Ana is one of our turtle-y awesome patients.

On dry land, wintertime means flu and cold season. But the same may be true in the sea. During the colder months, sea turtles underwater may experience an uptick in illnesses, like pneumonia. Like other reptiles, sea turtles are ectothermic, meaning their body temperatures are heavily influenced by their environment. 

“When the temperatures are lower, turtles are more predisposed to generalized debilitation and subsequent pneumonia,” said veterinary intern Dr. Lauren Shusterman.  

Pneumonia is a serious respiratory infection which limits normal gas exchange due to inflammation in the lung’s air sacs. While serious, this diagnosis is relatively common in our juvenile, debilitated sea turtles – and we have a unique way of treating it! 

We treat our sea turtles with antibiotic-infused nebulization. We recently had three turtle patients, Ana, Goober, and Bondi, undergoing treatments at the same time. Just like in people, this treatment for turtles is typically dispensed through a mask that hooks over the back of the turtle’s head. The turtle breathes in the medicine for a certain time frame, and it targets the source of the infection: the lungs!   

Meet Goober!

However, our team have treated a lot of these wiggly patients and routinely struggled with fastening the mask to the turtle for the needed duration without the turtle shimmying their way out. So, we created a homemade box method. For this method, our patients are placed inside a sealed plastic box (with plenty of holes for oxygen) and the medicine is pumped into the box and fills the air inside. This way, the turtle can sit and move around comfortably while still getting the appropriate dose of medicine! Our team is turtle-y innovative! 

“While pneumonia is a serious clinical condition, it is usually very responsive to treatment and most of our patients recover from this condition generally quickly and are able to be released normally,” said Dr. Lauren. 

We hope to share good news of Ana, Goober, and Bondi heading home to the ocean soon!

Have you found a sea turtle that needs help? Visit this page or call the Sea Turtle Preservation Society at 321-206-0646. Want to help the Sea Turtle Healing Center? Support our Zoo, or view our Healing Center’s wishlist.