Reptile Health Problems

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Acute Stress Syndrome

The signs are dilation of the pupil, tremor, loss of rightingreflex, with terminal convulsions and death. This conditionis more common in newly acquired animals or those placedin a new environment.

Oral glucose at 3 grams per kilogram body-weight helpsthe condition, but the causative agent should be removed,whether it is competition, high population density, or otherstress-inducing conditions.

In the chronic form of this disease the reptile fails to healand becomes secondarily infested by bacteria, fungi andparasites. Treat for any infestation/infection, then providesatisfactory environment for that species. In the meantime,force feed.

Blister Disease

This is caused by excessive humidity and is common inwinter. Skin (cutaneous) blisters first appear, which aresterile. These become infected and filled with pus. Blistersshould be excised, flushed with 50 per cent peroxide andwater and swabbed with iodine, three times daily for fourdays.

Calcium Deficiency

This condition is very common in snakes, lizards and tor- toises. Initially there is redness and swelling of the mem-branes of the mouth. Marked swelling occurs and death bysuffocation is possible. As the disease progresses there iscontinued inflammation and ulceration and increasingquantities of dead peeled skin. The infection may spreadto bones of the jaw, causing osteomyelitis. As the diseasespreads further it may cause pneumonia, gastrointestinalinfection or septicaemia. Vitamin C deficiency is a factor inthe disease. Additional quantities during the illness help.

Treatment is to flush the area with 50 per cent peroxideand water and gently remove all dead tissue. Rinse • the areawith a warm saline solution (1 teaspoon salt per litrewater). Then apply topical sulphadimidine orchloramphenicol. Give 10-60 milligrams of vitamin Corally daily and injections of multi-vitamins twice weekly.It is necessary to use antibiotics for at least eight days.Increase room temperature to 32°C. Don't attempt to feedthe reptile. After a week if there is no improvement changethe antibiotic.

Cannibalism

Cannibalism may sometimes occur as a result of over-crowding or when there is no supervision during feeding.One animal may accidentally swallow another. It may als ooccur when the wrong species or greatly different sizes ofanimals are kept together. Lizards of greatly differing sizesshould never be kept together because of the danger ofcannibalism. The risk is not as great as when snakes ofdifferent sizes are kept together.

Constipation

As in all animals constipation is caused by incorrect diet.It is particularly common when reptiles are constantly fedfeathered or furred animals. Lack of exercise and dehy-dration also predispose. Signs are decreased appetite, dis-comfort and sluggishness; snakes are unable to coil nor-mally. The mass may be palpable and visible in X-rays.

The best treatment is to give faecal softeners or oil orally.Enemas with gentle palpation help.

Dermatophilus

This skin disorder can affect lizards, especially skinks, andpresents as multiple raised nodules or as small abscesses 7millimetres under the skin. Treatment is with antibiotics.Oral antibiotics do not reach therapeutic levels, but long-acting penicillin intramuscularly is effective

Dysentery (Arnoefollotsfis)

A very important disease in larger collections. Signs in-clude bloody diarrhoea, depression, lethargy and loss ofappetite. Often the first sign of disease is sudden death.

The most effective treatment is metronidazole (Flagyl) as single dose of 275 milligrams per kilogram body-weight,administered orally by stomach tube. Ampicillin should beused concurrently.

Parasites Recently caught reptiles should be isolated until parasitesare eradicated.

Eye Disorders

In snakes the eyelids are immovable; the eye is covered bya transparent scale (the spectacle). In conjunctivitis there isa marked distension because of a build-up of pus. If thisis left, permanent damage can be done to the eye. The areamust be drained and flushed via a small incision at the baseof the eye—a job for the vet. Suitable eye antibiotic oint-ments are then applied.

A few days before skin shedding, the spectacle becomesopaque and this should not be confused with infection. Ifhumidity is too low, shedding may be incomplete and com-monly the spectacle will be retained, again confusing thediagnosis. Soak with a moist compress and remove withforceps. Sometimes vitamin A deficiency can cause swellings of the eyelids.

Hibernation

Those reptiles which hibernate should be supplied with as much food as theycan eat before hibernation. After they stop eating they should be moved toa darkened area among sacks or leaves in an out-of-the-way place; depend-ing on its size, move their enclosure into a box or a darkened shed.

They must be left undisturbed until hibernation ceases naturally. If wokenbefore, their temperature may be enough to maintain activity, but notenough to stimulate feeding. High mortalities occur after hibernation andbefore eating.

Iodine deficiency (Goitre)

Seen in herbivorous reptiles, particularly land tortoises.Signs are lethargy and limbs with fluid in them (oedema).Generalised herbivore diets should be supplemented with0.5 per cent iodine salt.

