O objetivo desta pesquisa foi avaliar as variações dos constituintes bioquímicos sanguíneos da tartaruga Podocnemis expansa de um criatório comercial. Para isto, foram colhidas, por venipuntura do seio vertebral caudal, amostras de sangue de 46 animais mantidos em tanques na Fazenda Moenda do Lago, distrito de São José dos Bandeirantes, município de Nova Crixás – GO. Após colhidas, as amostras de sangue foram transferidas rapidamente para frascos vacutainer® sem anticoagulante e levados à centrífuga para obtenção do soro, logo após transferidos para eppendorf e armazenados a – 200C. O material foi transportado para o laboratório da Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária (FAMEV) da Universidade Federal de Uberlândia (UFU) para o seu processamento. As análises foram processadas colorimetricamente e em sensor rápido de glicose (Precision Plus Medsense®), os valores médios foram: proteínas totais 4,42±0,55 g/ dL, albumina 2,50±0,2 g/dL, globulinas 1,92±0,35 g/dL, relação albumina/globulinas (A/G) 1,55±1,46, glicose 122,9±35,2 mg/dL, uréia 61,13±28,35 mg/dL, creatinina 0,098±0,021 mg/dL, ácido úrico 2,08±0,53 mg/dL, cálcio total 7,08±1,04 mg/dL, cálcio ionizado 4,41±0,60 mg/ dL, colesterol 106,93±21,03 mg/dL, fósforo 5,21±1,22 mg/dL, relação cálcio/fósforo (Ca++/P) 1,58±0,66, ferro 390,35±116,65 ì g/dL, magnésio 1,59±0,14 mg/dL, cloretos 86,40±7,63 mEq/L, aspartato aminotransferase (AST) 194,56±154,27 U/L, alanino aminotransferase (ALT) 4,04±3,00 U/L, fosfatase alcalina 131,13±59,96 U/L, gama glutamiltransferase (GGT) 0,60±0,84 U/L e triglicérides 127,65±100,86 mg/dL. Conclui-se que os valores apresentam grandes diferenças dos valores de outras espécies de quelônios e que a relação albumina:globulina, as concentrações plasmáticas de ácido úrico e glicose são inversamente proporcionais às massas corporais dos animais. A espécie estudada apresenta escassos valores de bioquímica sanguínea na literatura, desta maneira os dados que foram apresentados auxiliam no estabelecimento de um padrão de bioquímica sanguínea para Podocnemis expansa criadas em cativeiro, mas também pode ser base para novos estudos.

PURPOSE: Identify a technique to induce brief sedation and hypnosis in Podocnemis expansa. METHODS: Twenty commercially bred P. expansa, weighing on average 1.2 ± 0.24 kg, were subjected to two protocols: G1 was given 1.5 mg/kg IM of xylazine and 5 mg/kg IV of propofol, while G2 received 1.5 mg/kg IM of xylazine and 10 mg/kg IV of propofol. The drugs were applied, respectively, in the left thoracic member and in the cervical vertebral sinus. Assessments were made of the anesthetic parameters of locomotion, muscle relaxation, response to pain stimuli in the right thoracic members, pelvic members and tail, easy handling and heartbeat, as well as ambient temperature and glycemic level. RESULTS: A consistent hypnotic effect was recorded 49.6 ± 22.1 seconds in G2 and after 58.2 ± 55.1 in G1. All the animals of G2 recovered in 198 minutes, and those of G1 in 156 minutes. CONCLUSION: The hypnosis achieved with these associations was satisfactory, and G1 was as efficient as G2, allowing for the pharmacological restraint for the collection of biological samples, physical examinations and minor surgeries on these species.

Morphological and molecular techniques were used to investigate the presence of hemogregarines and haemosporidians in biological samples of free-living Geoffroy's side-necked turtles (Phrynops geoffroanus) and Giant Amazon turtles (Podocnemis expansa) from Brazil. No evolutionary form of haemosporidians or hemogregarines were observed in the blood smears of 83 P. geoffroanus samples, and there were no meronts in the histological sections of 31 necropsied P. geoffroanus samples. All DNA samples extracted from P. geoffroanus tissues and blood aliquots were negative in haemosporidian PCR assays (based on the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene) and hemogregarine PCR assays (based on the 18S rRNA gene). In the analysis of blood smears of all seven Podocnemis expansa evaluated, gametocytes of hemogregarines were observed. The seven P. expansa were negative in the haemosporidian PCR assays. Moreover, hemogregarine DNA was detected in blood samples from all of the sampled P. expansa. The phylogenetic maximum likelihood inference and probabilistic Bayesian inference revealed five closely related genotypes that formed a monophyletic group. There was also a sister group to the lineage that consisted of Haemogregarina spp. of freshwater turtles from Canada, Italy, Mozambique, Kenya, Gabon, Vietnam, and China. The findings suggest that free-living P. expansa were parasitized by a new genotype or even a possible new species of the genus Haemogregarina. Haemosporidians and hemogregarines are not frequently found in P. geoffroanus in the studied region under the local conditions of that period.

Leptospirosis is a waterborne disease and, therefore, stands out for the possibility of environmental contamination, the cross transmission between domestic and wild animals and humans. Opossum species are important reservoirs of this disease making them potential pathogen spreaders. Aiming to verify the presence of Leptospira spp. and the antibodies against Leptospira spp. in the Campus of São Paulo State University, in Jaboticabal, São Paulo, Brazil, freeliving wild life opossum (Didelphis albiventris) were captured for blood and urine sampling. Serological analysis was performed Microscopic Agglutination Test (MAT). Aliquots of urine were seeded in media Ellinghausen-McCullough-Johnson-Harris (EMJH) and Fletcher without antibiotics. The samples in which there was growth of leptospires were forwarded to the Leptospirosis Laboratory of the

The aim of this study was to analyze the effects of the combination of the ketamine and the propofol anesthetics in Podocnemis expansa (giant amazon river turtle). Were used 20 turtle, which were divided into two groups of ten animals each. The first group received ketamine 20mg/kg/IM and propofol 10mg/kg/IV and the second group received ketamine 60mg/kg/IM and propofol 10mg/kg/IV. The animals were weighed and identified. The cardiac frequency of each animal was monitored before running the anesthesia and at 10, 30, 60, 120 and 180 minutes after administration of anesthetics. The applications of anesthetics occurred in the left forelimb (ketamine) and in the cervical vertebral sinus (propofol). Was assessed the degree of movement, muscle relaxation, ease of handling and response to painful stimulus in the thoracic limbs and pelvic, after administration of anesthetics. All animals entered in the surgical anesthesia plan before one minute after application of the anesthetic and remained in this condition by 180 minutes during the turtle’s evaluation