Reptile Diseases
Dangers exist when keeping reptiles as pets, but not just as bites and scratches. You can also contract salmonella disease from not washing your hands after coming into contact with the feces or urine or touching something that has. It's important to keep your hands away from your face, food, or food preparation areas or utensils until you've properly washed and disinfected your hands.
Salmonella can be transferred to your countertops from the reptile's feet, so allowing the little bugger to walk on in your kitchen, on your dining table, or even near your toothbrush is inadvisable. Mild infection of salmonella includes diarrhea, fever, and stomach cramps. More severe infection happens if the germs travel to the bloodstream, bone marrow, or nervous system.
Other diseases that can be passed to you from reptiles are toxoplasmosis, Lyme disease, rabies, or chronic fatigue syndrome. These diseases are known as zoonotic diseases, those which can be passed from animal to animal or animal to human. It is important to understand that reptiles are not the only animals that transmit these diseases, so there's no need to panic just because you weren't aware of them before you bought the reptile. Lyme disease is passed by tick bites, and you can get ticks from walking through tall grass!
Proper handling of your reptile is the most important issue to keep diseases from being passed to you or your loved ones. So, make sure you educate your children on the importance of proper handling and hand washing. If you aren't sure they are old enough to understand, it is best if you keep the reptile away from the child's reach at all times. The temptation of touching the reptile or putting their hands in the cage just might be too much for them to resist.
Besides the risk of diseases being transferred to humans, the reptiles themselves can suffer from several diseases. Mites, ticks, worms, rickets, osteoporosis, fungal diseases, bacterial diseases, anemia, depression, or anorexia are just a few. There's also a disease known to attack lizards called metabolic bone disease. It's very painful for the reptile and is often caused by lack of calcium. Improper ultraviolet radiation also causes the reptile problems because of the inability to release vitamin D3, which enables proper absorption of calcium. The symptoms of this disease are brittle bones, swollen jaws, swollen legs, recessed jaws, and no energy. Just imagine how horrible it must feel!
Other problems reptiles can encounter are mouth rot, skin disease from improper shedding, organ bleeding from an overdose of vitamins, colds, and respiratory infections. Central nervous systems can suffer with vitamin B1 deficiency. A female reptile can acquire overloaded ovaries or post ovulatory eggs, which could require surgery.
This is why you must take your animal's welfare seriously. If you are well-armed with knowledge on how to care for it, the chances of it contracting or becoming worse from disease is much reduced. Of course, you have much less control over something the reptile may have had prior to your care. This is where it will help to have some background on the history of the pet shop where you decide to purchase. It also helps to know what to look for to spot some problems before you purchase!
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Dangerous Reptiles When people decide to buy reptiles for pets, some inevitably cross the line of safety and wisdom. Although ...
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Setting Up A Terrarium for Your Reptile A terrarium is similar to an aquarium except that it isn't full of ...
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Watch out for Reptiles! Reptiles seem more like creatures from another planet than any other animal, and snakes even more ...
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Gigantic Reptiles! Of all the reptiles, we are usually most interested in the largest ones - alligators, crocodiles, komodo dragons, ...
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Choosing A Vet for Your Reptile Carefully research your options for proper veterinary care before you decide to purchase a ...
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Searching for Small Reptiles Lizards are one of an interesting group of animals that you might not think about too ...
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A Lizard's Eye View of Life as a Reptile If you think of lizards at all, you think of those ...
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Learning about Reptiles Children often, at one time or another, will have an interest in learning about reptiles. Even if ...
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Reptile History Many people overlook that dinosaurs were reptiles, as are tortoises and turtles. Frogs are often lumped into the ...
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What Types of Lizards Make Good Reptile Pets? There is nothing wrong with wanting a reptile for a pet, provided ...
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Vacation With a Reptile! Are you fascinated with shows on TV that show wrestling, wrestling between man and alligator? Do ...
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Where to Buy a Reptile to Keep as a Pet Reptiles can be intimidating. They can also be great pets. ...
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Introducing the Reptiles! The family of reptiles is made up of turtles, lizards, snakes, different kinds of crocodiles, and a ...
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Rattlers - The Dangerous Reptiles! Snakes are probably the reptiles that fascinate and repel us the most. One of the ...
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Reptile Diseases Dangers exist when keeping reptiles as pets, but not just as bites and scratches. You can also contract ...
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Understanding Reptiles Did you think a frog is a reptile? Maybe it would help to learn the difference in reptiles ...
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A Day in the Life of a Fascinating Reptile, the Alligator Let's travel to Florida to meet one of the ...
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Reptile Accessories and Supplies Large reptiles need large cages or other enclosures. They will also need bedding, a water source, ...
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Safety With Reptiles Reptiles are animals to be respected. Many people think it's funny to irritate a reptile to get ...
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Snakes As Reptile Pets Most common snakes kept as pets in the reptile category are the corn snakes and the ...
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The Responsible Reptile Owner Many people think reptiles are cheap pets, easily accessible and easy to care for. However, after ...
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The Slow and Steady Reptile: the Turtle Of all the reptiles that can be found in an average neighborhood, turtles ...
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Reptiles Have Special Needs People have all kinds of different pets. Some people only feel safe with what is considered ...
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Raising a Reptile as a Pet You may have admired the unusual looking lizards at your local wildlife center, or ...
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Which Reptiles Do Not Make Good Pets? Basically, any reptile that is caught in the wild is discouraged for use ...
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Disclaimer
The Publisher has strived to be as accurate and complete as possible in the creation of this website, notwithstanding the fact that he does not warrant or represent at any time that the contents within are accurate due to the rapidly changing nature of the Internet.
This site is a common sense guide to Reptile Diseases. In practical advice websites, like anything else in life, there are no guarantees of income made. Readers are cautioned to reply on their own judgment about their individual circumstances to act accordingly.
This site is not intended for use as a source of legal, business, accounting or financial advice. All readers are advised to seek services of competent professionals in legal, business, accounting, and finance field.
Any perceived slights of specific people or organizations are unintentional.
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Dangerous Reptiles
Setting Up A Terrarium for Your Reptile
Watch out for Reptiles!
Gigantic Reptiles!
Choosing A Vet for Your Reptile
Searching for Small Reptiles
A Lizard's Eye View of Life as a Reptile
Learning about Reptiles
Reptile History
What Types of Lizards Make Good Reptile Pets?
Vacation With a Reptile!
Where to Buy a Reptile to Keep as a Pet
Introducing the Reptiles!
Rattlers - The Dangerous Reptiles!
Reptile Diseases
Understanding Reptiles
A Day in the Life of a Fascinating Reptile, the Alligator
Reptile Accessories and Supplies
Safety With Reptiles
Snakes As Reptile Pets
The Responsible Reptile Owner
The Slow and Steady Reptile: the Turtle
Reptiles Have Special Needs
Raising a Reptile as a Pet
Which Reptiles Do Not Make Good Pets?
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