For small lizards and snakes you can use the old iso/gauze in the tank gig and pull out the gauze when movement ceases. Coincidently I just did this last night with a young boa constrictor that had a rectal prolapse. It worked superb, recovery was smooth. Larger animals fight to much with this method. I would imagine it's because it takes much longer to get the lung air percentage up to the 3-5% desired.



If your patients are still breathing then they probably arn't under surgical plain anesthesia. Remember that breathing is voluntary in reptiles and this movement is lost with adequate anesthetic. No breathing is fine for short procedures (such as my rectal prolapse) but if yours are lasting over 30 minutes I would suggest getting a ventilator. There was an awesome one discussed by Dr. Hernandez-Divers in his last VIN class, but I can't recall the brand name. I don't think it's very expensive either. You can contact him via the ARAV or the University of Georgia (I"m pretty sure that's the school, let me know in a new post if I'm wrong and I"ll look it up for you).



As you know, tubing herps is easy of course and various gage cathetors are readily available.



Ian

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