![\"Is](\"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/vet\/wp-content\/uploads\/lizard-caballero.jpg\")
<\/a>Figure 1<\/strong>. This lizard appears to be dead, but is it? How can the veterinarian verify life (and death) in reptiles? Image by Eric Caballero<\/em>.<\/p><\/div>\n Unfortunately ECG or Doppler readings can be misleading when verifying death in the reptile patient. Brain death can (apparently) precede asytole by many hours because the heart sometimes continues to beat and the body can continue to writhe for many hours after brain activity has ceased. Alternatively the heart rate can slow so dramatically that the \u201creptile\u2019s heart rate can change from beats per minute to minutes per beat\u2026\u201d (Mader 2006).<\/p>\n Checking heart rate is only ONE part of the picture when verifying reptile death. All reptile veterinarians have a story of a \u201cdead\u201d patient that wakes up 24 hours later\u2014often with nothing more than time or supplemental heat provided.<\/p>\n \u2026Last night on emergency I get a 6-year old 50-lb tortoise, which had been \u201cbasking\u201d at the bottom of the pool for about 3 hours. Owners upset, ‘try everything’ kind of situation. So the tortoise is room temperature, not breathing, flaccid, no deep pain– hook up the ECG, no electrical activity. I pick up the tortoise; hold it upside down and about half a gallon of water comes pouring out. Not good. AFTER euthanizing a reptile or proclaiming a reptile (probably) dead, but BEFORE sending the patient home or performing a necropsy it is imperative to confirm (or ensure) that the animal is dead.<\/p>\nDetecting the reptile heart rate<\/h2>\n
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Brain death versus cardiac arrest<\/h2>\n
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All reptile vets have a story like this\u2026<\/h2>\n
\n\u2026It gets busy, and about 2 hours later I hear this deep grunting sound. There’s a couple of critical animals in the hospital, so I get worried and look around – nothing. A few minutes later the same thing happens – and I look down to find the tortoise chewing on his ET tube!
\n\u2026Now he’s getting pissed – poked and prodded quite a few times, and I can’t even contain him in a cage, he’s so restless. Call the owners – they pretty much fall over themselves when I tell them to pick the tortoise up. Makes me look like a champ, while honestly didn’t do much more than give it a good-natured whirl… goes to show, you never know how [a reptile will] turn out. \u2014M.Dekker, DVM; EBVE, Antioch, CA<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/h2>\n
There\u2019s no heart beat, now what\u2026?<\/h2>\n