Traumatic affections in scorpion mud turtle (Kinosternon scorpioides) kept in captivity

Abstract

This study aimed to identify the incidence and location of traumatic disorders in captive specimens of scorpion mud turtle (Kinosternon scorpioides). For this, we used 77 animals from the squad to play the Criadouro Científico do Projeto Bio-Fauna, located at the Federal Rural University of Amazonia - UFRA, Belém, PA.  Of the 77 animals evaluated 55 (70%) had some kind of traumatic injuries, with 35 (56,5%) lesions identified in females and 27 (43,5%) with higher incidence in males during the breeding period.  Lesions identified were distributed among soft tissues, carapace and plastron.  The agents were isolated from subcutaneous abscesses: Morganella morganii, Enterobacter cloaceae and Enterococcus faecium. It can be concluded that in this study the highest frequency of cases of changes in the integument mud turtle coincided with the reproductive period, and the lesions were located mainly in the soft tissue.