Influence of environmental conditions on turtles health kept in captivity

Abstract

In recent years, turtles have become more and more common as pets, while owners are not properly informed about their care. Thus, the pathology of this species in 90% of cases are caused by neglecting microclimate and nutrition conditions. The requirements of turtles are also according to their type (terrestrial tortoises or aquatic turtles). They need an environment as close as possible to their natural environment, a habitat with temperature, humidity, UV light and food which offer a maximum comfort. This paper aims to underline the importance of the feeding and microclimate conditions on turtle’s welfare and health. The clinical study was performed on turtles (different species: Testudo hermanni hermanni, Emys orbicularis and Trachemys scripta) that were referred to the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of Iasi between 2015- 2017. The main disorders noticed were consisting in vitamin and mineral imbalances, oral and ocular lesions, impaired development of the shell. After a careful physical examination which was correlated with turtle`s history given by the owner who described how the turtles are feed and where they are kept, an appropriate therapy has been recommended and adapted according to the symptoms severity (adequate diet, supplements with vitamins and minerals, improvement of microclimate conditions). When owners are respecting the doctor`s indication, the animal`s conditions is visibly improving after 2-3 months. Therefore, the main inconvenient of this long term treatment is the owner`s attitude, who is expecting good results in a short time and in some cases he renounces to follow the recommendations.