ABSTRACT:
It is necessary to deal with Boa constrictor snakes because they are frequently treated in wild and exotic animal clinics and the knowledge about the required procedures in the treatment of the possible affections becomes imperative. When the choice for chemical restraint or sedation for surgical procedures is made, one of the drugs used in snakes is ketamine. We believed it was necessary to look for an alternative route of drug administration as effective as the regular ones, but with minimum risks and less adverse effects in its execution. Therefore thirteen snakes were submitted to the administration of 70mg/kg of ketamine hydrochloride, with an urethral tube, through the cloaca into the colon-rectum. After this, they were evaluated during the 0, 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90 and 120 next minutes from the administration time using the following parameters: heart rate, muscle relaxation and mobility, handling or restraint resistance and righting reflex. Blood samples were collected from each snake by cervical paravertebral venous sinus punction, before the drug administration, on the next day and nine days after. Serum concentrations of calcium, phosphorus and uric acid were measured in order to check the renal biochemical profile and the possibility of influence of the drug on this system. It was possible to provoke chemical restraint in Boa constrictor snakes, with ketamine hydrochloride administered by the colon-rectal route.
INDEX TERMS:
Colon-rectal route; ectothermic animals; anesthesia; renal function; enema; snakes; Boa constrictor; ketamine; anesthesiology
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