Dermatological diseases of snakes and lizards and how to investigate them

Snakes and lizards are commonly seen in practice now. Large numbers of certain species, such as Royal or ‘Ball’ pythons (Python regius); Inland Bearded dragon (Pogona vitticeps) and Veiled chameleon (Chamaeleo calyptratus), are bred readily in captivity, so are relatively inexpensive to purchase and are thus widely kept. Therefore, there is a growing expectation that all veterinary practitioners should be able to examine and treat these species - and also the lower financial investment in the animal may result in decreased incentive to seek out more specialised vets, to pay for more involved investigations, or to drive further to these centres

The special features of snakes' and lizards' highly adapted skin include the formation of scales and the necessity to regularly shed the skin at intervals to allow their growth. This inevitably presents a different range of diseases to the mammals more normally seen in small animal clinics and requires a different approach to their investigation (Figure 1). Most importantly, when dealing with reptiles, their poikilothermic status means that environment and husbandry issues are particularly important to consider and a full husbandry evaluation must be carried out in all cases.