Inventory and Prevalence of Gastrointestinal Parasites Among Vipers (Serpentes: Viperidae) in Padang City

Viper snakes are pets that are widely distributed in the Asian region. Viper snakes are animals whose population is decreasing in nature that needs to be preserved by doing conservation, one of which is maintenance. Padang is one of the provinces where there are many Hobyists and Reptile Lovers who keep Reptiles, especially Viper snakes. This study aims to determine the types of gastrointestinal/endoparasites in pet Viper snakes in the city of Padang and to determine the prevalence of each parasite. The research was conducted from November to completion in the city of Padang and continued at the Animal Taxonomy Laboratory, Department of Biology, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Andalas University. Stool samples were collected from 11 species of pet Viper snakes consisting of 46 individuals. Stool samples were examined by the centrifugation-float method. From the results of the study, four types of endoparasites were found, each of which was found in the egg stage, namely Kalicephalus sp., Ophidascaris sp., Oxyuris sp. and Rhabdias sp. Gastrointestinal/endoparasite prevalence obtained from the results of the examination, namely single infection was obtained at 77.3% and mixed infection was 22.7%