The Herpetological Journal

pp.336-342

Authors: J. Davenport, S. Antipas And E. Blake

Abstract: Food consumption in post hatchling Chelonia mydas rises linearly between 1 8°C and 33°C. It is predicted that food intake will cease between 15°C and 16°C. The large intestine of post hatchlings is only half the length of the small intestine (c.f. 2. 5 times the length of the small intestine in adults). The food of post hatchlings spend most of its transit time in the stomach and small intestine; that of yearlings (i.e. animals of0.5- 1.0 kg body wt) spends most time in the large intestine. The changes in gut proportions and in the residence time of meals in the large intestine during development are correlated with a shift from a carnivorous to a herbivorous diet. Yearling turtles are capable of digesting plant material, achieving an energy absorption efficiency of 68 per cent on a diet of Zostera ( c.f. 87 percent on a diet of cod flesh). Yearlings have the ability to move food to and fro in the large intestine; several meals reside in the large intestine at once and become mixed. Posthatchling and yearling Chelonia mydas can store food for short periods in the oesophagus.