Blood profile in captive adult male leopard geckos (Eublepharis macularius)

Abstract

The aim of this study was to determine blood profile data in captive adult male leopard geckos. Animals were manually restrained with the head and neck extended. The right external jugular vein was punctured with a pre-heparinised needle and insulin syringe. The means and standard deviations for haemoglobin concentration, packed cell volume, total red blood cell count, total white blood cell count and counts for heterophils, basophils, eosinophils, monocytes, azurophils and lymphocytes for 20 healthy male leopard geckos were 72.58 ± 11.03 g/l, 25.40 ± 3.68%, 0.85 ± 0.14 10<sup>12</sup>/l, 10.47 ± 2.58 10<sup>9</sup>/l, 1.83 ± 0.92 10<sup>9</sup>/l, 1.67 ± 1.04 10<sup>9</sup>/l, 0.29 ± 0.33 10<sup>9</sup>/l, 0.48 ± 0.40 10<sup>9</sup>/l, 2.03 ± 1.07 10<sup>9</sup>/l and 4.17 ± 2.12 10<sup>9</sup>/l, respectively. The means and standard deviations for total protein, albumin, globulins, glucose, uric acid, aspartate aminotransferase, creatine kinase, calcium, phosphorus and potassium for 20 healthy adult captive male leopard geckos were 55.60 ± 7.52 g/l, 16.45 ± 2.37 g/l, 39.15 ± 5.74 g/l, 6.18 ± 1.35 mmol/l, 67.95 ± 42.63 µmol/l, 0.83 ± 0.42 µkat/l, 25.40 ± 29.46 µkat/l, 3.05 ± 0.18 mmol/l, 1.4 ± 0.23 mmol/l, and 5.78 ± 0.58 mmol/l, respectively. This is the first study to report blood haematology and biochemistry values for a group of captive adult male leopard geckos.

Sand fly blood meal volumes and their relation to female body weight

“…Whilst S. minuta is mainly herpetophilic [15], S. schwetzi is an opportunistic feeder [27] which readily feeds on reptiles; a colony of S. schwetzi fed solely on geckos was successfully maintained in our laboratory for eight years [28]. The substantial amounts of acquired blood might re ect adaptation of Sergentomyia species to lower haemoglobin content in reptilian erythrocytes [29], such adaptation requires large gut capacity together with highly e cient blood meal concentration during feeding. In addition, when compared to other sand ies, the feeding time is markedly prolonged in S. minuta.…”

Malignant ovarian dysgerminoma in a 16-year-old leopard gecko (Eublepharis macularius)

“…The standard protocol of reptile patient clinical examination consists of physical examination, ra-diographic and/or ultrasonographic examination, faecal samples examination, and analyses of haematology and plasma chemistry profiles (Schumacher and Toal 2001;Morici et al 2018;Cermakova et al 2019;Divers 2019;Knotkova et al 2019;Mayer and Moore 2019).…”