Kidney disease

This is often recognised as the cause of death on post-mortem. Unfortunately it is usually overlooked because theonly signs—loss of appetite and sluggishness—fit so manydiseases.

Mites

Mites are found only on snakes and lizards, particularly around their eyes and anal region. The reptile's scales willbe slightly raised in the infested area and the animal maybe covered with tiny white spots which are the mites' fae-ces. Mites can be eradicated by suspending a pest strip(dichlorvos compound) from the top of the enclosure fortwelve hours. If the infestation is serious take the reptileout, destroy the contents of the enclosure, scrub the enclos-ure thoroughly with a Malathion solution of 30 millilitresper 5 litres of water, and leave for thirty minutes, then rinseout with copious quantities of water. Leave the pest stripover the reptile for a longer period.

Necrotic Dermatitis (Ulcerative Dermatitis, 'Skin Rot')

In this disease expanding dark areas of dead tissue are seenbeneath the scales, most commonly on the underside nearthe cloaca. In lizards the limbs can be affected with event-ual loss of digits. Initially the animal is normal, but thendevelops loss of appetite and lethargy. Factors such as ex-cessive humidity, sub-optimal temperatures, faecal con-tamination, blister disease and ectoparasites all predisposethe disease. It is a common winter problem.

Treatment initially is conservative, to avoid defects. Usechlortetracycline orally at the rate of 200 milligrams perkilogram body-weight for ten days and use antibacterialbaths. Also dose with vitamin C (10-60 milligrams). If thistreatment is unsuccessful, scales and dead skin should beremoved from affected areas and different antibiotics used.Correct hygiene, temperature and humidity are important.

Nutritional Diseases

Vitamin A deficiency is seen, especially in terrapins, on araw meat and green vegetable diet; the initial sign is swell-ing of the eyelids. Secondary infection is common. Some-times there may be respiratory disease evident. Vitamin Aadditives, especially in the form of liver three times weekly,will clear the condition.

Vitamin D deficiency causes typical rickets in all reptiles.There is skeletal deformity and softening of shells. De-pression. lack of appetite and weakness in the legs are alsosigns. Some lizards appear to utilise ultra-violet light. Sup-plement the diet with cod liver oil, egg yolk or day oldchicks. Injections of calciostelein are helpful.

Vitamin E deficiency is due to feeding oil-laden fish orobese laboratory rodents to carnivorous reptiles. The signsare decreased appetite, inco-ordination and death. VitaminE supplement will cure the disease.

Calcium imbalance due to incorrect feeding: Note swollenlimbs.

Calcium imbalance is common in carnivorous reptiles fedwhole meat or whole insect diets, and also in herbivorousreptiles. The reason is that the calcium levels in their dietsare very low. The signs include shell deformities in tortoisesand terrapins, fractures, other symptoms of nutritionalsecondary hyperparathyroidism, and osteodystrophiescharacterised by firm swollen limbs and tail. On examinance appears well fed, chubby but lame. Limestone, oystershell or cuttlefish may be placed in the water. Always addcalcium carbonate at the rate of 1/2 teaspoon (0.5 gram) per100 grams of red meat; to fish add 1.5 grams. The bettertreatment is to change to a whole-animal diet.

Obesity

Obesity is common in some reptiles, particularly the largerpythons which may feed often and exercise infrequently. Inthese cases the only option is to reduce the quantity of food.

Oedema (filling of the limbs with fluid) is reported in over-crowded lizards. Reduction of the density reverses the con-dition. Sometimes generalised oedema may accompanyvitamin A deficiency. The condition may also occur inparasitism, renal failure or goitre.

Roundworms

Roundworms may cause obstructions and regurgitation. Inpythons they also cause severe gastric ulceration and per-forations of the bowel wall. They are easily treated withpiperazine orally 110 milligrams per kilogram body-weight.

Skin worms

Skin worms present as small soft swellings which if incisedwith a sharp blade reveal a long, flat, white worm whichmay be as long as the snake itself. These are immaturetapeworms. Drugs are not effective against this intermedi-ate stage and surgical excision is the routine.

Ticks

Ticks are usually harmless to reptiles but may interferewith their feeding habits. Where there are only a few ticks,remove them with tweezers. Heavy infestations require 0.2per cent solution of Neguvon as a spray or bath, which iseffective against ticks and their eggs.

Tongue worms

Tongue worms are found in the lungs and air-sacs ofshakes, lizards and crocodiles. They require two hosts, andthe intermediate host may be a small mammal, a frog oranother reptile. They are best not treated because the dyingworm may cause fatal obstruction of the airway.

