Blood collection & injection techniques in snakes.

A SUMMARY of methods for collecting blood from reptiles has been published. In that summary, four ways to collect blood from snakes are mentioned: cardiac puncture; bleeding from the palatine vein on the roof of the mouth; an orbital bleeding technique in which a capillary tube is used to pierce the conjunctival membrane between the eyeball and orbit; and blood collected by cutting off the tip of the tail. Some of these techniques are inconvenient and disfiguring, and their effectiveness may depend upon the size of the snake. Often little or no blood is collected. In the cardiac-puncture technique, the heart is difficult to stabilize. In some cases, this method can lead to cardiac tamponade. Alternate methods of bleeding snakes have been sought in an effort to obtain clinical data for continuing studies in reptilian medicine. In this paper we discuss two methods of blood collection and one injection technique for snakes. One method is feasible for snakes requiring multiple bleedings or intravenous injections. The other method is useful when only small volumes of blood are needed. (Continued on next page) Two techniques for collecting blood from snakes are described. In the first procedure, the snake is anesthetized and an incision made approximately 3 cm/posterior to the heart. Either the posterior vena cava or the aorta is exteriorized and the blood sample is taken. Repetitive blood samples for comparative studies may be obtained by this method. The exposed vena cava may also be used for intravenous injections. Anesthesia is optional in the second procedure. The blood sample is collected from the ventral aspect of the tail approximately 5 cm posterior to the vent. Withdrawal is slow and only a small volume is obtained. The sample is suitable for selected clinical pathology procedures.