Lizard Necropsy

It is important that post mortem examinations are carried out with a systematic approach.

External examination

• Measure and weigh the lizard and examine the external features.
• Check the skin for bruising, bleeding, ulcerations, burns, lumps, scars, retained shed and ectoparasites.
• Examine the nares, eyes, tympanic membranes, oral cavity and cloaca.
• Assess the musculoskeletal system for body condition and palpate for pathology of the bones.

Internal examination

• Open the coelomic cavity. Check for fluid.
• Examine all organs in a systematic manner - heart, great vessels, lung, thyroid, liver, gall bladder, spleen, pancreas, oesophagus, stomach, small intestine, large intestine, adrenal glands, kidneys, gonads.
• Open trachea, lungs, heart, oesophagus, stomach, and the intestinal tract and section others.
• Take swabs as appropriate including heart blood, liver, spleen and kidney.
• Note the colour, size, shape and any abnormalities of each organ.
• Take sterile smear of heart blood for staining.
• Put liver, lung, kidney, spleen and intestine in both formal saline (transfer to 70% ethanol after 48 hours) and frozen in sterile container.
• Make impression smears of different parts of intestines.
• Take a sterile sample of any abnormal gut contents, make a smear in saline.
• Wash the gut contents out in saline, examine for signs of parasites.
• Inspect the gonads to sex definitively.

Recording your findings

It is essential that you record your findings sytematically and at the time of the necropsy; a form for this purpose can be found here

Literature Search

Use these links to find recent scientific publications via CAB Abstracts (log in required unless accessing from a subscribing organisation).


Lizard Necropsy publications

Reptile pathology: getting the most out of pathology. St. Leger, J.; The North American Veterinary Conference, Gainesville, USA, Small animal and exotics. Proceedings of the North American Veterinary Conference, Orlando, Florida, USA, 16-20 January 2010, 2010, pp 1714-1716, 5 ref. - Full Text Article

The reptile necropsy: collection and submission of pathologic samples. Garner, M. M.; Eastern States Veterinary Association, Gainesville, USA, Small animal and exotics. Proceedings of the North American Veterinary Conference, Volume 19, Orlando, Florida, USA, 8-12 January, 2005, 2005, pp 1275-1277 - Full Text Article