Prevention and Treatment Methods and Technical Key Points for Abscess Disease in Turtles

Turtles in nature are relatively disease-resistant and are also long-lived animals. Common turtles can live for decades, and some can live for one to two hundred years. When turtles are kept in captivity, factors such as deteriorating water quality or insufficient nutrition can easily lead to invasion by various pathogens and cause abscess disease. In recent years, with the promotion of artificial turtle farming, abscess disease has also become prevalent, and in some places the incidence rate has been rising year by year. In the early stage of the disease, a pus-filled swelling appears locally under the turtle's skin, and afterward the pus-filled swelling gradually hardens and forms a raised tumor-like mass. It can be moved when touched by hand, but the inside is hard. It generally occurs on the turtle's neck and can prevent the turtle's head from retracting, and may even compress the esophagus, affecting feeding and causing death. According to observations by the Rare Animal Breeding Farm in Yuanhua Town, Haining City, Zhejiang, among turtles, the seven-colored turtle (red-eared slider type) has the highest incidence; while Chinese pond turtles, yellow-throated water turtles, and big-headed turtles have fewer cases; snapping turtles and golden-headed turtles rarely develop the disease. Based on joint observation and research by the author and Fan Jianhua of the Longlian Science and Technology Group in Yuanhua Town, Haining City, Zhejiang, it can be seen that:

I. Main causes of abscess tumors in seven-colored turtles

1. Seven-colored turtles are lively and active, often play with one another, and frequently stack and climb over each other. During movement, they easily rub against and knock into one another and get injured, causing wound infection and abscess formation.

2. The toes and claws of seven-colored turtles are longer than those of other turtles, especially those of males, which are sometimes several times longer than those of females. Males are also active and often move in and out among the group, increasing the chance that their claws scratch the skin of other turtles and allowing pathogens to invade and cause abscesses.

3. Improper male-to-female ratio. In some farms' ponds, there are too many male turtles, exceeding 2:1. During the mating season, injuries from competing for mates increase further. Males often bite the necks of females, causing skin wounds in females that become inflamed and lead to subcutaneous abscesses.

4. The water in the rearing pond becomes stale, black, and smelly, and new water is not replaced in time, leading to an increase in the content of pathogenic bacteria. Once there is an opportunity to invade the turtle's body, it causes diseases such as abscesses.

II. Key points of prevention and treatment

1. Frequently replace the water in turtle ponds with fresh water and keep it clear and light green. Regularly remove sludge from the bottom of the pond and use biological fertilizer to neutralize the water quality. For small ponds where the water body changes quickly, carry out regular oxygenation to thoroughly improve the rearing conditions.

2. Regularly disinfect the pond water with bleaching powder. About every 30 days, sprinkle 1 g of bleaching powder per cubic meter of water body (dilute first before use).

3. Treatment methods. (1) Inject penicillin, using 150,000 international units per 500 g of turtle per day, injected into the muscle at the plastron of the turtle's hind toe. (2) Mix 0.25 g of tetracycline into the feed and use continuously for 3-6 days. (3) For affected turtles in the middle and late stages, when the mass is obviously raised, an incision can be made to squeeze out the pus mass, then wash the wound with hydrogen peroxide, or wipe the wound with saturated potassium permanganate solution, and keep it dry for several days to heal. Yunnan Baiyao can also be applied to the wound, and keeping it dry for a few days will bring about healing.