Download Health screening in the critically endangered golden lancehead in

HEALTH SCREENING IN THE CRITICALLY
LANCEHEAD (Bothrops insularis) IN CAPTIVITY
ENDANGERED
GOLDEN
M. Lallo, DVM,1 G. Daniel, DVM,1,2 A. Nassar, PhD,2 O. Russomano, PhD,2 A. Turquetti,1 R.
Lima,1 E. Castro,1 B. Durrant, PhD,3 and R. Zacariotti, DVM1*
1
Universidade Cruzeiro do Sul, R. Dr. Ussiel Cirilo 225, 08070-060, São Paulo, Brazil;
Instituto Biológico, Av. Conselheiro Rodrigues Alves 1252, 04014-002, São Paulo, Brazil;
3
San Diego Zoo Institute for Conservation Research, 15600 San Pasqual Valley Road,
Escondido, CA 92027 USA
2
ABSTRACT
As part of the conservation program for the critically endangered golden lancehead (Bothrops
insularis), the first health screenings were conducted on 13 healthy snakes in captivity. Complete
hemograms and serum biochemistries were performed on each snake. In addition, bacterial and
fungal biota and specific parasites (Cryptosporidium sp. and Microsporidium sp.) were surveyed.
The hemograms and serum biochemistries results were within the interval published for a close
related species, the B. jararaca. The bacterial microbiota survey revealed common gram
negative bacteria such Pseudomonas fluorescens, Citrobacter freundii and Pantoea agglomerans
from skin, oral and cloacal mucosa. No individuals were positive to Salmonella spp. The fungal
microbiota exams revealed Tricoderma sp. as the most common in skin and mouth or cloacal
mucosa. Thicophyton sp., a fungus with zoonotic potential, was isolated from the skin of seven
individuals. There are few reports on microsporidiosis in reptiles and association with clinical
disease is rare. So far, we identified in healthy captive B. insularis, only the microsporidia
Encephalitozoon spp. from feces and gastric washes, using gram-chromotrope stain and PCR
techniques. These results will be used to establish a database for basic health parameters for the
species, which will serve as a baseline for comparison to free-ranging individuals. The
information will be included in the newly established Studbook of this species in Brazil.
2013 Proceedings Association of Reptilian and Amphibian Veterinarians
134