Anesthesia and immobilization in reptiles

: In reptiles anesthesia is recommended not only for painful treatment but also for diagnostic procedures like radiology, sonography, endoscopy and MRI. Special attention should be directed to the anesthetic regimen because of anatomical and physiological differences to mammals. To achieve optimum body temperature (normally 25-30 degrees C) preanesthetic heating is useful. In most cases ketamine hydrochloride is used as an injectable anesthetic. Our own anesthesias (n = 263) are compared to those in the literature. Important disadvantages are species-specific dosages between 15 and 220 mg/kg body weight and poor relaxation. The results of 132 anesthesias performed by the authors using Isoflurane are discussed with reference to the literature. The main advantages were independence of species-specific problems and excellent analgesia and relaxation. Due to total relaxation, manual intermittent positive-pressure ventilation (IPPV) is necessary.