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 1012/l, 10.47 ± 2.58 109/l, 1.83 ± 0.92 109/l, 1.67 ± 1.04 109/l, 0.29 ± 0.33 109/l, 0.48 ± 0.40 109/l, 2.03 ± 1.07 109/l and 4.17 ± 2.12 109/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.

Keywords

• reptiles
• lizards
• venepuncture
• haematology
• blood chemistry