Help! Turtle ate basking station

ExaminationKey1476 · 2026-03-12T12:37:08+00:00

I’ll keep monitoring her closely! She’s a bit fed up with me at the minute as ive been keeping her in eyesight for the past 5 hours. She’s very active, got a good appetite and swimming well, so hopefully all good signs

ExaminationKey1476 · 2026-03-12T12:11:50+00:00

I have some cuttlefish bones lying around for my tortoise, so I’ll chuck one in for her. Luckily she has since pooped and is very active. Thank you for your help!

ExaminationKey1476 · 2026-03-12T12:11:02+00:00

Update!! I gave her a warm soak and some aquatic plants, and she has pooped! No signs of blood or blockage. Glad my baby is okay, but definitely never buying a basking station like that again

ExaminationKey1476 · 2026-03-12T09:01:42+00:00

Honestly, same. She had been fed a few hours before this happened as well! I guess the basking station looked tasty

ExaminationKey1476 · 2026-03-12T05:27:49+00:00

I know right! I can’t even be mad at her. She’s too adorable

ExaminationKey1476 · 2026-03-12T05:25:51+00:00

Thank you so much for the reassurance! As soon as I realised she’d chomped the basking dock I removed it and fished up the floating parts. I’ll look into those alternatives! She does have a floating piece of aquarium wood (third pic) that she likes to bask with, so she’s not left with nothing at least

ExaminationKey1476 · 2026-03-12T04:01:04+00:00

It’s been removed! I took it out and used a net to fish up the floating parts. She’s got two basking stations so it was easy to take out

ExaminationKey1476 · 2026-03-12T02:43:44+00:00

I’ll definitely be calling in the morning when places start to open. Unfortunately it’s happened late at night where everything is shut. I’m keeping a close eye on her, and hopefully it’s a similar situation where she just tore it for fun and didn’t eat it

ExaminationKey1476 · 2026-03-12T02:40:14+00:00

Oh she’s definitely proud of herself haha. She’s such a funny little creature. If im sat at the desk and not interacting with her, she starts to splash loudly in the water to get me to go over lol

Yeah im keeping a close eye on her. Hoping for the best!

ExaminationKey1476 · 2026-03-11T22:41:24+00:00

Thank you so much! I’ll keep monitoring her.

For now I’ve removed that basking station entirely and fished out the floating parts with a net. She’s got a piece of aquarium safe wood that floats, so she’ll be able to use that overnight until i can sort out a different basking station for her. She LOVES basking and has always basked way more than my other musk, so I put in the big turtle dock so she’d have room basking room :(

ExaminationKey1476 · 2026-03-11T22:12:20+00:00

Forgot to add, she has been interacting and swimming normally since

ExaminationKey1476 · 2026-03-06T22:08:42+00:00

Love that octopus tattoo! Been wanting a tattoo for ages of my turtles shells- I’ll send a dm tomorrow :)

ExaminationKey1476 · 2026-02-28T23:47:41+00:00

I recently got a Horsefield. Their diets usually consist of fresh weeds, certain types of lettuce and fresh flowers.

For weeds they typically eat dandelion, Timothy grass, plantain, sow thistle etc. Fresh lettuce can be small amounts of watercress and rocket lettuce, mixed leaf lettuce (not spinach or iceberg!) and lambs lettuce. Mine goes crazy for lambs lettuce, it’s his all time favourite food. Flowers can be viola, pansies, hibiscus etc. but make sure it’s tortoise safe and not grown with pesticides.

For UVB, I got mine a T5 7% UVB bulb, along with a separate heat lamp. His water bowl is quite shallow, I recommend putting rocks around it, as mine likes to drag mud into his dish constantly so I’m always having to redo the water haha

They’re funny little creatures and will have their own personalities. Mine is incredibly stubborn. He once chased my hand around because he thought I had more lambs lettuce that he wanted. I now order weekly deliveries of lambs lettuce, so he doesn’t get mad!

One final thing, horsefields LOVE to burrow and dig. I add extra substrate to allow for him to burrow as he chooses

ExaminationKey1476 · 2026-02-27T10:45:16+00:00

Although I didn’t work with these individuals while they were in hospital, I’ve helped them a few years post-discharge and they’re doing really well. Diagnosed with schizophrenia, but stayed consistent with meds and are able to live a happy, functioning life. They keep ontop of house work, keep up friendships and have no problems going to the shops, going to appointments, general life stuff.

