Reptile & Amphibian Forums

This was taken from a box turtle that we have had problems with. It was donated by an elderly lady that fed him raw hamburger every day for 16+yrs. She had him in a 10 tank, and he is >600grams! The only other thing she fed him was tomatoes. We have had him for several months and he apparently is not dealing with separation anxiety well, as we have only recently gotten him to eat a tomato. Today was the first fecal sample I could get from him, and it consisted mostly of partially digested tomato along with a strange, green slimy material similar to the look of a green grape. On the slide I found over 2 dozen of the objects below. The 1st photo is at 100x, and the other 3 are at 400x. Despite my best efforts, I couldn’t match it up on my guide, except that it could be an oocyte of some type.

What could this be?

Could this be related to the diet of raw hamburger?

Obviously he has not digested much in the last 3-4 months. What could have the green slimy material been?

I hoping that whatever this is will explain his lack of appetite.

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...the oldest task in human history: to live on a piece of land without spoiling it."
Aldo Leopold (1938)

"Sometimes I think the surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is that none of it has tried to contact us."
Calvin and Hobbes (Scientific Progress Goes 'Boink', 1991)

I would guess that the green-slimy stuff are possibly relics of tomato seeds, since they usually pass through digestive tracts without much deterioration. This may be what's in the picture; however, it may also be tapeworm ova/segment. Oldherper or others familiar with parasites may be able to confirm the ID.

The diet/housing for the box turtle doesn't sound right & I would suggest to change both by doing some reading on husbandry/biology of box turtles.

Goodluck

>>The diet/housing for the box turtle doesn't sound right & I would suggest to change both by doing some reading on husbandry/biology of box turtles.

When it was donated to us, the husbandry was corrected. It's up to him to accept his new surroundings, where before he got daily attention.
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...the oldest task in human history: to live on a piece of land without spoiling it."
Aldo Leopold (1938)

"Sometimes I think the surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is that none of it has tried to contact us."
Calvin and Hobbes (Scientific Progress Goes 'Boink', 1991)

Those are not parasite ova, they are pollen spores. You obviously haven't done dog fecals in a while, you find them in their poop all the time . If you look in a beginning parasitology book for technicians they are usually listed under the artifacts section next to the air bubbles.
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Stacey

Never done dog fecals, haven't had the luxury of taking a parasitology class. Even pollen is surprising to me for a turtle that hasn't eaten anything in a few months. Thanks for the ID!
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...the oldest task in human history: to live on a piece of land without spoiling it."
Aldo Leopold (1938)

"Sometimes I think the surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is that none of it has tried to contact us."
Calvin and Hobbes (Scientific Progress Goes 'Boink', 1991)

I have spent entirely too much of my life looking at dog poop ! I have to tell other techs about pollen spores all the time because they look so much like ova. He (the turtle) could have ingested the pollen with anything even water if it was outside. How is the little guy doing?
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Stacey

Good call - pollen spores. Remember most animals don't deficate very often if they are not eating. Those could have been in the terminal GI tract for some time before being released.
GOOD LUCK.