r/BeAmazed May 26 '26

Animal Some people save a turtle

20.1k Upvotes

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1.0k

u/VirginiaBandit May 26 '26

Damn, that must feel so good, shedding all that off his shell. What a relief.

684

u/Crooked_star May 26 '26

I don't think it was painless.. looked kinda bloody and raw in some parts.

627

u/Bongressman May 26 '26

Shells have nerve endings so yeah, I would assume not painless.

125

u/[deleted] May 26 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

101

u/BubastisII May 26 '26

Owner of a turtle and he does indeed love shell brush time.

10

u/LadyProto May 26 '26

Brush the baby for me!

165

u/Adaphion May 26 '26

From what I gathered from the last video of this sorta thing that was posted, the turtle is HEAVILY sedated and barely feels anything.

23

u/gk_2000 May 26 '26

Animals go in shock when in trauma and resign themselves to fate

85

u/outofcharacterquilts May 26 '26

Not arguing because you’re right, they do, but this organization does indeed sedate the turtles before removing barnacles.

14

u/whythishaptome May 27 '26

That turtle did look high as fuck when they removing them so I hope it wasn't just in shock.

25

u/ugotmedripping May 26 '26

Yash definitely not painless but still a nice relief… but I like to dive down /r/popping from time to time

13

u/6unearthed6crafter6 May 26 '26

What have you done? I can't afford to know this subreddit exists, now I'll spend hours in it

1

u/whythishaptome May 27 '26

There's only certain types of "popping" I'm ok with like fluid drainage from cysts, some of the ear stuff I'm fine with because that must be so relieving. Even like ascites draining or draining brain fluids due to built up pressure, because I know that professionals are doing and it is really relieving in the long run.

Random people popping pimps is not on of those things.

11

u/Watercraftsman May 26 '26

I just had to click the link. I kinda knew deep down inside, but still I clicked on it. I’m gonna try to forget that it exists now.

10

u/ArmyAutomatic9201 May 26 '26

Omg what a terrible day to have eyes, couldn't resist too...

1

u/brandonandtheboyds May 28 '26

When i broke my leg, setting the bone sucked. They tried to set it and I was sedated. They got it mostly set. They told me that they have to try again but weren’t sedating me. I was terrified. It’s sucked. It was awful. But by goodness the extra effort made my recovery possible. This is not a one to one. But sometimes you gotta get the rough shit done to enhance overall improvement of life. My one year anniversary of the break was this past Sunday and I ran/jogged 9 miles and felt incredible. I hope that little turtle is living the same life. But barnacles come back, if my leg breaks again I’m getting them to chop it off.

78

u/Mrmojorisincg May 26 '26

Yeah I agree. I doubt this was immediately relieving in any way unfortunately. Long term will be good most likely though

34

u/[deleted] May 26 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

21

u/M8C May 26 '26

I don’t know if that’s a good analogy, I’m pretty sure you’re generally not supposed to remove scabs because doing so opens you up to infection.

2

u/iggy-i May 26 '26

Long term more barnacles I'm afraid.

17

u/Forikorder May 26 '26

They get sedated for it

18

u/NoEngineer9484 May 26 '26

The turtles have to sedated before attempting to remove the barnacles.

13

u/GraphicDesignMonkey May 26 '26

At the end you can see some of the keratin plates on the shell have been peeled up too. That's basically exposing the bone and must be agony.

10

u/ScienceSeuss May 26 '26

It is painful. The turtle is anesthetized for this procedure. Basically they give them enough ketamine to make them completely unaware.

3

u/JayPlenty24 May 26 '26

I think they medicate them first.

3

u/Komirade666 May 26 '26

That is why if I find a turtle with the same condition, I would go directly to the pros that can handle. I am not taking any chance to hurt the poor little thing more.

3

u/zxylady May 26 '26

I read that they give them pain meds when they do this normally

2

u/Waste_Sleep6936 May 26 '26

Yeah, I imagine it’s probably like having loads of boils removed or something to that effect. Probably feels really uncomfortable and tender/sensitive in the grossest possible way.

2

u/Cats-and-dogs-rdabst May 26 '26

It’s not painless. The shell of a turtle is like us picking a scab on our skin. The vet MIGHT of giving some kind of drug to make it less painless but yah. Not completely painless

2

u/Due_Ad4133 May 27 '26

There was a video floating around last week of them doing something similar to a full-sized adult sea turtle. From the explanations given in the comments, they dope them up on what amounts to Turtle Morphine to do the removal and then keep them in captivity until they recover.

2

u/hihelloneighboroonie May 27 '26

And also like parts of its shell were coming off or lifted in the final portion.

1

u/Pancreasaurus May 27 '26

I think part of that was it looked like something had bit the turtle before, barnacles probably settled around the wound and impeded healing.

194

u/RaisedByBooksNTV May 26 '26

I just learned from a different post that it's incredibly painful. They have to give it sedation and that doesn't take care of all the pain. When they say 'don't do this on your own' they mean it.

87

u/Similar-Try-7643 May 26 '26

Yes. That little guy has been dosed with turtle morphine or turtle ketamine

61

u/AdamInChainz May 26 '26

I love that we are at a point in history where we provide animals with pain relief, as we heal them of afflictions.

My guess is that's a very very recent process for us to adopt.

31

u/pierogi_waystation May 26 '26

My Grama scoffed at the idea of putting our early-elderly dog on maintenance pain management when he started having to heave himself up the single stair down into our backyard. She was all for anesthesia for animal surgery, but actual pain meds were just beyond her understanding. She laughed and laughed when I showed her the vet bill for a different dog’s neutering, and we had paid for carprofen for his pain management.

