Hematological and plasma chemistry values for the African rock python (Python sebae)

Publication date: Available online 16 October 2017 Source:International Journal of Veterinary Science and Medicine Author(s): Henry O. Jegede, Temidayo O. Omobowale, Babatunde S. Okediran, Afolabi A. Adegboye Hematology and plasma biochemistry parameters are useful in the assessment and management of threatened and endangered species. Although reference values are readily available for many mammalian species, reference values for snakes are lacking for most species. We determined hematology and plasma biochemistry values for captive African rock pythons (Python sebae) and studied the effects of age, sex, season and hemoparasites on these values. Blood (5 mL) was collected by venipuncture of ventral coccygeal vein from 19 African rock pythons in rainy season and 14 snakes from the same population in dry season. There was no significant statistical difference (P < .05) between males and females to any of the parameters measured except total calcium in the rainy season. Significantly higher values were obtained (P < .05) for the white blood cells (WBC), heterophils, lymphocytes, mean corpuscular volume (MCV), mean corpuscular hemoglobin (MCH) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) in the dry versus the rainy seasons while there were significantly lower values obtained for red blood cells (RBC), glucose and total protein. Statistically significant differences in lymphocyte and monocyte counts were however found between adult and juvenile snakes. Differ...
Source: International Journal of Veterinary Science and Medicine - Category: Veterinary Research Source Type: research