The health of the animals in our care is of paramount importance. We submitted samples to the provincial government’s Animal Health Center (AHC), which showed that the affected turtle’s had a metabolic condition but did not identify an underlying cause. After exhausting all traditional treatments, we submitted additional samples to the AHC in 2020/21 requesting further investigation that finally revealed a diagnosis of intestinal cryptosporidiosis. Cryptosporidium encompasses numerous species of microscopic parasites that are very common in the natural environment but can cause disease in many different kinds of animals. These protozoan infections are not well known for reptiles, and there have been very few studies on infections in turtles. We initially didn’t expect it to be cryptosporidiosis as typically this presentation of soft shells is caused by poor lighting and food, which was not our case in our facility.
An initial trial treatment combining two drugs specifically for the treatment of cryptospiridiosis in 40 affected turtles resulted in a 95% recovery rate! A follow-up study that involved both drugs used separately and control untreated groups during the winter of 2021/2022 found that both treatments worked well but in different ways leading us to plan to continue their use in tandem for our hatchlings this year.
Our results from investigating and discovering a treatment for this parasite masquerading as a metabolic issue will be applicable across a wide range of other turtle conservation programs in Canada and more widely. At the same time this can encourage other conservation breeding programs to think beyond initial diagnoses when what appears to be a novel complex problem may actually be caused by a more common culprit.
In both animal care and human care we are often told in diagnostics that “when we hear hoof beats, think horses, not zebras”. The odds are, that the most common diagnosis is the probable one. However, sometimes the hoofbeats are actually zebras…especially when you work at a zoo.
