Parasitological and Immunological Diagnoses from Feces of Captive-bred Snakes at Vital Brazil Institute

Abstract. Fecal samples from 56 snakes at the Vital Brazil Institute, in the city of Niterói, Rio de Janeiro, were tested using the sedimentation and flotation techniques to investigate the evolutionary forms of parasites such as helminths and protozoa, and using enzyme immunoassay techniques to detect antigens of Cryptosporidium sp. and Giardia sp. Among the animals tested, 80.3% were positive for parasites. Out of these, there were 16 Bothrops jararaca, 16 B. jararacussu and 13 Crotalus durissus. Te prevalence of parasitic nematodes was 41.1%, and nematodes were found in all three snake species. Among these, the most frequent fnding was eggs of Kalicephalus sp., which were diagnosed in 25% of the snakes. Te positivity for protozoa detected using parasite concentration techniques was 75%, including oocysts of Caryospora sp. in 75%, cysts with morphology similar to Giardia sp. 3.6%, amoeboid cysts in 41.1% and unsporulated coccidia oocysts in 8.9%. Immunoassays for Cryptosporidium sp. antigens produced positive fndings in 60.7%. Pseudoparasites were detected in 64.3%. Tese results show that there is a need to improve the sanitary handling of captive-bred snakes, and also for the animal house that supplies rodents to feed them. Te results also highlight that
diagnostic tests should be performed periodically on stool specimens from captive-bred snakes.