The turtle named Chelonia had been off her feed and very sluggish since the middle of June. Assistant Curator for Aquariums Erica Palmer observed, “Chelonia always had a very good appetite and suddenly she started rejecting vegetables. Eventually we could only get her to eat squid and even that in small amounts.”

Chelonia is one of the sea turtles rescued by Coral World as a straggler from a nest on Buck Island, St. Croix, in October 1997. At Coral World, she grew from a palm-sized hatchling to a 160-pound mature turtle.

Dr. Jack Boden of Imperial Animal Hospital was concerned about a rock having caused an intestinal obstruction. Intestinal obstruction by foreign bodies is common in sea turtles. The absence of clinical signs of obstruction and the extended fasting periods in sea turtles means that it is difficult to diagnose the problem early. Palmer stated, “Moving such a large turtle safely is not easy, but we decided we needed an x-ray to detect possible impaction. We did not want the problem to go too far. In the end, the x-ray machine at Imperial proved to be too small to provide adequate images.”

Concerned about Chelonia’s health, General Manager Trudie Prior contacted Dr. George Rosenberg about a CT scan or MRI. Dr. Rosenberg was willing to have St. Thomas Radiology participate. The test had to be performed after hours so it would not interfere with human patient appointments. Coral World staff transported Chelonia to St. Thomas Radiology at the Paragon Medical Building on the evening of August 21, 2008. Dr. Guller and staff from St. Thomas Radiology, stayed late and successfully performed the CT scan on Chelonia. Dr. Guller said, “The team from Coral World was great. Together with the excellent staff of St. Thomas Radiology we were able to perform a CT scan which helped reach a diagnosis. Happily, Chelonia has no problem that a male turtle can’t cure.”

Palmer sent CD’s of the CT scan to a veterinarian on the mainland, Dr. Douglas Mader, who is a turtle expert. The news that came back from Dr. Mader, was surprising, but good. According to Palmer, “It turns out Chelonia had reached sexual maturity and was ready to lay eggs. Because we do not have any sexually mature male turtles among Coral World’s residents, these eggs were not fertilized. Her gravid condition is what caused her picky eating and sluggishness.”