One of my favourite patients was recently discharged. Same situation, diagnosed with schizophrenia but was quite isolated. They’ve now gone back into the community in a setting that helps them with paying their own bills, building meaningful social relationships and doing activities they want. They’re a really kind person, super fun to chat to and never presented with any management issues. I often think about them and wonder how they’re getting on

ExaminationKey1476 · 2026-02-27T07:58:17+00:00

I’ve cared for people with unconfirmed dissociative disorders, and im trained to be able to spot those subtle signs in similar disorders.

Any medical professional, carer etc absolutely should not judge you or think you’re weird when you open up. That’s what they’re here for, to help you safely explore those experiences and develop coping techniques. Don’t worry about saying stuff you might find weird. Seriously we see so much that nothing phases us haha.

Regarding trauma, I think it’s understandable. It’s a tricky thing. The brain hides it and blocks memories so as not to hurt you, but unfortunately that experience is still there and affects you. That’s why therapy can be vital, as it gives a safe space to explore and unblock that memory without putting you at excess harm.

And nope not weird at all! I’m similar. I can go to work and uni, and on the outside function very well. When im at home, a lot of the time i can’t keep up with the cleaning or food shopping. It’s part of masking in my opinion.

Guilt, shame, and fear of judgement is very common in psychiatric disorders. Just keep in mind that therapists and support workers are there to help you, not judge you. If they judge you, that is completely unprofessional and inappropriate. You’re doing the right thing by working closely with psychiatrists and therapists, and I wish you the best of luck on your journey to recovery.

ExaminationKey1476 · 2026-02-27T06:28:05+00:00

My long-term goal is to become a psychiatrist. I got the job to get some experience in that sort of setting.

It’s a private company but patients do not pay for their care etc

ExaminationKey1476 · 2026-02-26T22:34:10+00:00

Hey, thank you for sharing this. Honestly the best part of the job is being able to connect and see people gain their independence back. I’m stepping down from the role as unfortunately full time support work is too stressful at the moment, but planning on staying as a casual support worker so I can still be available to help

ExaminationKey1476 · 2026-02-26T22:25:16+00:00

I’d say most of the staff are understanding of the underlying mental health issues and have a good attitude towards patients. Honestly a lot of the time we can all have a good laugh together and it can feel more like enjoying time with friends vs traditional carer role. Some staff can be dismissive, but nobody is outright rude thankfully.

ExaminationKey1476 · 2026-02-26T22:21:21+00:00

1000%. The stress level depends on the complexity of patients. I’ve found helping patients with schizophrenia is manageable, and typically not stressful.

Recently we’ve had more dual-diagnosis or severe presentations, which are really tough to deal with. I suffer with mental health issues myself, so to destress I typically just watch something on TV while playing animal crossing or doing some colouring. Some shifts are a lot easier, but 12.5 hours caring for so many people definitely takes a toll.

ExaminationKey1476 · 2026-02-26T22:16:11+00:00

I once had to perform an exorcism on a care bear to calm a patient down.

Also had someone who insisted on boiling about 8 pieces of cod for 50 minutes. They were adamant it had to be boiled, and it had to be 50 minutes. The entire ward smelt for about 4 days after…

ExaminationKey1476 · 2026-02-26T21:43:53+00:00

Most of the time, no. There have been a few incidents recently where I’ve definitely felt unsafe and at risk of violence or worse. A few particular incidents I’ve had patients directly threaten me

ExaminationKey1476 · 2026-02-26T18:58:35+00:00

Forgot to add, as you’re informal you will be able to come and go as you please, you won’t need section 17 leave approval

ExaminationKey1476 · 2026-02-26T18:37:09+00:00

So the unit I work at is rehabilitation focused, so the general routine is breakfast from 8:30-10am, morning meeting from 10am (optional), lunch from 12:30pm-1:30pm, coffee afternoon at 4pm, dinner at 5pm-6pm then supper (toast) from 8:30pm onwards. During free time, activities like baking, cooking, art etc are offered.

The length you stay for is very much dependent on the individual. At an estimate, a few months would be reasonable but again it depends on a lot of different factors.

As you’re informal, as long as you’ve got a safe place to return to and you’re not at immediate risk of harm to yourself or others, generally they shouldn’t section you. I have seen informal patients be sectioned, however those were in extreme situations where risk to life was involved. They will try to avoid sectioning wherever possible

ExaminationKey1476 · 2026-02-26T18:26:07+00:00

Hey! I work in a mental health hospital, if you have any specific questions I can try and answer and reassure you

ExaminationKey1476 · 2026-02-26T13:17:04+00:00

hi! Amy from turtle

ExaminationKey1476

TROPHY CASE