De-sexing Surgery
We do not recommend routine de-sexing for terrapins, but we do often have to recommend it when there has been a serious problem diagnosed with your terrapin’s ovaries or uterus or eggs.
Terrapins can develop a medical problem known as ‘ovarian stasis’. In this condition the ovary develops large follicles which are the yolks of eggs, but do not then develop these into eggs or pass them. With this condition this yolk material can sit in the body cavity for many years, and often leaks and causes inflammation of the body cavity (peritonitis) which can make your terrapin very sick. This condition usually develops because of inadequacies in the environment and care, so the normal laying is not triggered. This is thought to be due to problems with such factors as temperature, day light length, vitamins and minerals and the absence of a mate.
If ovarian stasis is identified your vet will recommend surgical removal of these abnormal ovaries.
It is normal for female terrapins to pass at least 1 clutch of eggs and sometimes two each year. If your terrapin lays eggs at abnormal times, lays unusual numbers of eggs, or stops laying eggs it is possible your terrapin may have ovarian stasis or may have eggs stuck in their uterus. Often the only sign shown when your terrapin has these problems is a lack of appetite!
To diagnose these problems our veterinarians will need to perform blood tests to see if there are problems in any of the other body organs, perform x-rays (to see if there are any eggs with shells in the uterus) and perform an ultrasound examination to identify any large follicles on the ovaries.
If de-sexing surgery is needed to correct your terrapin’s problem our vet will perform the surgery assisted with an endoscope. An endoscope is a very small camera and light source which helps our vets perform surgery through small holes.
In these de-sexing cases our vet will make an incision into the terrapins’s body cavity through the skin in front of her hind leg and then use the endoscope to examine her body cavity, ovaries and uterus. Depending on her exact problem our vet will then remove the ovaries and follicles or operate on her uterus.
During the surgery our vets will also normally insert a feeding tube into your terrapin to ensure she can be provided with the correct nutrition to aid her recovery.
Most terrapins do recover quite quickly after this surgery and within a few weeks are back to normal.
If you are worried please schedule a consultation with your vet.