1 / 8

Some Additional Considerations for the Care and Use of Amphibians and Reptiles in Research

Some Additional Considerations for the Care and Use of Amphibians and Reptiles in Research.

jjudkins
Download Presentation

Some Additional Considerations for the Care and Use of Amphibians and Reptiles in Research

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Some Additional Considerations for the Care and Use of Amphibians and Reptiles in Research

  2. Reptiles -- Special handling considerations - Salmonella - Aggressive/defensive behaviors - biting (all) - clawing (turtles, lizards) - fecal spraying (snakes)Housing Reptiles:Adults and juveniles: moisture, basking sites, density, feeding schedulesEggs: substrate moisture, temp., positioning to avoid membrane damage

  3. Euthanasia - Reptiles • Intravenous injection of barbituates - problem – barbituates are scheduled drugs (controlled substances) thus difficult to obtain - possible solution – intracoelomic injection of MS-222 (Conroy et al 2009). Inhalation of anesthetics prior to decapitation -- very effective – typical anesthetics employed are isoflurane and halothane Decapitation followed by immediate pithing Unacceptable methods – -- freezing – ice crystals may form prior to death

  4. Amphibians -- Special handling considerations: - Salmonella, but recent research suggests that handling frogs with latex gloves may lead to mortality - Toxic dermal secretions (toads, some salamanders) (note – latex gloves may be toxic to amphibians!!) Housing Amphibians:Adults: substrate moisture, hiding substrates, light spectrum, temperatureEmbryos: aeration, water pH 6 to 7.5 generally ideal, dissolved oxygenLarvae: aeration, pH (as with embryos), feeding (know your species), densities

  5. Euthanasia - amphibians • Generally similar to reptiles. • Also acceptable - dermal application of benzocaine followed by decapitation, pithing, or cervical dislocation. • Also acceptable – submersion in buffered MS-222 followed by decapitation, pithing, or cervical dislocation

  6. Field collecting • A major threat to amphibians today is infectious disease • fungal, bacterial, viral • It is very important that field collectors do not serve as vectors for these diseases • Between sampling sites, clean (bleach rinse) all boots, nets, other instruments. • Be aware of prevalence of amphibian diseases in your study areas.

  7. As with any other animal study, if you have ANY questions, please contact the committee and we will guide you to the proper resources.

  8. GUIDELINES FOR USE OF LIVE AMPHIBIANS AND REPTILES IN FIELD RESEARCH, Compiled by American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists (ASIH), The Herpetologists' League (HL), Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles (SSAR) http://199.245.200.110/pubs/herpcoll.htmlNumerous other publications dealing with care and use of amphibians and reptiles are linked from the IACUC website

More Related