Elsevier, Experimental Parasitology, (147), p. 7-15, 2014
DOI: 10.1016/j.exppara.2014.09.007
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Little is known of the parasitic fauna of terrestrial snakes in Iran. This study aimed to evaluate the parasitic infection rates of snakes in Iran. A total of 87 Snakes belonging to 8 different species, that were collected between May 2012 and September 2012 and died after the hold in captivity, under which they were kept for taking poisons, were examined for the presence of gastrointestinal and blood parasites. According to our study 12 different genera of endoparasites in 64 (73.56%) of 87 examined snakes were determined. Forty one snakes (47.12%) had gastrointestinal parasites. In prepared blood smears found that in 23 (26.43%) of 87 examined snakes there are at least one haemoparasites. To our knowledge, this is the first data on the internal parasitic fauna of Iranian terrestrial snakes and our findings show a higher prevalence of these organisms among them.