Endoparasitism in captive wild-caught snakes indigenous to Kerala, India.

In this preliminary survey, coprologic examination of six different captive snake species housed in three different herpetariums of Kerala state was conducted from July 2005 to January 2006, to study the prevalence of endoparasites. Of the 25 snakes examined, 22 (88%) were found infected. On the basis of morphology and morphometry, Capillaria spp. (72%), strongyle (28%), spirurid (20%), Strongyloides/Rhabdias spp. (16%), ascarid (12%), pseudophyllidean tapeworm (8%), acanthocephalan (4%) and pentastomid (12%) ova were identified. The occurrence of ova of Hymenolepis spp. as pseudoparasite was also noticed.