06/22/2023 Turtle was found floating 100 yards off shore of the Sanibel Lighthouse in Lee County. Animal was transferred by Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation to Mote for medical assesment and rehabilitation. She seems to be exhibiting very mild signs of red tide toxicity, but red tide levels reported in the Gulf of Mexico are relatively low. She had blood work done and was given subcutaneous fluids with calcium. She passed her swim test and is in a rehab. tank in very shallow water.
06/23/2023 Artemis eventually ate a shrimp and squid today! She will receive subcutaneous fluids daily for a couple days to help flush out any toxins.
06/24/2023 Artemis is very active. Her tank depth was raised a couple inches. She ate again today.
06/27/2023 Artemis stopped eating for a couple days, but today she was very interested in eating blue crab.
07/01/2023 Artemis is eating much better now. The water level in her tank is still low due to buoyancy issues.
07/07/2023 Artemis is still in a tank in shallow water due to buoyancy issues. She is eating most of her full diet on a daily basis, but will only eat crab and shrimp from feeding tongs.
07/15/2023 Artemis is still in shallow water due to buoyancy issues. An ultrasound showed thickening of her intestines and normal intestinal mobility. She was started on an anti-parasitic and steroids due to the inflammation in her intestines. She is not the best eater at the moment and will only eat shrimp from the feeding tongs.
07/22/2023 Artemis continues to be a picky eater. She will eat shrimp and clam, but only when she’s interested. She is no longer on steroids, but is now on an oral antibiotic due to an elevated white blood cell count.
08/10/2023 Artemis will still only eat shrimp and clam and will only eat if food is placed in front of her with feeding tongs. Radiographs and ultrasound show excess gas still present in her GI tract.
09/02/2023 Artemis is still ins hallow water due to continued buoyancy issues. She has started eating better and will often forage for food nearby. Her blood work has improved, so she is no longer on antibiotics.
09/12/2023 Artemis was transported to Veterinary Surgical Center of Sarasota for a CT scan. The CT scan shows a large amount of air trapped in her body cavity causing compression of her lungs likely causing the buoyancy issues. The source/cause of the air is unknown. Vet staff tapped the body cavitity and removed some of the air.
09/23/2023 Artemis continues to eat better than in the past. After initially tapping air, it appeared that she was able to rest a bit lower in the water. She is now back to floating. Will give her some more time to see how buoyancy issues are prior to tapping for more air.
10/08/2023 Veterinarians tapped the body cavitity again and removed more air.
10/27/2023 Artemis’ water level is being slowly raised every couple days. She is now able to rest flat on the bottom of the tank consistently!
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11/09/2023 Artemis and Local were released at Lido Beach today!
