It has been found with several studies over the last 20 years or so that Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a very common bacterial isolate from over 90% of captive collections of boids that were sampled. Additionally, it was also found that something like 99% of all throat swabs from captive pythons tested positive for P. aeruginosa, whereas less than a third of wild caught specimens tested positive. It is a pathogenic species of gram negative bacteria that is difficult to control under disease conditions, as it shows resistance to many classes of antibiotics. Your professor is correct in that it is probably one of the main organisms responsible for RI in boids.

Seeing that the vast majority of captive specimens are carriers, it appears that it only becomes infective under conditions of stress, as most captive specimens are able to keep it in check with un-compromised immune systems. Obvious stressors to captive snakes include sub-optimal temperature regimes or humidity, inadequate hiding areas, excessive handling, crowding and incompatibility of specimens, inadequate diet and clean water, injuries, unsanitary conditions, etc. Inadequate hygiene could be a factor, but is probably not a major factor in RI incidents. I say this because most cases of RI show up in boids that are being kept in relatively sanitary conditions, as even in clean conditions, they all appear to be carriers. While all of the above stressors can initiate the onset of an RI, I believe the majority of cases are from stress issues caused by sub-optimal temps and humidity. Antibody response in reptiles is temperature dependent. Sub-optimal temps can readily compromise the immune system of captive boids, and low humidity, especially in winter months, dries and damages lung tissue and exposes it to infection by already existing organisms.

I strongly agree that this would be an excellent topic for a term paper.

Kelly

[ Hide Replies ]

• Boa RI question - amarilrose, Fri Jun 29 23:56:56 2007
• Rebecca, you are quite correct…. - Kelly_Haller, Sat Jun 30 14:43:49 2007
• RE: Rebecca, you are quite correct…. - boapaul, Sat Jun 30 21:38:57 2007
• Kelly, can I get more info? - amarilrose, Sun Jul 1 12:42:19 2007