Captive snakes often suffer from pneumonia. Factors contributing to this problem include husbandry issues, nutrition, and hygiene. Infectious agents are particularly important, and bacteria can be primary or secondary drivers of disease processes. If these are not treated, they can lead to life-threatening problems. Bacteria were isolated from the lower respiratory tracts of 25 snakes with clinical signs of pneumonia. Antibiograms were made for the isolated bacteria against antibiotics commonly used to treat respiratory disease in small animals as well as macrolides and phenicols used to treat respiratory disease in cattle. Three hundred fifty snakes with clinical respiratory disease were then treated with one of the macrolides or the phenicol and monitored by bioassay for antibiotic activity in the blood and for clinical recovery. A total of 47 different bacteria, all Gram negative, were isolated from the tracheal washes of the 25 snakes. The highest sensitivity rates (>80%) were found against enrofloxacin and marbofloxacin, trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole, the macrolides tularthromycin, tilmicosin, tildipirosin, and gamithromycin, and the phenicol flurofenicol. Of the snakes treated with tularthromycin, tilmicosin, gamithromycin, tildipirosin, or florfenicol, 89.4% recovered clinically within 2–3 wk of treatment.

Kloaken- und Darmvorfälle stellen ein häufig auftretendes Problem in der Reptilienmedizin dar. Oft kommt es nach einer einfachen Rückverlagerung zu Rezidiven. Die transkutane Kolopexie ist eine minimalinvasive Methode, bei der die vorgefallenen Organstrukturen fixiert und langfristig Rezidive verhindert werden. In dem vorliegenden Artikel wird das operative Vorgehen der konventionellen und einer modifizierten Methode vorgestellt.

Ranaviral disease in amphibians has been studied intensely during the last decade, as associated mass-mortality events are considered to be a global threat to wild animal populations. Several studies have also included other susceptible ectothermic vertebrates (fish and reptiles), but only very few cases of ranavirus infections in lizards have been previously detected. In this study, we focused on clinically suspicious lizards and tested these animals for the presence of ranaviruses. Virological screening of samples from lizards with increased mortality and skin lesions over a course of four years led to the detection of ranaviral infections in seven different groups. Affected species were: brown anoles (Anolis sagrei), Asian glass lizards (Dopasia gracilis), green anoles (Anolis carolinensis), green iguanas (Iguana iguana), and a central bearded dragon (Pogona vitticeps). Purulent to ulcerative-necrotizing dermatitis and hyperkeratosis were diagnosed in pathological examinations. All animals tested positive for the presence of ranavirus by PCR and a part of the major capsid protein (MCP) gene of each virus was sequenced. Three different ranaviruses were isolated in cell culture. The analyzed portions of the MCP gene from each of the five different viruses detected were distinct from one another and were 98.4-100% identical to the corresponding portion of the frog virus 3 (FV3) genome. This is the first description of ranavirus infections in these five lizard species. The similarity in the pathological lesions observed in these different cases indicates that ranaviral infection may be an important differential diagnosis for skin lesions in lizards.

In Kürze Zu beobachtende Umfangsvermeh- rungen, Beulen und Schwellungen die sich in der Haut von Reptilien manifestieren, können durch ver­ schiedenste Krankheitskomplexe hervorgerufen werden. Ursächlich sind dabei nicht nur Erkrankungen der Haut und deren Adnexe, son­ dern auch angrenzende anatomi­ sche Strukturen des Bewegungsap­ parates, internistische Probleme und Parasitosen. Typische Beispiele der unterschiedlichen Symptomen­ komplexe werden besprochen: Am häufigsten finden sich Umfangsver- mehrungen, die durch Entzündun­ gen hervorgerufen werden. Granu­ lomatöse und abszedierende Ent­ zündungen stehen hierbei im Vor­ dergrund. Stoffwechselstörungen, wie beispielsweise Gicht oder meta­ bolische Knochenerkrankungen wer­ den ebenfalls vielfach gefunden. Durch Kreislaufstörungen oder Nie­ renversagen können Ödeme hervor­ gerufen werden. Parasitenlarven sind gelegentlich Verursacher von kleinen Hautknoten. Schließlich werden nicht selten Neoplasien der Haut und angrenzender anatomi­ scher Strukturen diagnostiziert.

Stomatitis, also known as 'mouth rot', is a common disease in all reptile species. It is an inflammation of the mouth that consists of gingivitis, glossitis, palatitis, cheilitis. In captive reptiles stomatitis is a problem caused by bacterial, viral, fungal or parasitic agents or a mixture of those. Very seldom it is a primary disease, but more often it is a result of stress, trauma, weakness, wrong food (especially hypovitaminosis A and C), dehydration, bad hygiene conditions and suboptimale temperatures.