Tricaine Methane Sulfonate (MS-222) Anesthesia in Spiny and Florida Soft-shell Turtles, Apalone spinifera and Apalone ferox
Assoc Reptilian Amphibian Vet 7[2]:9-11 Summer'97 Reports of Original Studies 4 Refs

- The use of MS-222 on soft-shelled turtles, in our experience, has resulted in excellent surgical anesthesia. It is a relatively easy to administer anesthetic, either by injection or immersion. Induction times were relatively short with reasonable recovery time. Its disadvantages might include: variability in induction and recovery times, its unavailability in a ready-to-inject sterile solution, and brief solution shelf life (five to seven days). We feel, in research, MS-222 would be an acceptable choice for surgical procedures in soft-shelled turtles requiring good muscle relaxation.