This document summarizes the findings of a post-mortem examination on a turtle. Key findings include: - Intestine contained small pebbles and parasites - Liver, gallbladder and lungs appeared normal - Stomach contained a live roundworm and serosal hemorrhages - Kidneys had necrotic foci - Other organs like the esophagus, trachea, and spleen were also examined The cause of death was determined to be multi-factorial, including parasitism, choking of the esophagus, and environmental changes as the turtle was a household pet. Recommendations are given to improve husbandry and deworm other turtles.

1. Department of Pathobiology
Faculty of Veterinary & Animal Sciences
PMAS Arid Agriculture University, Rawalpindi,
PAKISTAN
Conducted by: Dr. Rana Muhammad Imtiaz Ahmad Khan

2. Turtle
Reptile
Enclosed in a double shield or shell , from
which the head, legs, and tail are protruded
Shell is an expansion of the vertebrae and ribs
Ocean swimmers, coming on shore only to lay
their eggs in the sands
Use their jaws to cut and chew food
No teeth, but have, horny jaws

3. Cont…
• Instead of having teeth, which they appear to have
lost about 150-200 million years ago, the upper
and lower jaws of the turtle are covered by horny
ridges.
• Carnivorous turtles usually have knife-sharp
ridges for slicing through their prey.
• Herbivorous turtles have serrated-edged ridges
that help them cut through tough plants.
• They use their tongues to swallow food, but
unlike most reptiles, they cannot stick out their
tongues to catch food.
Ref: University of British Columbia
JOHN ABRAMYAN’s research

5. How to differentiate Male & Female
• Male: If vent is located beyond the shell edge.
Lengthy claws, curved plastron
• Female: If vent is located with the outside edge of
the shell, short length of claws, flat plastron

7. Herbivorous Turtle
Serrated-edged ridges

8. Post-Mortem Procedure
 From Ventral side the Plastron-shell was
dissected by using a Handsaw because the
shell was very hard

9. Plastron
(Bottom shell)

11. Post-Mortem Findings
Ascites:
 Peritoneal Fluid
Amber straw color fluid
Intestine:
 Small pebbles (large were eaten but mechanically broken)
Presence of parasites

14. Liver:
Present on both left & right side
It was normal
Gall Bladder:
It was full
Indication of off-feed turtle for longer period of time
Lungs:
Sponge shape
Gelatinous layer surrounding it

15. Liver

16. Lungs

17. Stomach:
Serosal hemorrhages on cardiac end
Alive parasite in it (Round worm)
Kidneys:
Not normal
Having necrotic foci

18. Cardiac end of
stomach

20. Urinary Bladder: Full
Mesentery: Severe hemorrhages due to visceral larval
migrations
Esophagus: Esophageal diverticula dut to trapped food
particles in esophagus lumen, food was unable to move
forward
Spleen: Normal
Trachea: Little frothy exudates

21. Sole cause of death was not single, that was multi-
factorial
i.e Parasitism, Choking of esophagus, Environmental
changes because that was house-hold turtle

22. Recommendations for rest of the
Turtles
Set the environment according to their desire
Check the feed & feed size
Keep the area clean i.e no larger pebbles
Deworming (only following dewormers are used for
Reptiles, not all)
Fenbendazole
Mebendazole
Praziquental