List Members.... It was brought to our attention that one of the suggestions sent to us = included the use of xylene-based paints. Below, have included the text = from a citation saying this not a good practice with reptiles. Let us = know if you want the original in pdf format.
Thanks for your time and also to Jim Boone from the Nevada State Museum = for bringing this to everyone's attention. Mike Nolan....see below One of your emails suggested using xylene-based paint to mark turtles.=20 I suggest you read our short note about marking Side-blotched Lizards with xylene-based paint. The short version is: it isn't a good idea. This note was published in Herpetological Review, 30:33-34. Effects of Marking Uta stansburiana (Sauria: Phrynosomatidae) with Xylene-based Paint JAMES L. BOONE and ELIZABETH A. LARUE Nevada State Museum 700 Twin Lakes Drive, Las Vegas, NV 89107 U.S.A. e-mail: jlboone @ aol.com Population biologists often rely on marks to identify individual animals = (Nietfeld et al. 1994). For many years, herpetologists have marked reptiles with = toe-clips, scale-clips, and paint (Ferner 1979), and although any marks potentially affect = animals, these generally have been shown not to affect survival or other biological processes = (e.g., Brown and Parker 1976; Jones and Ferguson 1980; Weatherhead et al. 1995). As technologies = change, new methods of marking appear. Some new methods obviously require testing = before one can be sure that the method does not adversely affect the target animal (e.g., = glass beads, Fisher and Muth 1989; radioactive tags, Pendleton 1956; PIT tags, Prior and = Weatherhead 1996). One example of a new method entering use without being tested was a = modification of standard painting techniques. Herpetologists have long used model = paint (e.g., Testor Corporation paints) to mark lizards and snakes without adverse effects = (e.g., Jones and Ferguson 1980). However, using model paint in the field can be messy and = may require researchers to carry and use paint thinner, leading one to look for more = convenient methods. Some researchers have used fingernail polish, while others have found = quick-drying FaberCastel T paint-pens more convenient for marking reptiles than either model = paint or fingernail polish. The carrier in these paint-pens, however, is xylene, = and xylene has wellknown toxic affects on animals (d'Azevedo et al. 1996; Rana and Kumar 1997). = One might assume that marking a reptile with a small amount of paint would result = in a negligible dose of xylene, especially in hot, arid environments where the paint dries = almost immediately. Based on this assumption, one might conclude that using paint-pens would = not affect lizard behavior, survival, or other demographic parameters. However, no one has = tested this assumption. We conducted a pilot study to test the null hypothesis that xylene-based = paint-pens have no adverse affect on the survival of side-blotched lizards (Uta = stansburiana), a small insectivorous lizard that is common in the western U.S.A. and northern = Mexico. We captured 35 Uta (18 female; 17 male; 19 adults, snout-vent length, SVL > = 39 mm; 16 juveniles, SVL ? 39 mm) from five locations around southern Nevada = (October, 1996 through October, 1997). We held the lizards in a lab and housed them on = sand and gravel in individual 2-liter jars. We exposed the lizards to ambient light and = provided full-spectrum lamps for heat during daylight hours. Daily ambient temperatures in the = lab ranged from about 13-27=B0C. Before marking the lizards, we kept them in captivity = for 2-3 days to ensure that no animals died immediately after capture. We painted 21 lizards and used 14 as unpainted controls. We painted = lizards in a manner similar to how Uta had been marked during a mark-recapture study = (Boone et al. 1998). We placed a spot of paint on the dorsum (diameter ? 1 cm, less = than the width of the dorsal surface) generally every 3-4 days until each lizard had been = painted four times. This simulated four capture-recapture events over two weeks using a = day-specific color of paint on each day of sampling. In the field, large spots (i.e., the width of = the dorsum) were used so that the paint color could be seen from a distance, presumably = reducing stress on the lizards by limiting the number of times that observers had to closely = approach the animals during exhaustive searches of 1-ha plots on each day of sampling. Each = successive spot of paint was placed on top of the previous spots. We recorded mortality and = sleeping behavior (i.e., spending the night above or below ground) for two weeks. Of the 21 painted lizards, 5 died (4 juveniles, 1 adult; 24%), all of = which had been painted at least twice. No unpainted lizards died. While the sample size = was small, the result was statistically significant (Gadj =3D 5.408, P =3D 0.02). Sleeping = behavior also changed. When first brought into the lab, all lizards burrowed into the substrate and = spent every night underground. During the remainder of the study, most unmarked lizards = continued to burrow underground almost every night (TABLE 1). By contrast, 8 of 11 = (73%; P =3D 0.06) painted juveniles, and 2 of 10 painted adults (20%; P =3D 0.62), = switched sleeping location and spent almost every night aboveground (TABLE 1). When first applied, the paint sometimes appeared to irritate the = lizards: they sometimes gaped, some