I’ve never resuscitated a drowned terrapin, but I resuscitated a drowned spotted turtle, african sideneck and a mud turtle. (No, not at the same time 🙂 None of them showed any signs of life when I pulled them out, although their eyes were still very clear. I found all three upside down at the bottom of their tanks. I turned them face down and began doing compressions by pushing their hind legs into their shell and then pulling them back out. While doing this, water would be pushed out of their mouths. Two of the turtles gasped for air soon afterwards. It took them a few days to recover (In shallow water). Both made a full recovery. The sideneck didn’t respond so quickly, so I took the end of an air pump hose and place it over his nose. (You could also use your mouth (Yuke!) but I figure there’s a large chance of blowing too much air into their little lungs.) I kept it there until I saw his lungs expand a little, then I did leg compressions. I alternated for about 1/2 hour without any signs of life. I was taking him to the trash when I decided to just leave him in a dry bucket till after lunch. (His eyes were very clear and he just didn’t look dead.) I figured I’d wait a few hours until his eyes glazed over just to be sure. Low and behold, I came home from lunch, and he moved slightly. It took him a good month before he started getting active again. I’ve heard of other turtle keepers having the same type of experiences. Most all of them have used the back leg compresions method. Like I said, each time with my turtles, their eyes were still clear and full of life. All three turtles we’re half-grown or adults and none of their tanks had heaters. Two of them I noticed in the morning, so they could have been under for 8-10 hours. I would guess that the colder the tank, the longer they could stay under water and still be brought back. Unfortunately, most of us have heaters on our diamondback tanks, so I doubt they could be brought back after more than an hour or two. But you never know! Vincent