A REVIEW OF MORTALITY IN TENTACLED SNAKES () IN A MULTI-INSTITUTION ZOOLOGICAL COLLECTION BETWEEN 1966 AND 2017.

The tentacled snake () is a viviparous aquatic snake that is a desirable species to exhibit in zoological collections because of its unique appearance and feeding strategies. Despite its presence in zoo collections over the past 50 yr, a comprehensive review of mortality and morbidity in the species has not been published. This study retrospectively reviewed 125 pathology reports from tentacled snakes in a multi-institution zoological collection in New York (The Wildlife Conservation Society's Bronx and Central Park zoos) between 1966 and 2017. Just over half of the deaths were due to infectious disease ( = 67; 53.6%), and of these, over half ( = 40; 59.7%) were due to fungal dermatitis. Fungal histomorphology was consistent with spp. in most cases. Death due to bacterial infection was also relatively common ( = 21; 16.8%), and one-third had intralesional bacilli consistent with spp. ( = 7; 5.6%). The most common comorbidities included gastrointestinal parasitism ( = 44; 35.2%), renal pathology ( = 31; 24.8%), and lipid accumulation of hepatocytes ( = 13; 10.4%). This retrospective review suggests that managing infectious diseases plays a role in the long-term care and survival of captive tentacled snakes.