Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Just curious, probably a stupid question..
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absolutely not...it only affects mammals.

Reptiles, birds, amphibians, and other squamates can not get rabies because they are "cold blooded," meaning they are endothermic, they absorb heat. Mammals are exothermic, releasing heat, and are warm blooded (like to keep a little cold, extreme heat = bad!). Rabies only occurs in warm blooded organisms.
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1 Ball Python

"Reptiles, birds, amphibians, and other squamates can not get rabies because they are "cold blooded," meaning they are endothermic,"

Point 1: Endothermic is actually the opposite of what you're saying. Endotherms are "animals whose thermal energy is a byproduct of its own metabolism. This includes mammals, birds..."[1] ECTO-therms are the ones that regulate their body temperature from outside sources.

Leading to point 2: Birds don't belong in that category: they're not "cold-blooded". They still won't get rabies, but they very definitely produce their own heat.

Anyway, that's just me being picky! Body temperature is a big determinant for rabies, though. For example, opossums are lousy vectors (possible, but not that great) since they tend to run cooler than raccoons and such.

-P

[1] Reptile Medicine and Surgery, Second Edition. Mader, 2006
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1.0.0 Normal corn snake (Frito)
1.0.0 Creamsicle corn (Tang)
0.1.0 Ghost corn (Raynham)
1.1.2 Bay of LA rosy boas (Rivet, Cali, and Cali's unnamed babies)
0.1.0 Cape Gopher (Mole)
0.0.1 African House Snake (Casa)

rabies is quite common in wild animals...opossums can definitely be carriers...

Sure, they can be. But they're not particularly *good* vectors due to the body temp thing (they tend to run between 94-97 degrees, which is a touch low for the virus)[1]. When I worked at a wildlife rehab center, you were required to have rabies shots before handling any mammal except the opossums. Everyone was allowed to handle them, because it's pretty rare in them, and unlikely that they'd be carrying rabies.[2]

-P

[1]http://www.opossumsocietyus.org/frequently_asked_questions.htm#Do%20opossums%20carry%20rabies?

[2]http://www.wildliferescueleague.org/report/opossum.html
(in the diseases section, an epidemiologist is quoted as saying that there were a total of 6 opossum rabies cases between 1989 and '98)

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1.0.0 Normal corn snake (Frito)
1.0.0 Creamsicle corn (Tang)
0.1.0 Ghost corn (Raynham)
1.1.2 Bay of LA rosy boas (Rivet, Cali, and Cali's unnamed babies)
0.1.0 Cape Gopher (Mole)
0.0.1 African House Snake (Casa)

>>rabies is quite common in wild animals...opossums can definitely be carriers...

Yes they can become infected with rabies, but the natural behavior of the animal (solitary life) coupled with their lower body temps means the virus has a very difficult to near impossible time latching on to the animal.

A statistical analysis shows (in Maryland) that during a 20 year period (1983-2003), of the 11,519 animals that tested positive for rabies -- only 8 were opossums. That comes to around 0.0007%. Raccoons accounted for the highest number at 9,275 positive animals or 80%. Horses accounted for 21 positive animals (0.002%), cattle for 34 (0.003%). i.e. you have a far better chance of catching rabies from a domestic horse or cattle than a wild opossum. After raccoons, the animals that you really need to be wary of are in order from greatest threat to least...skunks (0.06%), foxes (0.05%), bats (0.04%), cats (0.03%), groundhogs (0.01%), dogs (0.003%).

In Maryland, during the 2003 year, 144 opossums were tested for rabies - only 1 came back positive. In 2004 & 2005, no opossums came back positive. In 2006 (at least so far as up to October), no opossums have tested positive. The data for 2004-2006 is still provisional so the actual number of opossums tested overall is not yet known.

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PHWyvern

Reptiles and amphibians are ectothermic "cold blooded", as such depend upon external, environmental factors to regulate body temperature. Birds and mammals are both endothermic or homeothermic "warm blooded", as such harbor internal mechanisms for regulating body temperature. However, you are absolutley correct, as reptiles, amphibians and birds do not carry the virus...

best regards,

Jeff
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Jeff Snodgres
University of Arkansas
snodgresjeffreys@uams.edu
501.603.1947