CLINICAL DISORDERS IN ARMADILLOS (DASYPODIDAE, EDENTATA) IN CAPTIVITY

The major health problems found in 113 armadillos are presented and co rrelated with management in captivity. The most common of 217 recorded clinical disorders involved injury (28.5%), digestive system (17.9%), respiratory system (15.2%), nutritional deficiency (13.3%), skin prob lems (3.6%), septicaemia (1.8%), nervous system (1.3%), urinary system (0.9%) and effects of environmental (0.9%), with 14.7% of the cases i nconclusive. Internal parasites were identified in 42.0% of faeces sam ples, mainly eggs of helminths (66.6%), of which the commonest were An cylostoma sp. (33.3%), Strongyloides sp. (30.5%), Ascaris sp. (25.0%), Trichuris sp. (11.1%), and also protozoa (13.0%). Enterobacteriaceae were the bacteria most frequently isolated, with Escherichia coil the most prevalent, followed by Salmonella sp. and Enterobacter aerogenes. The most successful treatments are listed. The influence of some capt ive factors on the onset of the diseases was also analysed: donated an imals 91.1% and zoo born 8.8%; quarantine enclosure 84.0% and exhibiti on 15.0%; and related to time in captivity, 92.2% occurred with animal s in the first 6 months in the zoo and 7.8% with animals more than 6 m onths.