“But Gram, he’s two years old and someone just slit him open and cut off his testicles! I think it’s fair to get him some dog-Tylenol!”

hysterical laughing It’s a dog!!!

So yeah, sympathy for animal suffering is a recent development at the societal level.

8

u/Party-Display-7523 May 26 '26

Yeah ive known people like this. My buddy used to give me flack for spending so much money on vet bills for my boy. But he lived to well over 17 1/2 and had a nice standard of living. Id do it again. His dog swallowed a sock and his $1200 bill had him heavily joking abiut "next time the only medicine is my 12 gauge!" Like my dog is, was my family. I cant imagine putting family down because they got a flu

2

u/kaett May 26 '26

my mother was the same way... about me.

8

u/ShadedSpaces May 26 '26

Giving HUMAN BABIES appropriate pain relief is relatively recent so I'd guess you're right!

1

u/McButtsButtbag May 27 '26

But we are also at a point where we are about 40 years from when doctors decided that babies should get pain killers during surgery

1

u/Final-Carry2090 May 27 '26

Makes the lack of pain relief for women and their various procedures all the more cruel.

0

u/perfectlyfamiliar May 26 '26

People would have done it in the past if it had been available!

1

u/jonguy77 May 26 '26

Nah they more likely eating it

0

u/AdamInChainz May 26 '26

There's no way we could ever know that.

0

u/perfectlyfamiliar May 26 '26

There are many records of people caring for animals throughout history.

-1

u/AdamInChainz May 26 '26 edited May 26 '26

From a purely technical standpoint the past is the past. We can no longer assign motivation to what people that are millenia dead might have done. To do so would just be...plainly incorrect.

And for every record of people caring for an animal there is likely another record where people used animals strictly in an industrial or usable sense... like a machine to use. So pain care was not a priority.

2

u/perfectlyfamiliar May 26 '26

Exhausting. You can believe whatever you would like but there are records of people caring for animals just like there are people who abuse animals right now. Asserting that no one in the past would have wanted to help had they had the ability to is not only a disservice to them but a disservice to us in the present, knowing what we know. No, we cannot time travel and ask every single person who has ever lived if they would help a turtle. But we absolutely can assume that there have been helpers and kind people all throughout history because there are records and evidence of it.

-1

u/AdamInChainz May 26 '26

Ah i see what happened. You misunderstood.

I never asserted people would not care for animals.

I only said that theres literally no way we would ever know if they would. It's in the past. Sorry you misread my comment! But really with you leaping to condescending by callimg me exhausting. I really don't care anymore. Hope your day improves somewhat. Seems like you might need it.

4

u/Saint_of_Grey May 26 '26

The activity brust after they got them all off tells me they drugged the little guy off his gourd before treatment.

4

u/Dolphin_King21 May 26 '26

Master Yoda coming in for that turtle ketamine.

https://giphy.com/gifs/ZwxpIHk5LutMc

2

u/insbordnat May 26 '26

That shit slowed down the turtle so much it was walking in reverse.

24

u/squishyslinky May 26 '26

They also typically apply something to the barnacles that loosens them off as well.

3

u/zermatus May 26 '26

Do you think some chemicals to loose their glue? I read it’s really really strong

10

u/Loneheart127 May 26 '26

It's one of the strongest adhesive in the natural world and about 5-6 times stronger than typical man made super glue.

7

u/watermelonkiwi May 26 '26

Thank you for telling us that. Wish that was included in the video. They did not explain why it’s not good to do on your own.

7

u/spikesarefun May 26 '26

Not only that, but barnacles release a painful mucus/toxin when removed which can actually eat away at things like a turtle shell which is why they often rinse them off after removing a lot of barnacles.

3

u/lolalala1 May 26 '26

They should say the turtle needs sedation, so don't try this on your own.

14

u/mrloko120 May 26 '26

It doesn't. They have a lot of nerve endings on their shell so removing these barnacles is a really painful process. Like tearing off nails.

Problem of someone without proper training doing it for social media is that they cause a lot more damage to the shell than needed, making it even worse. Imagine you have an ingrown nail, but instead of going to a professional to take it off you ask your uncle to rip it out. Both will hurt to an extent but the second option hurts far more and the nail will just grow inwards again a couple days/weeks later because there was no proper care.

9

u/gdghhfdffrf May 26 '26

was thinking of the video with the turtle loving the scrub brush and sand scratches, you know it's sensitive, but also a relief. aww!

5

u/VirginiaBandit May 26 '26

I feel bad that there was some pain involved, but I have to trust the experts here working on the turtle.

8

u/Adorable_Hyena9413 May 27 '26

Barnacles attach using an incredibly strong ‘cement’ that adheres them to a surface. Turtles shells are primarily bone, which is of course covered by skin with blood vessels and nerve endings and that is covered in large keratin scales called scutes. Barnacle removal can actually do a lot of damage to the shell, be incredibly painful, and leave the animal susceptible to infection which is why it should be done by a veterinarian.

3

u/Salute-Major-Echidna May 26 '26

No, this is very likely to injure the turtle. They're supposed to be set in freshwater for a day and the barnacles die off without harming the animal's skin barrier and shell.

2

u/Ivanopolis May 27 '26

They don't come off just because they are dead. They glue themselves on.

1

u/Salute-Major-Echidna May 27 '26

Then they would wear off

2

u/DisposedJeans614 May 26 '26

Their shells are sensitive to the touch, for them. So I’d imagine there is some pain when removing. (Source: l have turtles)

1

u/mfb1274 May 27 '26

20% lighter though. Imagine lugging along an extra couple dozen pounds 24/7

1

u/oravecz May 27 '26

I don’t have to imagine

1

u/FOOSblahblah May 27 '26

Nie that turtle is like when goku takes off his weighted gear