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Authors assessed the influence of age and health status on packed cell volume (PCV), plasma total protein (TPP), and glucose concentrations of loggerhead sea turtles Caretta caretta, brought into a Mediterranean sea turtle rescue center in Sicily. These blood parameters should be considered as the minimum database to check the health status of sea turtles. PCV and TPP are together valuable indicators of blood loss, dehydration, or dilution from lymph or extravascular fluid during blood collection. Glucose levels are important to evaluate the blood energy balance. After clinical evaluation, 38 turtles were classified as clinically healthy and 27 as unhealthy. Depending on the size of the turtle, subjects were divided in three groups: juveniles, subadults, and adults. Analysis of variance in healthy subjects showed a significant effect of age for TPP and glucose levels. Values obtained for each age group of healthy sea turtles were compared with those from unhealthy subjects by Mann-Whitney U test. Differences in PCV and TPP but not in glucose concentrations were found between unhealthy and healthy subjects. Our results suggest that these blood parameters are useful to obtain preliminary information about the condition of C. caretta. TPP, in particular, can be used to assess health status of sea turtles while taking age differences into consideration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]