Being in the business of a professional reptile breeder with a background in pharmacology I get a lot of calls and e-mails asking for recommendations in treating sick animals thus this article .

There is a growing problem in the reptile world that hasn't been addressed as I feel it needs be and this is the purpose for this article . What is this growing problem you may ask ? The problem stems from overuse of antibiotics as well as under dosing and not following the entire length of the dosing regimen .

At some point or another your animals are going to get sick and if available we normally pick up the most widely used drug say Baytril as an example. So where is the problem in this ? The problem is a resistance to the very antibiotics that may save your animals life . How does this happen ? One means of this is mutation of bacteria to new drugs developed . This is an absolute uphill battle and a very slow one at that . In the 40’s when penicillin was first produced it was deemed a “miracle drug” and at the time it certainly was destroying almost every germ it came in contact with. Some 60 years later penicillin is rarely used to treat even minor infections as bacteria becomes more sophisticated. The crux of the problem of drug resistance is due generally to three things :

These microbial bacteria are very smart in the way they affect antibiotics . They can target and disable the drug itself or even cause the drug to be unable to enter the cell wall of the bacterium making it totally useless .One interesting thing about the germs that we face is that the majority of the DNA make up of these germs are 95-99 percent the same so you can see how easily it is for the germs to share DNA with each other creating multiple mutations . This has led many in the scientific field to believe that most bacteria share the same origin.

How does this information apply to my collection and what can I do to avoid these problems ? Many of the afore mentioned problems occur by simply overuse of antibiotics . Lets face it , it’s a very simple thing to shoot what we have on hand for any number of maladies and this is one of the biggest problems . One of the things with these germs is what doesn’t kill them makes them stronger . A simple way to look at this is a flu shot . We take a shot of the killed virus to allow our antibodies to adapt and create immunity to the particular strain of the year . This is a similar way that the germs themselves develop drug resistance . Now if another strain of the flu virus comes through it is of a different genetic makeup so the shot is totally ineffective for this strain . If the correct antibiotic is not used to treat the suspected bacteria it allows other germs to create this resistance . The scary and dangerous thing that can occur is that these germs can be passed through air , water and even copulation . This then can spread to other animals in your collection and make them resistant to the antibiotic where they were not before .

So how do we avoid this ? The best way to avoid this is to take your reptile to a qualified Vet and let them do a culture on the animal . This culture can then be grown in a lab and tested for sensitivity against a very large spectrum of antibiotics usually 30 or more finding the exact drug that will kill the germ in question . Many times vets will come back with the prognosis that the gram negative pseudomonas is the culprit of upper respiratory , lower respiratory and secondary to mouth rot . This is of little consequence as it applies to the necessary drug needed to defeat the infection . There are in fact over one hundred germs that can cause these problems . Under use is another problem that can cause resistance . It is imperative that the dosage instructions be followed to the letter . This works exactly as it does in humans . If we take a course of antibiotics that are prescribed for 7 days and stop at three because we feel better we are jumping up the chances of developing the exact same problem . The germ is not completely destroyed making the germ a much stronger germ that is likely now resistant to the prescribed antibiotic causing the necessity to use an even stronger drug to defeat a relapse . This is the exact same scenario that can happen in reptiles .

“So we just use a more powerful antibiotic” some may say .This is where the biggest overall danger lies . Yes you can use a much stronger drug but the much stronger drugs are becoming more limited and are created at a very slow pace . What happens when there are no more stronger drugs ? Your animal likely dies . This is where we must take the responsibility as herpers and professional breeders to limit the use of antibiotics as much as possible . Keeping records of the drugs used on each animal is a good thing to do for the future of the animal as well as your collection . Stringent husbandry practices is also a very important means of keeping these bacterium at bay . Make sure your temps are proper and your cages are kept clean . At the first sign of respiratory distress try quarantining the animal and raising the temperature and humidity before the use of antibiotics . If this action does not work use the steps in the article . Today’s antibiotics and methods of treatment are state of the art and many times the saving grace of the animals we work so hard to keep healthy and breed . It is my hope that this article is of help in keeping your collection healthy and furthering the education of the use of reptile pharmacology. COPYRIGHT Darrin Brasher 2006