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hello.....i have owned 3 res for 6 years.....theyve been in the same tank since they were born, and i have never had any problems with any of them......to the chase: last night i came home and found that one of them had gotten wedged upside down under a tight space and had drowned (they have never hibernated before, so i immediately ruled that out--if im wrong, please let me know).....after holding the little guy speechless for about 10 minutes, i put him in a tupperware container with some tank water, and put him in a cooler filled with ice......

this probably sounds really bad, but im wondering if i am supposed to take him to a vet to have him looked at--if the vet can even tell me anything......and if he is dead, am i supposed to keep his carapace??? and if so, how do i get him out of it????.....i hope none of this is gross, or upsetting anyone....i had planned on passing these guys down to my grandchildren in 50 years, so i just never thought about what would happen......

i would appreciate any advice anyone could give in this matter.....thank-fred-

I'm so sorry for your loss. It's never easy to lose a pet, they become just like children to us.

I am assuming that you have fixed the area of your tank so that you don't have a repeat.

As for preserving the memory of your turtle, how you do that is up to you. If you want to save the shell, there are ways to do that. I remember a post several months (maybe over a year) ago that gave directions for shell preservation. With a little digging you could probably find it.

As for taking the turt to the vet. You could if you wanted, but an autopsy probably isn't going to tell you anything than you already know, that the turt drowned. I don't have any idea what that costs, but I imagine that it wouldn't be cheap.

It's your choice...wish you well with the other two.

I'm so sorry for your loss. The little ones are always so delicate.

In the past when I had a turtle who died, I buried it in the backyard (flower garden).

Fred-ett -- I would not dwell on this! Bury it or put it in the garbage and get over it. I would concentrate on where your turtle got trapped and remedy the problem. They can get into the most amazing places. They squirm, dig, hide and wiggle.

It's no one's place to tell him to get over it. That's just insensitive.

I found an article a while back while browsing the web. I plan on preserving the shells as well if I am to outlive my pets. The basic idea was to put it outside, surrounded by cinderblocks or some other type of barrier that will keep anything larger than bugs from getting in. It'll take time and it will depend on the weather but just let the bugs do the work. As far as what you can do after it's cleaned out to actually preserve it, I'm not sure.

The other option is to boil the entire carcass until the tissue separates from the bones and the shell.

I'm sorry for your loss.

Since this post is a duplicate, I'll lock this thread.

Here is the link to the still active thread on turtle preservation:
http://www.redearslider.com/forum/viewt ... highlight=

woops...didn't catch that