Reptile Analgesia

Reptile analgesia is challenging due to their unique physiologic, anatomic, and behavio-ral adaptations. As the number of studies examining pain and nociception in reptiles increases, our ability to provide analgesic care improves. Pain is inherently subjective, and is defined as unpleasant sensory and emotional experiences associated with actual/ potential tissue damage, noting that the inability to communicate verbally does not negate the possibility of pain and the need for appropriate pain-relieving treatment. Nociception generally refers to the physiologic or neuroanatomical components neces-sary to sense and transmit noxious stimuli to the brain where it can ultimately be inter-preted as a painful experience. The neuroanatomic components necessary for nocicep-tion have been described in reptiles.

At least at the physiologic level reptiles are capable of responding to noxious stimuli in a manner similar to mammals. Until further information is available, it is most ethical for veterinarians to assume that reptiles are capable of feeling pain and to treat or manage evidence of pain.

In a survey of the membership of the Association of Reptile and Amphibian Veterinari-ans, 98% of the respondents indicated they believed that reptiles feel pain. However, < 50% of respondents reported using analgesics in > 50% of their patients. The reasons for failure to use analgesics were not addressed, yet possibilities include a failure to rec-ognize painful patients, lack of efficacy data, concern regarding adverse effects, and lit-tle/no experimentally determined dose or pharmacokinetic information.

Assessing pain in reptiles
With more than 8000 different reptile species it is exceedingly to assess behavior changes in these animals, making behavioral alterations associated with pain difficult to identify. Recognition of abnormal behavior in reptiles requires careful, often time con-suming observation, and changes may be very subtle. [...]