Alejandro Usategui-Martín, Ana Liria-Loza, Roldán A Valverde, Lluis Tort, Fernando Tuya, Daniel Montero
{"title":"Husbandry Protocols for Juvenile Loggerhead Sea Turtles (<i>Caretta caretta</i>) Based on Stress Response to Stocking Density and Dry-Dock Time.","authors":"Alejandro Usategui-Martín, Ana Liria-Loza, Roldán A Valverde, Lluis Tort, Fernando Tuya, Daniel Montero","doi":"10.1080/10888705.2024.2315048","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>When necessary, sea turtles are held captive for veterinarian care and research purposes. Protocols and basic guidelines have been described for husbandry of sea turtles with veterinarian needs but not considering physiological indicators of animal welfare. Because all sea turtle are imperiled species, monitoring their welfare is important. The aim of this study was to standardize husbandry protocols for loggerhead (<i>Caretta caretta</i>) juveniles held under seminatural conditions, based on circulating concentration of plasma corticosterone (Cort) and behavior. Two experiments were performed to analyze physiological and behavioral responses of the animals facing changes in stocking density and different dry-docking times. Cort analyses suggested that the number of animals per tank can be modified occasionally, without affecting their health and welfare. However, dry-docking time should be < 30 min, as indicated by the significant elevation of circulating Cort at ≥ 30 min, rising from 1.51- ng/ml to 5.28-ng/ml. Protocols tested did not affect behavioral responses, except for the breaths per move, which increased while Cort increased, despite differences exhibited by experimental animals in behavioral responses according to daily times (morning vs afternoon) and the sex of the animals.</p>","PeriodicalId":56277,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.4000,"publicationDate":"2024-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science","FirstCategoryId":"97","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1080/10888705.2024.2315048","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"2024/2/18 0:00:00","PubModel":"Epub","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"VETERINARY SCIENCES","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
When necessary, sea turtles are held captive for veterinarian care and research purposes. Protocols and basic guidelines have been described for husbandry of sea turtles with veterinarian needs but not considering physiological indicators of animal welfare. Because all sea turtle are imperiled species, monitoring their welfare is important. The aim of this study was to standardize husbandry protocols for loggerhead (Caretta caretta) juveniles held under seminatural conditions, based on circulating concentration of plasma corticosterone (Cort) and behavior. Two experiments were performed to analyze physiological and behavioral responses of the animals facing changes in stocking density and different dry-docking times. Cort analyses suggested that the number of animals per tank can be modified occasionally, without affecting their health and welfare. However, dry-docking time should be < 30 min, as indicated by the significant elevation of circulating Cort at ≥ 30 min, rising from 1.51- ng/ml to 5.28-ng/ml. Protocols tested did not affect behavioral responses, except for the breaths per move, which increased while Cort increased, despite differences exhibited by experimental animals in behavioral responses according to daily times (morning vs afternoon) and the sex of the animals.
期刊介绍:
Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science (JAAWS) publishes articles on methods of experimentation, husbandry, and care that demonstrably enhance the welfare of nonhuman animals in various settings. For administrative purposes, manuscripts are categorized into the following four content areas: welfare issues arising in laboratory, farm, companion animal, and wildlife/zoo settings. Manuscripts of up to 7,000 words are accepted that present new empirical data or a reevaluation of available data, conceptual or theoretical analysis, or demonstrations relating to some issue of animal welfare science. JAAWS also publishes brief research reports of up to 3,500 words that consist of (1) pilot studies, (2) descriptions of innovative practices, (3) studies of interest to a particular region, or (4) studies done by scholars who are new to the field or new to academic publishing. In addition, JAAWS publishes book reviews and literature reviews by invitation only.