Fig. 2. Acid–base parameters of arterial blood before and following feeding in Boa constrictor after ingestion of a meal in untreated control animals (solid circles) and snakes treated with omeprazole to inhibit gastric acid secretion (open circles). (A) pHa, arterial pH; (B)[HCO₃^–]_pl, plasma [HCO₃^–]; (C) and Pa_CO2, arterial P_CO2. The values obtained from fasting animals are presented at 0 h. Values are means ± 1 S.E.M. (N=5–7), and mean values that are significantly different (P<0.05) from the fasting value are marked with an asterisk. 1 mmHg=0.133 kPa.