Ollie

Juvenile Olive Ridley turtle (RB.LO.077), admitted 16-Sep-15

Ollie was found entangled in a conglomerate of nets and as a result required amputation surgery the day after arriving. The turtle has a good appetite overall and is active in the pool, however, has difficulties diving. The amputation is already showing signs of healing two weeks after surgery. Daily wound care ensures the amputation site remains clean and is healing properly.

The turtle has begun to eat regularly and has become much more active, but still spends most of the time at the surface and has not yet started to dive.

Ollie’s amputation has completely healed, and we are encouraging him to dive by chasing food in the pool. We are administering daily ‘Beano’ tablets to prevent gas from accumulating in the digestive tract, and help with the positive buoyancy problem. Wound care has been decreased to weekly; an abscess has developed on the left flipper.

Ollie is making good progress in re-learning how to dive, and the flipper amputation site is now completely healed. Ollie is able to dive down after food and no longer needs to be hand fed, however s/he is unable to remain submerged for any length of time. Ollie is being observed for additional pool-caused damage to the right carapace edge and rubbing on the remaining flipper.

Ollie is able now able to dive to the bottom of the pool to feed and has been seen resting on the bottom frequently; we hope to release him soon.

Ollie the juvenile Olive Ridley was released at Makunudhoo Reef on 21 February (after 158 days of rehabilitation). Upon release, Ollie dived down several metres and began to investigate the reef.
Ollie was originally found by staff at One & Only Reethi Rah, entangled in a large ghost net that had caused severe damage to the right front flipper (requiring amputation). Wound care (debridement, flushing and application of honey) was provided daily for a month, and the amputation site soon fully healed. The turtle also suffered from buoyancy syndrome and was unable to dive normally. To combat this, Ollie was given ‘Beano’ daily and encouraged to dive when eating.
Environmental enrichment devices (EED) were put in the pool to provide stimulation and to further encourage Ollie to become more active. These EEDs also played a significant role in helping Ollie to re-learn to swim and navigate properly with a missing flipper. Ollie began to dive normally on 29 December, and soon afterwards was able to rest on the pool bottom (a key indicator of healthy recovery).