Comparison of Dilution on Eastern Box Turtle (Terrapene carolina carolina) and Marine Toad (Rhinella marinus) Blood Parameters as Measured on a Portable Chemistry Analyzer

Table 1

Biochemistry results from heparinized undiluted and heparinized dilute blood samples from 12 eastern box turtles (Terrapene carolina carolina) using an i-STAT portable analyzer.

Analytes^d	Undiluted samples								Diluted samples
	N^a	n^b	Mean	SD	Median	Min	Max	%CV^c	N^a	n^b	Mean	SD	Median	Min	Max	%CV^c
Na^+ (mmol/L)	24	12	128.83	7.4	130.5	108.5	136	0.37	—		—	—	—	—	—	—
K^+ (mmol/L)	24	12	3.34	0.64	3.23	2.55	4.7	1.91	—		—	—	—	—	—	—
Cl^− (mmol/L)	24	12	97.17	7.79	99.75	75	104	0.74	—		—	—	—	—	—	—
iCa (mmol/L)	23	12	1.33	0.28	1.29	0.97	2.1	2.26	24	12	0.84	0.21	0.81	0.63	1.43	3.74
TCO2 (mmol/L)	24	12	23.96	6.59	24.25	8	33	13.54	—		—	—	—	—	—	—
Glu (mg/dL)	22	11	93.86	42.19	82	53.5	206	3	19	10	52.55	27.31	43.25	25	119.5	4.85
BUN (mg/dL)	22	11	48.36	30.19	43.5	10	99.5	2.12	—		—	—	—	—	—	—
Crea (mg/dL)	2	1	0.85	NA	0.85	0.85	0.85	8.32	—		—	—	—	—	—	—
Hct (%)	7	4	15.75	3.77	16	11	20	9.84	—		—	—	—	—	—	—
Hgb (g/dL)	7	4	5.34	1.3	5.42	3.7	6.8	9.8	—		—	—	—	—	—	—
AG (mmol/L)	24	12	10.58	3.84	10.5	3	16	18.77	—		—	—	—	—	—	—

^aSome samples did not have reportable results out of the 24 samples analyzed. ^bNumber of animals assayed, for which measurement values are averaged and statistics calculated. ^cIntra-assay coefficient of variation. ^dNa⁺ = sodium; K⁺ = potassium; Cl⁻ = chloride; iCa = ionized calcium; TCO₂ = total carbon dioxide; Glu = glucose; BUN = blood urea nitrogen; Crea = creatinine; Hct = hematocrit; Hgb = hemoglobin; AG = anion gap.