One new turtle arrived today. Number 119, a green sea turtle, arrived with an internal temperature of about 44 degrees (F). This animal was responsive but very slow and in poor health, as you might imagine.
#119 during the first supervised swim in the kiddie pool.
The animal didn't swim, but being in the water facilitated good breathing.
The two arrivals from yesterday are more active today but still in guarded condition.
As promised, I'll provide a brief update on #57 (nebulizer turtle) and #85 (surf board turtle).
Yesterday I mentioned that #57 has severe pneumonia and that we began nebulizer treatments. These treatments are much like an inhaler for human patients. Medications are vaporized and breathed directly into the lungs. In order to achieve this in a sea turtle, we place the turtle in a box and administer the vaporized medication into the box.
# 85 was a more active today and only needed the surf board once for a short time. I am still not allowing him to stay in the pool overnight as he tires easily and still does not have a normal swim pattern. I offered him food today but he had no interest. He still is not lifting his head properly to breath and remains on the critical list.
Since I've focused on some of the critical cases over the past few days, I thought I'd tell you some success stories as well. We have many turtles that have started to eat on their own. Green sea turtles tend to be great foragers once they recover from hypothermia. In the photo below are three green turtles that are improving daily and eating very well.
- Connie
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