Diagnosing Stomach Disease in Pet Reptiles

A popular “get well” card shows a racoon saying to a snake, “You wouldn’t get these stomach aches if you chewed your food properly.” Vets know, however, that indigestion in snakes and other reptiles often results not from swallowing food whole but from a parasitic infection. The gastrointestinal disease cryptosporidiosis represents a particularly severe problem: although it is rarely otherwise serious in mammals, reptiles seem especially prone to it and the condition is often fatal. Furthermore it is highly contagious, so early diagnosis would represent a good way to limit its spread among reptiles. Unfortunately, though, diagnosis is extremely difficult. Leer más.