Lizard Necropsy
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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.