I’m refreshing protocols for iguanas and tortoises and want a course that goes beyond small-animal extrapolations — especially Doppler placement, capnography pitfalls, and stress-minimizing warming strategies for 1–3 kg chelonians. Ideally on-demand before March, and bonus if it ties patient care to rehab/release decisions in conservation settings.
For 1–3 kg tortoises, I get the most reliable Doppler by tucking the probe into the axillary window and angling caudomedially to catch the brachial artery, then gently flexing the humerus until the signal pops; if that fails, the thoracic inlet over the carotid works but is fussier under drapes… If you need something “on‑demand before March,” ARAV’s webinar library is a good fit and often links monitoring choices to rehab/release decisions: https://arav.org/education/.
I found @ARAV’s on‑demand chelonian anesthesia webinar (https://arav.org/education/webinars/) surprisingly practical — my best tweak since was using a water‑cuff Doppler over the coccygeal artery at the tail base, and dropping sidestream capnography to about [redacted]/min to avoid ghost‑low ETCO2. Small caveat: it skews toward intubated cases; if you want more mask‑heavy approaches before March, VIN’s reptile anesthesia short course rounded out the rehab/release angles for me.
Capnography bit me the most on 1–3 kg tortoises: dropping the side‑stream sampling rate to 50–[redacted]/min and putting the sampling port right at the ETT connector stopped the falsely low ETCO2 and the weird, “shark‑fin” trace from dead space and condensation. If your monitor won’t let you tweak flow, a very short line plus an HME or microstream adapter has been a decent workaround. If you want a quick on‑demand refresher that mentions this, @VETgirl has a reptile anesthesia talk that’s been handy.
One tweak that’s helped me is using a lightweight mainstream capnograph and skipping the HME to keep dead space down; if the trace looks funky, I confirm with a quick venous gas instead of chasing numbers. For heat, I pre‑warm a circulating water pad to about 28–30°C and add a thin foam “donut” under the bridge so the plastron’s off the cold table but limb perfusion stays accessible — a tiny car lift. If you need on‑demand before March, LafeberVet’s reptile anesthesia webinars hit chelonian monitoring nicely and tie choices to case outcomes: LafeberVet: for exotic animal veterinary medicine professionals.
Quick example: on tortoises I get a cleaner Doppler by sliding the probe just cranial to the thoracic inlet on the right with a fingertip of gel as a standoff; if the numbers wander, a snug Cole tube tamps down leaks that skew ETCO2. For CE, @AAZV’s Wildlife Health modules on Wildlifeteach (https://wildlifeteach.org) hit monitoring details and link them to post‑op fitness and release decisions, and they’re on‑demand. Small caveat: forced‑air warmers can spook them — circulating water pad plus pre‑warmed fluids keeps temps up with less fuss.