Aquatic turtle health — hypovitaminosis A on diets deficient in preformed vitamin A; beta carotene not metabolized
Source: Merck Veterinary Manual (merckvetmanual.com) and VCA Hospitals (vcahospitals.com), both copyrighted veterinary references. Per COPYRIGHT_POLICY §3, the points below are paraphrased derived fact summaries: numerical values and proper nouns are preserved from the source, but sentences are rewritten and not quoted verbatim.
Claims
- *[Paraphrased derived summary — non-Open-Access source.]* Among reptiles, hypovitaminosis A occurs commonly in aquatic turtles and in insect-eating lizards whose diet lacks preformed vitamin A (compare
exotic_health_leopard_gecko_hypovitA). - *[Paraphrased derived summary — non-Open-Access source.]* Many reptiles cannot metabolize beta carotene, a commonly used nutritional supplement.
- *[Paraphrased derived summary — non-Open-Access source.]* In turtles, full-thickness shedding of skin that leaves raw or bleeding areas is clearly abnormal; it can point to hypovitaminosis A (vitamin A deficiency) as well as bacterial or fungal infection, burn, or trauma.
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License & attribution
Sources: Merck Veterinary Manual (merckvetmanual.com) is © Merck & Co., Inc. and VCA Hospitals (vcahospitals.com) is © VCA Animal Hospitals; neither is openly licensed. Per COPYRIGHT_POLICY §3, every claim above is a paraphrased derived fact summary (numbers and proper nouns preserved, sentences rewritten), not a verbatim quotation.
- https://www.merckvetmanual.com/exotic-and-laboratory-animals/reptiles/nutritional-metabolic-and-endocrine-diseases-of-reptiles