Tortoise

When handling tortoises, beware of the sharp claws. Most small tortoises cambe picked up as you would hold a sandwich.

To transport a tortoise, put it in a moist cloth bag or in a box lined witimoist towels. Avoid overcrowding. Always give the tortoise a good soakEli-before and after the trip to avoid dehydration

Red Disease

Red leg disease in frogs is thought to be of bacterial originand is extremely contagious. It can be treated with anti-biotics. A daily bath in a weak salt solution has been foundto be beneficial.

Regurgitation

This phenomenon in snakes is not clearly understood butit is known to be caused by stress such as handling or dis-turbance after feeding. Sharp fluctuations in temperature,overcrowded conditions, internal parasites or various bac-terial infections will also cause regurgitation. Sometimes asnake will do this anyway, and then it is necessary to varyits diet, the manner of feeding or the environment. It is notserious— providing it does not go on for weeks.

Respiratory Disease (Pneumonia')

Respiratory troubles usually result from a sudden decreasein temperature, or may be brought on by overcrowding orstress conditions when the animal's resistance is low. Thesymptoms are usually difficulty in breathing, nasal dis-charge, wheezing and gaping.

Raise the temperature of the environment. Givechloramphenicol intramuscularly at the rate of 3milligrams per 100 grams body-weight. Give vitamins Aand C daily. Check for parasites.

Salmonella Infection

Clinical disease is rare in reptiles— but they are commoncarriers of rare Salmonella types not commonly associatedwith human infection. Signs of this infection include green-ish faeces with green or yellow-stained wet uric acid. Reg-ular observation will detect infection, which is treated bychlortetracycline orally at the rate of 200 milligrams perkilogram body-weight.

Sloughing ('Shed stop')

Trouble in sloughing old skin is often caused by an environment that is too dry. The old skin may remain on theback, stomach and head regions or on the ends of the toesand tails in lizards.

A close watch should be kept on lizards when they aresloughing, as a build-up of old skin on one of the legs oron the tail can cause it to dry and break off and the bloodsupply will be greatly restricted.

If a reptile has a problem with sloughing, an overnightsoak in a large escape-proof container filled with water andmild disinfectant will usually remove the pieces of old skin.If not, the water will soften the skin so that it can be re-moved by hand.

Temperature

Temperature is one of the most important aspects of herpetology. All reptilesare ectotherms—that is, they depend on an outside heat source to regulatetheir body temperature. This is why they are called 'cold blooded'.

A simple method of providing heat is a 100 watt light globe suspendedin or near the enclosure. in the housing for snakes, keep the light globeoutside the enclosure or they will attempt to coil around it and get burnt.With lizards, the light globe should be suspended within the enclosure.

By placing the heat source at one end of the enclosure, a range of tem-peratures is provided.

More sophisticated and expensive heating devices are available—includingunderwater coils—for certain tortoises or crocodiles.

The temperature of the enclosure should be monitored, especially in summer. Overheating or dehydration can be fatal, or at least cause damage tothe nervous system. Subzero temperatures, on the other hand, can result indeath from freezing of body fluids. Different species have different optimaltemperatures—but the general range is between 20 and 39°C.

Trauma

Some of the commonest problems of reptiles are crackedshells in tortoises, skin sores from overheating or roughhandling, abrasions of the nose and head region (particu-larly in snakes) and to a lesser extent, fights caused by otheranimals.

Tortoises are very hardy animals and in most cases a bitewound will heal by itself if kept clean. If a shell-crack isserious, it can be patched using fibreglass fabric or an ep-oxy resin-based adhesive such as Araldite. Wounds shouldbe treated with 50 per cent hydrogen peroxide and water,all dead tissue should be removed and local antibiotics ap-plied to the area. Sores resulting from overheating shouldbe treated in the same way.

Most reptiles are quite hardy animals and minor cutsand abrasions caused by rubbing will heal themselves.Frogs are also subject to badly rubbed noses. Keep the frogwarm and treat quickly with antiseptic cream to reduceinfection.

Ulcerative shell disease of turtles('She)ll rot', 'rust', 'spot disease')

This very common disease was originally thought to becaused by a fungus—but is now known to be caused bybacteria. It is responsible for a fatal shell disease in crus-taceans. Early lesions are blotchy, dark, focal discolorationsof the shell, which later slough, leaving ulcerations up to1 centimetre in diameter. Secondary infection may causedeath. Affected animals should be isolated, their lesionsscraped and treated with chloramphenicol ointment orspray, plus chloramphenicol at 40 milligrams per kilogrambody-weight intramuscularly twice daily for ten days.

Wounds

Minor cuts and scratches may be treated by applyingmercurochrome or triple dye to the affected area.

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