Three-Toed Box Turtle Nearly Dies From Reproductive Health Issues

The following story about a three-toed box turtle was submitted by World Bird Sanctuary in Missouri.

Meet Rose. Rose is one of the educational three-toed box turtles at World Bird Sanctuary. On her annual physical exam on February 11, 2021, Rose was found to have a malformed egg along with several normal ones in her abdomen. Rose was a healthy 467 grams (about 1.1 pound) with a normal 3 body condition score. The eggs did not appear to be causing any health issues at the time.

Over the next several months, Rose laid all the eggs other than the malformed one. That egg still didn’t seem to cause her any problems. Due to the high-risk nature of surgery to remove the egg, it was decided to continue giving her time to pass it on her own. She was given some medications to help induce laying.

On September 3, Rose’s health took a turn for the worse. She started dropping weight, wasn’t moving around as much, and was barely interested in her favorite foods. We started her on an antibiotic and fluids, but she showed no improvement. She continued losing weight, eventually dropping all the way down to 377 grams (about 0.8 pounds) with a 1.5 body condition score.

On September 24, it was decided that we needed to perform the risky surgery, or she wasn’t going to survive. Severe reproductive disease was found. Our veterinarian elected to remove the entire reproductive tract in addition to the problem egg.

Unfortunately, egg yolk coelomitis and infection was found in the surrounding tissues. Not all of it was able to be removed, which left Rose with a very poor prognosis for recovery.

We knew that Rose wouldn’t be interested in eating in the days after her surgery, so a feeding tube was placed to give her a tubing diet and keep her from losing more weight. Rose was given 1.5% of her body weight in EmerAid IC Omnivore every other day until October 14. By that time, she was eating everything constantly on her own. Between the EmerAid IC Omnivore and the small amounts she was willing to eat on her own, Rose was able to make her way back up to 411 grams (about 0.9 pounds).

Rose’s quick recovery after having such a guarded outlook surprised all of us — and just one month after surgery. Rose was able to return to her normal enclosure with the other turtles.