Health status assessment of traumatic injury freshwater turtles

Abstract

A group of injured yellow-bellied sliders (Trachemys scripta) and river cooters (Pseudemys concinna) were evaluated for a variety of health values at presentation to the NC State Turtle Rescue Team and prior to release. An i-STAT Portable Clinical Analyzer and CG8+ cartridges were used to determine venous blood gas and biochemical values, the packed cell volume (PCV) and total protein were evaluated using hematocrit tubes and high speed centrifugation, and a differential WBC percentage was determined manually with Diff-Quick stained blood smear slides. Forty-six turtles were sampled on presentation and twenty-three of those were sampled again prior to release. Blood values were analyzed for significant differences between samples collected at presentation and prior to release, as well as differences between surviving and non-surviving turtles. Five variables were identified as significantly different between presenting and recuperated samples: pH, pCO2, Glu, % heterophils, and % eosinophils. When comparing samples between turtles that survived versus those that did not, two variables were identified as being significant prognostic indicators; lactate and PCV. Identification of these significant variables can aid in determining patient prognosis and triage therapy for injured aquatic turtles.

Health Assessment of Painted Turtles (Chrysemys Picta) in a Restored Wetland Habitat in Northwestern Indiana, Usa

“…Plasma protein values may be used to identify inflammation in many animal species, and red-eared sliders ( Trachemys scripta ) experimentally infected with FV3-like ranavirus show changes in their protein electrophoresis values, including decreased albumin levels and increased beta globulin percentages (Moore et al 2014). Finally, blood lactate is a clinically useful value that can help establish a prognosis for rehabilitating turtles, and increased lactate concentrations have been associated with Terrapene herpesvirus 1 detection in eastern box turtles (Savo et al 2018; Innis et al 2019; Klein et al 2021).…”