Chemical and physical restraint of reptiles: Review

Abstract

The Reptilia class (reptiles) is composed of 8000 species split into four orders: Chelonia (turtles), Crocodilia (crocodilians), Rhynchocephalia (tuatara) and Squamata (lizards and snakes). They are ectothermic animals with sluggish metabolism, lack functional diaphragm, performing the breathing with help of other mechanisms; the response to drugs is differently. There are practically no docile species within this group of animals, requiring physical restraint or chemical restraint. There are different methods to perform the management of physical restraint of each species, each species with a different characteristic to using anesthetics for chemical restraint. In all procedures where the animals are anesthetized have a pre-anesthesia care performed with the use of anesthetic drugs before anesthesia, observation during maintenance of anesthesia, besides monitoring with evaluation of physiological parameters and different reflexes that those animals exhibit during anesthesia.