Egg retention is a disorder that affects the genital system of reptiles, with a great prevalence in chelonians. These work analyses fourteen cases of egg retention in South American Red-footed Tortoise (Geochelone carbonaria Spix, 1824) maintained as pets that had been attended in the Veterinary Clinic of Universidade Federal Fluminense (UFF) between 1999 and 2003. Among the factors that contribute to the occurrence of this dystocia are aspects of the retained eggs such as shape abnormalities, size enlargement and thickened shells were analyzed, as well as poor environmental condition, metabolic bone disease, gastrointestinal foreign body and parched feces, that can predispose to egg retention. Both therapeutic procedures and the presence of prolapsed oviduct were analyzed. The use of radiographic techniques for both diagnosis and therapeutic decisions in egg retention were fundamental in the studied cases. Concernig the treatment, two procedures were taken into account: the use of oxytocin and the surgery. Regarding the factors that contribute to the dystocia occurence, it was concluded that the maintenance of animals in ambients with rigid substrate was decisive.
tortoise; Geochelone carbonaria; egg retention
