Understanding the role of husbandry in reptile medicine
La'Toya Latney, DVM, DECZM (ZHM), DABVP (Reptile & Amphibian), CertAqV, explains common conditions in small lizards, snakes and chelonians, as well as thei most frequent causes.
What are some of the most common conditions in small lizards, snakes and chelonians? La'Toya Latney, DVM, DECZM (ZHM), DABVP (Reptile & Amphibian), CertAqV, explains the most frequent cause of reptile visits to the veterinarian and why good husbandry matters, in a dvm360 interview at the NAVC SkillShop in Orlando, Florida.
The following is a transcript of the video:
La'Toya Latney, DVM, DECZM (ZHM), DABVP (Reptile & Amphibian), CertAqV: A common thread—and I would say this is very unique to reptiles, because there's so many things that need to go in to setting them up for success, with regards to their husbandry. But I'd say, overwhelmingly—most practitioners would agree with me—80% of their husbandry is the reason why they come to see a veterinarian. There's some flaw in the way that they're kept, not because owners don't want to do the best for them, but unfortunately, there's a myriad of sources, definitely more than there used to be, and there's almost like this disconnect.
We want to make sure we're trying to set up these ecologically niche species in a tiny environment that would be reflective largely of where they come from. But then there's certain things that when we put them in captivity, when we're trying to meet those measures, sometimes they can result in harms or the potential for diseases to develop because we put something in a box. It's just really that simple. Captive species that we deal with don't have the same diseases as the diseases we see in the wild. It's just a completely different cohort.
So, overwhelmingly, we have a bunch of well doing owners coming in, not aware that there's something about their [pets’] diet that they've been giving [or] there's something about the light that should have been changed. There's something about a manufacturer saying one thing when they went to purchase an item for their pet, and then it results in a process. So usually it's because there's some type of flaw in husbandry.
I think even in private practice, academia, general practice and specialists, we're all unfortunately dealing with an explosion of infectious diseases that are also impacting their health.
