Post-Hibernation Issues: Stomatitis in Box Turtles

Shortly, our hibernating turtles will start the emerging process. In the Mid-Atlantic area, turtles can hibernate for five months or more. While hibernation is a natural thing for them to do, it is not without issues for awakening turtles. While the majority of hibernating turtles emerge in the spring as if nothing happened, we as keepers need to be on the lookout for certain signs indicating problems with emerging turtles. Believe it or not, there are many things that can go wrong with turtles coming out of hibernation. Two of the most common problems are stomatitis and post-hibernation anorexia. Both have several causes; some can be avoided before the turtle is allowed to hibernate, and some can be caused by Mother Nature and hibernation itself. Since I ran into one of these problems last April with an emerging male eastern box turtle, I would like to share what I went through working with the situation, trying to find out the cause, and also understanding the symptoms to watch for.

During the summer of 2010, I had a breakout of leopard frogs in my turtle pens. Mama frog must have loved my enclosures, and for weeks I chased, caught, and released many baby leopard frogs into the stream a good distance from my pens. Of course, these high jumping frogs were in water bowls, hiding in hides, and under plants. A few weeks after this breakout and the removal of as many frogs as I could find, I noticed some turtles developed a thin, whitish ring around their eyes and became a bit lethargic, but with no other symptoms. I immediately brought them inside to watch and had one checked by my vet who found nothing bacterial. At that time, it was extremely hot and dry, and it was thought it could be a possible dehydration issue. Approximately 5 or 6 turtles developed this, but they were fine in several days and put back into the pen. The other turtles remained symptomless and never developed a problem. No further problems appeared.

All turtles that would hibernate that year were in their readied area on October 23, 2010. As spring approached during the first weekend of April 2011, I went in to remove half of the leaves/mulch covering the hibernation area and found two turtles out of the ground, one of

which was the male. One let out a large hiss when I found them. Both boxed up tight and stayed that way. I finished what I was doing and put them back where they were to finish their awakening process. The following weekend, the same male was found sitting on top of the remaining leaves, so I moved him and another awake female to their usual pen as it was ready for their return in early spring. All remaining turtles were up out of the ground or sticking up out of the ground under the remaining cover. They all did well, except the next day was warm and sunny, and I saw the same male sprawled out in the sun, and he appeared to be sleeping. I knew immediately something was wrong, and it was. I took him inside, soaked him, and looked him over. His colors were gorgeous and bright from hibernating, but something was not right. I opened his mouth to examine him and his tongue was bright red. That was not normal. I kept him in from that point on and soaked him daily and attempted to feed him, but he would have nothing to do with food and became more listless. I started to force-feed him and made an appointment at the vet. This was just a few days later after bringing him inside.

Now, a sore appeared at the corner of his mouth, and the signs of stomatitis appeared (although the red tongue was probably the first symptom of developing inflammation), and whitish, thick lines started to appear on his tongue. I was amazed at how fast this occurred. The vet started Baytril immediately and he was put into a hospital setup with elevated temps and soaked twice a day. There was no improvement but a rapid decline. He would vomit at any attempt to be force-fed and anything that did get in him went through quickly. In less than a week, he passed away. We did everything possible to work on and save that turtle including a last-minute switch to Fortaz, but the day I went to get that prescription I found him dead when I returned.

I had never had anything like this occur before. I put him in the refrigerator on that Saturday knowing my vet may have wanted me to do that if something occurred and called my vet on Monday, who asked to necropsy the turtle. The necropsy revealed the cause of death as stomatitis along with some other lung issues, all probably related. We believe this turtle was harboring something when he went down for hibernation of which no one was aware, as he appeared robust and healthy. After reviewing the possibilities, the vet and I both looked to the leopard frog outbreak as to the possible culprit, although other factors could have come into play while he was in hibernation.

Watch your turtles as they emerge from hibernation closely. If you see anything that looks out of sorts, check them out. I wish I had not delayed after seeing that bright-red tongue; that may have made a difference. Educate yourselves as to the signs and symptoms of stomatitis in turtles and also to post-hibernation anorexia. While some things may not be preventable, avoiding delays if something seems out of sorts can be critical for a turtle’s survival. Thankfully, all other turtles that hibernated last year came out fine and are now hibernating for the 2011-2012 season. And there were no frog breakouts during the summer of 2011.