Thirty-four eastern indigo snakes ( Drymarchon couperi ) naturally infected with Cryptosporidium serpentis were randomly divided into two groups. The first group received 360 mg/kg paromomycin twice weekly in a food item for six weeks, while the second group received the food item with no treatment. Cloacal swabs were collected every two months for six months to measure C. serpentis shedding by quantitative polymerase chain reaction testing (qPCR). Snakes that were qPCR negative after six 6 months were immunosuppressed with a single dose of 4 mg/kg dexamethasone sodium-phosphate SC. These snakes were then screened by qPCR for an additional 6 months as described above. Snakes that were qPCR negative after one year of serial sampling were then re-evaluated for C. serpentis via gastric biopsy for histological and qPCR analyses. The paromomycin-treated group were significantly (p=0.008) more likely to test qPCR negative (8/17; 47%, 95% Confidence Interval [CI]: 23.2-70.7) than the control snakes (1/17; 5.8%, 95% CI: 0.01-16.9) prior to immunosuppression. However, there was no significant difference (p=0.5) in C. serpentis status following immunosuppression as only 2/17 (11.7%, 95% CI: 0.01-26.9) paromomycin-treated snakes were qPCR negative six months after immunosuppression compared to 1/17 (5.8%, 95% CI: 95% CI: 0.01-16.9) control snakes. These findings suggest that 360 mg/kg paromomycin twice weekly for six weeks in a food item is ineffective in eliminating C. serpentis in naturally infected D. couperi .

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Eastern indigo snakes (EIS), Drymarchon couperi, have unique physiological features that are not well understood. A useful tool to better understand the physiology of this species are reference intervals for plasma biochemical analytes. However, reported values for plasma biochemical analytes are often specific to the analyzer used. In order to determine whether a point of care analyzer would produce results comparable to a veterinary reference laboratory analyzer, this study aimed to compare plasma biochemical analyte values between a point of care analyzer and a veterinary reference lab analyzer, regardless of EIS health status. Plasma biochemical analyte values were obtained from 31 EIS and compared between analyzers. The analytes compared were albumin (ALB), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), total calcium (Ca), creatinine kinase (CK), glucose (GLU), potassium (K), sodium (Na), phosphorus (P), total protein (TP), and uric acid (UA). Analytes with a very high correlation between analyzers were AST (r = 0.923), K (r = 0.916), and UA (r = 0.965); analytes with a high correlation were Ca (r = 0.724), CK (r = 0.789), GLU (r = 0.889), and TP (r = 0.812); moderate correlation P (r = 0.528); low correlation ALB (r = 0.471); and no correlation Na (r = -0.138). A point of care analyzer offers many benefits such as portability, rapid results, small sample size requirements, and the ability to use whole blood. The Vetscan VS2 produces similar values for only some analytes signifying the need for method-specific reference intervals for plasma biochemical analytes in EIS.