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He looked dead when I brought him home then he really looked dead this morning. Oh MAN he scared me!!
The vet did say though that he may take a day or even two to fully recover from the anesthesia. This morning he looked so dead but I got some water in his face, got his food into him, now he's perked up somewhat since I did that.
Apparently he'll be groggy all day today but he is snapping out of it. I hope now that he'll want to eat on his own sooner rather than later. She said it could take a week, it could take 2 months but we won't remove the tube until he does eat on his own.
Good thing we did this now, she said he's beginning to look a little jaundiced but that the forced nutrition will clear that up right away whether he eats on his own or not.
I think now that we really are way ahead on the road to recovery.
Whew!
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PHRatz

>>He looked dead when I brought him home then he really looked dead this morning. Oh MAN he scared me!!
>>The vet did say though that he may take a day or even two to fully recover from the anesthesia.

Lemme guess.. sounds like she used ketamine on him. I don't like it compared to others...turtles have a harder time dealing with it. I remember when the snapper was given it (the one with smashed jaw, skull and shell) -- took almost 48 hours for him to come around and I had to apply ointment to his eyes and spray him down every hour or so the entire time because his eyes remained open. talk about lack of sleep for both human and turtle...and talk about a turtle that purely looked dead the entire time lol.
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PHWyvern

LOL sounds like our last couple of days, spraying his face making sure his eyes stay moist.
She didn't use ketamine though it was telazol & that's what she used on him for the shell repair in the first place. He didn't look dead after the first time she used it, just the second time. Maybe that's because he's had so much in his system lately.

Last night after dark I checked on him & I could tell he was asleep not unconscious because his eyes were closed.
This morning he's fully awake and moving around. I am very relieved because he looks 100% better than he did 2 days ago.
When the food started hitting his stomach this morning he stopped trying to walk away from me, I guess he liked feeling full?
I hope he eats soon this feeding tube has been a hassle to get used to! I'm finding that a 3cc syringe doesn't work as well as a 1cc, the food backs up with a 3cc. pfffffft
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PHRatz

I saw my vet yesterday at a big Bar-B-Q lol and found out I was mistaken. This is something you're going to find odd..
Turns out the first time she anesthetized him she used ketamine & he woke right up from that. The 2nd time it was telazol & she was very surprised to hear that he was out of it all day long Friday. She thought too it should have been the opposite.
Whatever the case at least he came out of it by Friday night, otherwise I'd be very worried.
I need to get DH to take a picture today I'll see about that so you can all see how he looks with the feeding tube in. He looks pathetic but cute.
He doesn't seem to be unhappy with it and he's made a messy poo since last night. I had to change out his towels because of that. We're moving right along to recovery, YAY!
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PHRatz

I'm just curious..how will you know he can eat on his own if he has a feeding tube still down his throat?
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0.1.0 ornate box turtle
1.0.0 eastern box turtle
0.1.0 Australian shepard
2.2.0 chickens
3.2.0 children (do I still count the married ones?)
1.0.0 husband

>>I'm just curious..how will you know he can eat on his own if he has a feeding tube still down his throat?

the feeding tube was surgically inserted through the side of the neck... it does not block the mouth or inside of throat. He can easily eat on his own if he wants to and has food available.
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PHWyvern

Exactly, it will not interfere with him eating on his own. As soon as I can get him to do that, the feeding tube will be removed.
And I hope that is sooner rather than later....
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PHRatz

Interesting! I didn't realize that! Thanks for the info.
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0.1.0 ornate box turtle
1.0.0 eastern box turtle
0.1.0 Australian shepard
2.2.0 chickens
3.2.0 children (do I still count the married ones?)
1.0.0 husband