Reptiles Flashcards
Zoonotic diseases Iguana harbor
Salmonella (asymptomatic in iguanas) - 90% have it
Campylobacter
Klebsiella
Aeromonas
Cryptosporidium
Almost cause enteritis
Ulcerative Stomatitis/Mouth Rot
Agent: Aeromonas, Pseudomonas
From poor husbandry –> lots of trauma leading to secondary bacterial infection (inflammation, ulceration, abscess)
Clinical signs: plaque formation, gingivitis/erythema of gums, increased salivation, pneumonia, sepsis
Treatment: local debridement, local antibiotics, better environment
Metabolic Bone Disease
Imbalance of vitamin D3, calcium, phosphorous
Causes: nutritional (improper lighting, diet), renal (chronic renal failure)
Clinical signs: boney protuberance in long bone (vertebral column of back of tail, jaw), bone weakening, pathologic fractures, muscle weakness, lethargy, reluctance to move
Treatment: proper diet, calcium supplementation, right temperature, appropriate UV light
Dysecdysis
Difficult or abnormal shedding
Iguana normally shed in pieces (snakes do one piece)
Dry. patchy, patches of dead skin
Treatment: improved husbandry (usually improper humidity)
Dystocia/Egg Binding
Multifactorial in nature and not completely understood –> poor husbandry, malnutrition, improper nesting site, no opposite sex, lack of exercise, poor body condition, reproductive tract obstruction, abnormal egg shape, malformed pelvic canal
Seen in first time breeding females, those previously retained, those with infertile clutches
Clinical signs: depression, weakness, straining, prolapse cloacal or reproductive tissue
Treatment: rule out obstruction of oviduct
- increasing environmental temp and humidity, physical manipulation, hormones (oxytocin, arginine vasotocin), aspirate egg then removal, abdominal surgery
Iguana Facts
Life expectancy: 15-20 yrs
Herbivores - diets high in protein/meat inappropriate; Ca:P ratio of at least 2:1
Sexually dimorphic
Females oviparous
Ectotherms
Need both UV-A (visualization, normal behavior) and UV-B light (vitamin D synthesis and calcium metabolism)
Thermal zone: 78-95; make sure to prevent thermal burns
Waste is uric acid.
No loop of Henle - hard to concentrate urine
Nasal salt gland- excrete sodium when plasma concentration is high to conserve water which can be mistaken as nasal infection
3 chambered heart - 2 atria, 1 ventricle
Renal-portal system - caution when injecting drug into hind limb
Ventral tail vein common blood collection site
Caudal autonomy - can lose causal aspect of tail as defense mechanism and grow back
Signs of renal failure in iguanas
Episcleral injection and pharyngeal edema –> hypertension
Pain on abdominal palpation –> large and painful kidneys
