MLAARE -Bloated

I noticed the smell when I went to turn on the reptile lights.
The smell of something dead.
Something had died. It had to be it.
Yet, when I glanced in the cages where I thought I smelt the smell.
There was nothing out of the ordinary.
Maybe it was a remaint of something that had died before, a scent that would still linger until we changed out the bedding....
So I put the matter from my mind.

Until I went to feed the reptiles.
And I looked down in our turtle tank.
And saw big foaming bubbles building up in front of the pump there.

I could smell that the smell was coming from there too.
Had one of our turtles died in front of the pump? Was that why it was foaming?
I could see another turtle in the water on the far side of the tank. So I knew it wasn't from there.
So I grabbed a spray bottle and some gloves, and sprayed at the foam, and felt about in the water there (I was not about to touch a dead thing with bare hands.)
But there was nothing there.
O.o
Well the other turtle was over there....
So where was the second? Why was it smelling?
Maybe...
I don't know why I moved over to the other turtle.
But when I picked it up (again with gloves)
I immediately saw the problem.
Smelt the problem.

That Turtle.
Was dead.
And bloated.
Literally it's body had swollen up to twice if not thrice it's normal size, squished into the shell so awkwardly.
Dead.

*gags*
Oh that smell.
I usually am pretty good with smells. I work in a pet store after all.
but catching a strong whiff of that rotting body.
*shudders*
Totally had trouble not gagging.

Thankfully, my coworker, took the turtle away from me, before I saw my breakfast. Taking care of it.
-He hadn't understood why I was gagging, until he was finishing bagging it up and caught the rotten smell of it. *shudders*

I can't believe no one noticed it before now!
Surely someone would have noticed a non moving turtle.
Especially if it hadn't moved in a day.
Maybe two.
I had no idea how long it takes for a body to bloat in water.
But I'm pretty sure when I left for the weekend, he was alive, and when I came back...he was dead.

Honestly. The smell alone would have given it away after a day....
*sighs* I need to tell my coworkers to be more observant....

In any case.
I gave myself the fun task of cleaning out said turtle tank.
Because of however long the turtle had been there...I was pretty sure the water had been tainted beyond anything we'd want to stick another turtle into. :S Yikes.
So...smelly water. Smelly decorations all went to be cleaned/dumped. While the cage spent much of my shift being air dried and cleaned like twelve times.
Ugh. I could still smell that scent...I think it was just a memory of it though.

:S Definitely not something I was expecting to do today.
But at least it got done today when I had time to do it. :)

*fingers crossed* I never have to do that again any time soon.

-Sarnic Dirchi