Diary of a WES Veterinarian: Handling Boa Constrictors.

I absolutely love snakes.  I always have.  These strong feelings are partly due to the fact that it is so diffcult to get experience with them.

Yesterday I went again to the police barracks in Varzea Grande.  My activities there are dictated by the patient priorities.  Reptiles are my top priority.  Usually they are unharmed and have simply been removed from a private house as an undesireabe pest by the authorities. They are released as soon as possibke by the police.

Because the WES veterinarian's goal is partly to obtain as much knowledge on the biology of the animal species I deal with as possible, even when the animal is not a clinical case, then I study what I can and try ti get to grips with the animal.

Yesterday was useful because I was able to handle my biggest Boa Constrictor.  It was 140cm long, 14cm in diameter and weighed 2.125kg.  It was not not difficult to capture using the techniques I described yesterday.  But when it coiled around my left arm I realsed I would have to act quickly before my blood circulation was affected.

So these are the probably the maximum dimensions of a Boa that I would want to handle without assistance from a brave assistant, or sedation or snake callipers.  I had an assistamt, but he was terrified, so I was on my own. Below are the photos he took.  I hadn't realised at the time, but he was shaking with fear!

Photograph showing part of the Boa's 145cm uncoiled length and 14cm circumference.  It is best not to allow a Boa Constrictor to coil around itself. -  its coils can catch on ites teeth.  

Here I have managed to clear the snake's coils from its head region.  The handler is in control as the snake's head is between my fingers, but it took all my upper body strength to restrain the snake.

Field Examination of the Brazilian Boa Constrictor (Jiboia).

Here in the Cuiabá Basin there are a lot of Boa Constrictors.  These snakes are not venomous.   However, their mouth is full of minute sharp teeth perfectly capable of delivering a sharp nip and, worse, getting ripped off in the process and getting embedded in your flesh.

The risk of this happening obviously depends upon the circumstances and the disposition of the individual boa.

The situation I found myself in recently was having extract a very loudly-hissing Boa from a transport box.  A few days earlier I had received a quick in-the-field tutorial on approaching wild Boas for examination purposes.

A metal snake hook should be used to slowly open the cgae or transport box.  The hook should then be placed over one-third of the waydoen the reptile's body, thus catching it off-balance.  Snakes strike using the first third of their body.  If you place the hook beyond the first third of the body, the snake cannot strike.

Then you place your index finger behind the head and your thumb and middle finger either side of the mandible.  Voilá: you can remove the snake from the transport box and begin the examination.

This beautiful specimen of a Boa Constrictor received a physical examination and clean bill of health.  Photo: Dr John Beaumont

This specimen was approx a metre long.  Note that the use of gloves hinders manual dexterity and later examinations were carried out with bare hands allowing full manual dexterity.  Heart and respiratory rates are best obtained using ultrasound. Photo: Dr John Beaumont.  His hand, too!

Veterinary Aspects of the Field Examination of the Brazilian Jaguarundi/ Gato Mourisco/Gato da Mata (case #103jagdi01)

When I was ending my penultimate year at Vets' School last year, I became aware that I was reaching the end of the course's theoretical content and that in a few short weeks I would be starting my clinical rotations.  Thus I would be expected to know all the theory of the previous four years.

I asked one of my most forward-looking professors what preparatory reading I should be doing, and he recommended the opening chapter of Ettinger.

One of the things I took from this reading was that the clinical examination begins as soon as I see the patient, which is at a distance.

Some time ago I obtained access to the Environmental Military Police's holding facility for wildlife in trouble.  Last week I examined a Jaguarundi, a fast little cat that comes in a variety of colours.

My first impression was that both animals that I was seeing in the pen were healthy.  As a conservation veterinary surgeon you learn your craft fast. When I see an animal now - and I have been observing animals all my life - I have a certain way of thinking about what I see.  As a field naturalist your biggest concern is getting an accurate identification. As a veterinarian this is of - how can I put this?  Not secondary concern, not to me, anayway, because I am dealing with some elusive species out here, but I have to be able to assess the animal clinically.

So you find yourself thinking in terms of the animal's bodily systems:  its skin, coat (mirror as to the animal's health), locomotion, movement, breathing, pulse, eyes, ears, paws, in fact, every part of its body, internally andexternally.

The animal below, which I examined last week, had a dark brown pelage (fur).  According to Emmons (1997), this is indicative of an animal from a rainforest habitat, as opposed to dry forest, cerrado or wetland (the Pantanal, locally).

I have never examined a more easy-to-handle wild animal.

Its heart rate was wonderfully regular; its breathing problem-free.

This one, I am delighted to say, seemed to be in rude health, and is due to be released next week. Good luck to her.  I named her Liane, a cat from the wild, after Mike Tomkies' Scottish Wildcat.

Magalhaes (1992) provides some solid natural history information. She says the species is usually found in pairs, and avoids open fields.

Eisenberg and Redford (1999) report that, even within the same population, a variety of coat colours can be seen.

Eisenberg, J. F. and Redford, K. H. (1999).  Mammals of the Neotropics: The Central Neotropics. Vol 3. Ecuador, Peru. Bolivia. Brazil. The University of Chicago Press, London.

Ettinger, S. T. and Feldman, E. C. (2005). Textbook of Veterinary Internal Medicine.Diseases of the Dog and Cat.  Sixth Ed. Elsevier, Inc.

Emmons, L.H. (1997). Neotropical Rainforest Animals. A Field Guide, Second Edition. The University of Chicago Press, London.

Magalhaes, N. W. de (1992). Conheça o Pantanal. Terragraph, São Paulo.

An adult female Jaguarundi, Gato Mourisco, Herpailurus yaguarundi, in captivity in Brazil's Mato Grosso State, Central Western Brazil.  Photo: Dr John Beaumont..