Disease Prevention and Treatment Methods and Technical Key Points for Turtles

Parotitis

Cause: The pathogen is Aeromonas punctata subsp. punctata. The main cause is water pollution.

Symptoms: Affected turtles move slowly, often raise their heads and necks high in water or on land, with abnormally swollen necks and bulging hind limb fossae. There is gas under the skin, and the limbs are swollen; in severe cases, blood flows from the mouth and nose.

Prevention and treatment: Inject streptomycin sulfate at 100,000-120,000 units per kg of turtle body weight. Inject once a year. Routinely soak in 30 mg/L furazolidone solution for 40-50 minutes every 2-3 months. Treatment method: intramuscular injection of streptomycin sulfate. Inject 200,000 units per kg of turtle body weight. Inject continuously for 3 days. For mild cases, soak in oxytetracycline solution (add 3 oxytetracycline tablets per 10 kg of water) for 30 minutes.

Shell Rot Disease

Cause: After the shell is worn, bacteria invade and cause shell decay.

Symptoms: The surface of the shell decays, and in severe cases cavities form or muscle is visible, with refusal to eat or reduced eating.

Prevention and treatment: Remove the lesions of the diseased turtle, wipe the affected area with hydrogen peroxide, then apply potassium permanganate crystal powder directly.

Nutritional Bone Disease

Cause: Due to long-term feeding of a single feed and cooked food, the vitamin content in the daily diet is insufficient, causing a lack of vitamin d in the turtle's body, and an inverted calcium-phosphorus ratio or calcium deficiency can both cause bone softening in turtles. This case is mostly seen in fast-growing hatchling turtles and juvenile turtles.

Symptoms: Diseased turtles have difficulty moving, the bone joints of the limbs are enlarged, the carapace and plastron are soft, and in severe cases the claws of the fingers and toes fall off.

Prevention and treatment: Add appropriate amounts of shrimp shell powder, shell powder, calcium tablets, vitamin and multivitamins to the daily diet. Let the turtle receive natural light as much as possible, and ultraviolet fluorescent lamps can also be used. For severe cases, intramuscular injection of 10% calcium gluconate (1 mL/kg).

Papillary Tumor

Cause: Papillary tumor is a benign tumor formed by fibrous connective tissue derived from the dermis covered by epithelium. After the turtle's body surface is damaged, a tumor can grow during the recovery process.

Symptoms: The appearance of the tumor body is cauliflower-like with varying sizes, protruding from the skin surface. At first, the tumor body is smooth and round, and later the surface becomes rough, hard, and keratinous. The tumor body mostly occurs on the limbs, neck, and other areas.

Prevention and treatment: Surgical excision can be used. The excision time should preferably be in summer. First disinfect the surface of the tumor body, and after excising the tumor body, apply antibiotic powder and bandage. Change the dressing once every 2 days.

Fibroma

Cause: Fibroma is a localized benign tumor produced by fibrous connective tissue. It is caused by a virus.

Symptoms: The tumor body is a hard nodular protrusion, round or oval in shape, and varies in size. When the tumor body is located on the body surface, the diseased turtle does not show functional impairment.

Prevention and treatment: Fibromas should be excised early. If the excision is incomplete, recurrence is easy, and some tumor bodies become malignant as fibrosarcoma and easily metastasize to internal organs.

Trauma

Cause: During capture and rearing, the turtle's shell, skin, limbs, mouth, and other parts suffer abrasions, injuries, and compression injuries.

Symptoms: Local redness and swelling, tissue necrosis, and pus.

Prevention and treatment: For fresh trauma, first stop the bleeding by applying gauze pressure; in severe cases apply Yunnan Baiyao, then clean the wound surface, and wipe it with disinfectant drugs (93% hydrogen peroxide, 0.5% potassium permanganate) to prevent infection. Large wounds should be sutured and bandaged. For old and purulent trauma, first enlarge the wound opening, remove the pus and necrotic material in the wound, and make the trauma form a fresh wound surface. Then treat according to the method for fresh wound surfaces.

Turtle Drowning

Cause: When semi-aquatic turtles stay for a long time in a pond with water that is too deep, because they cannot go ashore, they can only float on the water surface and stretch their necks to breathe. After a long time, the turtle becomes exhausted and inhales water; sometimes when changing water, a sudden increase in water level and large water surface fluctuations can also cause turtle drowning.

Symptoms: The turtle's neck is fat and swollen, and the limbs are weak. After dissection, the lungs are filled with water, and there is more water in the abdominal cavity.

Prevention and treatment: After discovering the diseased turtle, turn the turtle's head downward, let water flow out of the nostrils, and use fingers to press the turtle's limb fossae and squeeze regularly. For mildly drowned turtles, place them in a ventilated place and let them recover slowly.

Stomatitis

Cause: Accidental ingestion of sharp foreign objects or lack of vitamin c causes oral epidermal damage or ulcers.

Symptoms: Oral ulcers, white necrotic inflammation on the epidermis, and in severe cases purulent secretions, with the turtle stopping eating.

Prevention and treatment: Wrap disinfectant cotton around tweezers, remove the pus, and wipe the oral cavity with Rivanol solution. Spray the affected area with watermelon frost, once a day. Mix antibiotic drugs into the bait and feed continuously for 3 days.