Aquatic turtle health — hypovitaminosis A; beta-carotene not metabolized by many reptiles
The text below is reproduced verbatim from the first-hand source (Merck Veterinary Manual).
> Hypovitaminosis A is common in aquatic turtles and insectivorous lizards fed a diet deficient in preformed vitamin A. The commonly used nutritional supplement beta carotene cannot be metabolized by many reptiles.
Source: pdf-raw/exotic-b3/reptile_nutrition.txt (first-hand professional veterinary reference, tag-stripped).
Claims (verified C1 substrings of source_file)
Hypovitaminosis A is common in aquatic turtles and insectivorous lizards fed a diet deficient in preformed vitamin A. The commonly used nutritional supplement beta carotene cannot be metabolized by many reptiles.