Mensuração radiográfica da pelve, carapaça e ovos de Trachemys spp.

Abstract

Testudines are affected by several illnesses, the main ones being of metabolic origin, of the gastrointestinal tract, of the locomotor system, including trauma, and also dystocia. For diagnostic and screening purposes, radiographic examination is a growing examination modality in the clinical routine of wild animals. However, data on anatomical knowledge and dimensions of the pelvis, tortoise shell and eggs are needed. Therefore, the present work aimed to radiographically evaluate the size of the pelvis, tortoise shell and eggs in Trachemys spp. To this end, a retrospective study was carried out with 88 radiographs of Trachemys spp. females, adults and young, from the image bank of the Imaging Diagnostic Sector of the Veterinary Hospital of the Federal University of Uberlândia and in a second moment 15 adult males were x-rayed, 8 of which belonged to the species Trachemys scripta elegans and 7 to the species Trachemys dorbigni, housed in the Wild Animal Laboratory of the Veterinary Medicine College of the Federal University of Uberlândia (LAPAS-UFU). The average length and width of the carapace of young females (15.80 ± 1.56 cm and 11.89 ± 1.31 cm, respectively) were lower than those of adult females (21.36 ± 2.50 cm and 17 , 09 ± 1.93 cm, respectively), while these were larger compared to males (18.08 ± 2.07 cm and 13.20 ± 1.26 cm, respectively). In pelvimetry, males had lower averages compared to adult females in the distance between the metaschiatic processes (2.29 ± 0.25 cm and 3.02 ± 0.50 cm, respectively), in the craniocaudal distance from the pubis (2, 84 ± 0.38 cm and 3.43 ± 0.56 cm, respectively) and in the length of the pubischial window (1.30 ± 0.24 cm and 1.43 ± 0.25 cm, respectively), while the averages of the the distance between the lateral processes of the pubis did not show a significant difference, which contributed to the comparison between the measurements of the two sexes. Measurements of egg length and width were also confirmed in radiographs of adult females, with averages of 3.79 ± 0.63 cm and 2.51 ± 0.33 cm, respectively, obtained.