Functional components of the tidal volume obtained with volumetric capnography in an anesthetized Western lowland gorilla (Gorilla gorilla)

The neuroactive steroid alfaxalone (3-α-hydroxy-5-α-pregnane-11,20-dione) has been used for anaesthesia with no complications in a variety of reptiles (Scheelings et al. 2011; Knotek 2014; Perrin & Beltesen 2017). In snakes, alfaxalone (3.7 mg kg–1) administered subcutaneously (SC) was successful in sedating a giant python allowing a second dose to be administered intravenously (IV) (Freitag et al. 2022). Alfaxalone administered IV has also been used to induce general anaesthesia in a perentie monitor, which is the only published report of its use in a reptile belonging to the genus Varanus (Hoffman et al.