exhibited dorso-ventral flattening as if a weight = had been placed on their back, and a few flexed their bodies 45-60 degrees backwards = lifting their front legs off the ground or pressing their front legs against the side of their jar. = Some of the painted lizards became lethargic. There seemed to be a dose-response = relationship. More smaller lizards than larger lizards showed negative responses to the paint, and = the lizards that showed a negative response often did so after their second paint = treatment. Not all samples gave the same result. A group of five lizards (SVL =3D = 42-47 mm) captured south of Las Vegas never exhibited any negative reactions (3 = marked, 2 unmarked). In contrast, from a group of nine lizards caught west of Las = Vegas, four (SVL =3D 37-45 mm) of five painted lizards exhibited negative reactions, and the = lizard that didn't show a response (SVL =3D 52 mm) was the largest of these five. The xylene-based paint used in this study was associated with the death = of some lizards; it was also associated with altered behavior in others that = could affect survival. If lizards in the field failed to seek cover at night, they may be = subjected to increased predation or stressed by exposure to low temperatures at night. The results of this pilot study suggest that Uta stansburiana = experiences a doserelated, adverse effect from this marking technique. While small amounts of paint = may not affect these lizards, it appears that xylene-based paints can introduce = unnecessary bias into field experiments, and therefore field biologists should avoid using = these paints for marking lizards or other animals. An important point is to beware of new methods = in the guise of old ones, and to carefully examine new techniques and procedures before = assuming they are the same as the old favorites. Acknowledgments.-We thank D. Beck, J. Freilich, A. Heindl, and G. Austin = for helpful comments on the manuscript. LITERATURE CITED BOONE, J. L., C. L. SOWELL, M. COX, AND R. A. GREEN. 1998. Species = composition and abundance of reptile populations at Yucca Mountain, NV, with Annotated = Checklist. U.S. Department of Energy, Civilian Radioactive Waste Management System, Management & Operating Contractor, Report B00000-01717-5705-00038. BROWN, W. S., AND W. S. PARKER. 1976. A ventral scale clipping system = for permanently marking snakes (Reptilia, Serpentes). J. Herpetol. 10:247-249. d'AZEVEDO, P. A., M. TANNHAUSER, S. L. TANNHAUSER, AND H. M. T. BARROS. = 1996. Hematological alterations in rats from xylene and benzene. Vet. Human = Toxicol. 38:340-344. FERNER, J. W. 1979. A review of marking techniques for amphibians and = reptiles. Soc. Study Amph. Rept., Circular 9:1-42. FISHER, M., AND A. MUTH. 1989. A technique for permanently marking = lizards. Herpetol. Rev. 20:45-46. JONES, S. M., AND G. W. FERGUSON. 1980. The effect of paint marking on = mortality in a Texas population of Sceloporus undulatus. Copeia 1980:850-854. NIETFELD, M. T., M. W. BARRETT, AND N. SILVY. 1994. Wildlife marking = techniques. In T. A. Bookhout (ed.), Research and Mangement Techniques for Wildlife and = Habitats, pp. 140-168. Allen Press, Lawrence, Kansas. PENDLETON, R. C. 1956. Uses of marking animals in ecological studies: = labeling animals with radioisotopes. Ecology 37:687-689. PRIOR, K. A., AND P. J. WEATHERHEAD. 1996. Habitat features of black rat = snake hibernacula in Ontario. J. Herpetol. 30:211-218. RANA, S. V. S., AND S. KUMAR. 1997. Histopathological studies on the = liver of rats treated individually and with a combination of xylene, toluene and methyl = alcohol. J. Env. Biol. 18:185-190. WEATHERHEAD, P. J., F. E. BARRY, G. P. BROWN, AND M. R. L. FORBES. 1995. = Sex ratios, mating behavior and sexual size dimorphism of the northern water snake, = Nerodia sipidon. Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol. 36:301-311. TABLE 1. Frequency at which 35 Uta stansburiana from the southern Nevada = region spent the night above or below ground after having been marked, or not-marked, = with xylene-based paint-pens. Data were summarized for all lizards, for = juveniles (SVL ? 39 mm), and for adults (SVL > 39 mm). All Lizards Juvenile Adult Sleeping Position Marked Not-marked Marked Not-marked Marked Not-marked Above Ground 10 2 8 1 2 1 Below Ground 11 12 3 4 8 8 Call weekdays, evenings and weekends. Leave your phone number/best time = to return your call and/or your e-mail address if we are on another line = or away from our phones.=20 Sincerely, J. Michael Nolan, Director =20 Rainforest and Reef 501 (c)(3) non-profit *************************************************************************= ********* "Outstanding-Affordable Field Courses in Rainforest & Marine Ecology" "Spanish Immersion offered in Mexico, Costa Rica,=20 Nicaragua, Panama, Bolivia, Ecuador and Peru" Web: http://iwanttolearnspanish.org (being updated for 07) U.S. Office: Rainforest and Reef 501 (c)(3) non-profit P.O. Box 141543 Grand Rapids, Michigan 49514-1543 USA Phone: 1.616.604.0546=20 Toll Free: 1.877.255.3721 Skype Phone: mikenolan1 Live Chat and Phone MS Live Messenger: [EMAIL PROTECTED] E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] or [EMAIL PROTECTED] Web: http://www.rainforestandreef.org (being updated for 07) Latin America Office: P.O. Box 850-1150 San Jos=E9, Costa Rica, Central America Att: Juan Pablo Bello C. 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