Prevalence of endoparasites in captive snakes of Kerala, India

The objective of the study was to evaluate the status of parasitic infections in captive snakes of Kerala. Faecal samples were collected from captive snakes of State Museums and Zoos of Thrissur and Thiruvananthapuram. Parasites were screened by direct smear, sedimentation, simple floatation and Shaether’s sugar floatation method. Fortynine snakes from 15 species were screened and 35 (71.4%) were found to be positive. While 80% of the snakes from Thrissur were found to be positive for parasitic infections, 70.6% of the samples from Thiruvananthapuram zoo were positive. Strongyloides sp. was the most prominent infection, accounting for 25.7% of all infections, followed by Capillaria sp. (22.8%) and Strongyles (20%). The preliminary investigation of captive Green Anaconda samples from Thiruvananthapuram zoo revealed mites, non-sporulated Coccidia of the genus Eimeria sp. and Cryptosporidium sp. It is understood that most of the infections of the captive snakes were acquired through the feeding and handling of the snakes, therefore periodical sampling is needed for both the snakes and their prey.