Reptilian Medicine Flashcards
Divided into 4 orders: Chelonia, Crocodylia, Rhyncocephalia, and Squamata
Reptilia
Turtles
Chelonians
Crocs, gators, caimans
Crocodylia
Tuatara
Rhyncocephalia
Snakes and lizards
Squamata
Snakes
Serpentes
Lizards
Saurians
Rely on environmental temp to cool/warm their body
“Cold blooded”
Ectothermic
Egg laying
Oviparous
Gives birth to live young
Viviparous
Eggs hatch within the female then give birth to live young
Ovoviviparous
Reproduce without a male
Parthenogenesis
Dorsal shell of turtles
Made of 50 bones
Carapace
Ventral shell of turtles made of 9 bones
Plastron
Common emptying chamber
Cloaca
Keratinized epithelium (scale-like structure) covering bones of the shell
scute
WBC unique to reptiles that have the same function as heterophils
Azurophils
WBC that replace neutrophils
Heterophils
Eyelids fuse together to form a transparent spectacle
AKA ocular scale
Brille
Elongated and very mobile
Contributes greatly to their ability to swallow large prey items
Quadrate bone
Normal shedding
ecdysis
Inability to shed skin normally and completely
Disecdysis
“Jacobson’s organ”
Connected to the oral cavity that allows the snake to pick up scents
Oral cavity to the olfactory bulb
Vomeronasal sense
“Third eye” that facilitates hormone production and thermoregulation
Parietal eye
Improper Ca/Phosphorus ratio
C/S: anorexia, deformed shell
Tx: diet correction
Metabolic Bone Disease
1 preventable dz with diet and UV light
MBD
Infection of the shell involving loss of scutes
Wet or Dry
Tx: topical for mild cases and systemic Abx for more severe cases
Shell rot
Deposition of uric acid that’s caused by kidney dz, dehydration, and increases in protein
C/S: lethargy, swollen joints, and anorexia
Dx: serum uric acid levels
Tx: unrewarding; euth is recommended
Gout
Can be caused by poor diet, oversized eggs, small enclosures, wrong substrate, or stress
Egg binding
Common problem, but pathenogenesis is not completely understood (could be linked to low Vit A)
May be because of no external opening and can’t drain
Sx required in most cases
Aural abscess
Inflammation of the oral cavity caused by bacteria, fungus, or trauma
AKA mouth rot
Stomatitis
C/S: conjunctivitis, blepharitis, nasal discharge, dyspnea, and ear abscesses
Tx: Vitamin A and diet correction
Hypovitaminosis A
One of the most common presentations but difficult to assess
Related to husbandry
Resp dz
Zoonotic bacterial infx
No effective way to eliminate this from the intestinal flora
Salmonellosis
When it comes to housing, terrestrial species should have more ____________ space
horizontal
When it comes to housing, arboreal species should have more _____________ space
vertical
Small, oval, nucleated cells
Thrombocytes
When collecting blood from a turtle, this is the best route
Jugular
When collecting blood from the jugular in a turtle, you should collect
cranial to caudal
What color tube should you use for blood collection?
Green
Lithium heparin
How many chambers do reptilian hearts have?
3
Primary nitrogenous waste
Uric acid
To sex a snake, you should use this technique
Cloacal probing
If the snake is a male, the probe will
travel further
Primary injection site and blood draws
Tail vein
Ability to shed the tail as a distraction technique
Tail autonomy
Some species of ____________ practice parthenogenesis
saurians
This technique is unreliable for sexing in saurians
Cloacal probing
