Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Today is a very sad day. My female painted wood turtle was not moving, etc. when I "woke" them. (I also have a male.) Last evening when excited over a worm for dinner, she accidently bit her reptibark and swallowed a piece. I was concerned and made sure she was okay--she was gagging a bit and the settled down. I soaked her in a warm bath and got her mouth open and looked down it--saw nothing. She seemed a little out of it, but okay. I even called the vet and he said that if she breathing, then she should be okay. Well, she wasn't and I'm scared that there is something else I should have done. Particularly if this would ever happen again. I'm sure that the turtles swallow bits of bark, etc out in the wild. Anyway, any advice is greatly appreciated--these are/were juveniles, almost grown, but not quite. I've only had them a few weeks, but they were raised in someone's home so they were very easy to handle and had such sweet personalities and beautiful colorings. I don't want to lose my boy!

I am very sorry to hear about your loss. Its very sad when we lose a turtle friend.

Now i suggest you do yourself a favor and ditch the reptibark. Its crap. I have a friend who owns a pet store and have seen more bark pulled from lizards and snakes and frogs than i care to tell you. It took a long time to convince his customers to stop using it. Get soem good clean potting soil (no perlite or fertilizers) and some orchard moss or sphanum moss and make a mixture that will be slightly moist but not wet. Rhinoclemmys like to bury themselves anyway.
I wish you good luck in the future.

Large chunks of bark tend not to stay on the ground in the wild too long. They quickly get buried and covered with soil and then become part of it. I implore you to dump this crap. I cannot tell you how many turtles, lizards and snakes end up eating this and dying from clogged airways or intestinal impaction.

Thanks so much for your response. So far my boy is just fine. I'll dump the reptibark tonite and change his setup. I'm still sad about the girl and I know he's looking for her too. I just wish I had known better!

Don't beat yourself up about that. You did what you thought was the best thing for you animal. Just because these products are sold in shops doesn't always mean they are good for the animals.

I do use cyprus mulch for my tortoises it is Keeper's Choice brand. It is very fine particles almost looks like peat moss. I like this product because it has no chunks and if they do consume any of it it passes right through them. You might also consider feeding your turtle outside of his enclosure to avoid consuming any of the substrate.

Sorry for you loss and good luck with your other turtle.

Steve

Instant death is a rare ocurrence in turtles (except through massive trauma). Even with a serious intestinal perforation or obstruction, at least several days would pass before the animal was overwhelmed by bacterial spepsis. The fact that it was eating just before the death is even more puzzling.

True. I lost a box turtle though very quickly. He was mating and eating on Monday. Tuesday he was not very active but still looked okay. Wednesday he was bloated and dead. Kidney failure.