Shaun Roper, [23 Jun 2023 at 09:31:32]: I had an interesting discussion with some students from the US. Pneudart says their darts depth of penetration is 3 times the length of the needle. I strongly disagree. They tested this on sheep and deer and my opinion is that thick skinned animals don't nearly reach those depths, even when shooting hard. Would love to know what you guys think? Henry Labuschagne, [23 Jun 2023 at 09:43:52]: I assume you mean depth of medicine injected. In pachyderms, the side port injection in my opinion is the main port of injection and I doubt if it would inject 3x the needle length in the muscle. Shaun Roper, [23 Jun 2023 at 16:05:14]: No, not necessarily medicine, my guess is the depth of trauma on PM. Interested in your opinions! Henry Labuschagne, [23 Jun 2023 at 16:39:46]: Tests that I have seen on ballistic gel does not support that penetration claim. The PM trauma I would say is from kinetic energy causing bruising and the explosive injection of drugs via charged darts. David Pretorius, [23 Jun 2023 at 18:02:13]: The depth of injection is 3-5 x needle length. This however also depends on the length of needle and the volume of the drug, and viscosity of the drug. Also, inner diameter of the needle not the outside diameter is important, as is explosive charged vs air pressured darts. In general antelope, I personally think side ports are a waste of time on any needle. The only benefit is to avoid bone blockage. In pachyderms side ports are essential, as they can block a needle properly. Injection time can be very rapid with explosive type detonation under 40ms. The lowest trauma darts still remain air pressured darts. I know of many colleagues that chooses 1/2" needles because they want to vaccinate s/c. I think it is highly unlikely that any of the wildlife vaccines we are giving are going s/c. I think 90%+ goes im. Shaun Roper, [24 Jun 2023 at 06:38:23]: Thanks David
