Collecting gastric samples is often necessary when evaluating a snake exhibiting clinical signs of gastric cryptosporidiosis. Traditional techniques for obtaining these samples include gastric lavage and endoscopic or surgical biopsy. An alternative technique is described for collecting gastric samples in snakes using an equine uterine culture swab.

An estimated 9.5-yr-old, male, captive American toad (Anaxyrus americanus) presented with bilateral cataracts of unknown duration. At the time of presentation, the animal continued to eat and behave normally. Lesions appeared to be static prior to brumation; however, following brumation, and 7 months after initial examination, the toad presented with progressive lesions and presumed blindness. Phacoemulsification was performed bilaterally under tricaine methanesulfonate immersion anesthesia. Although induction, maintenance anesthesia, and the phacoemulsification procedure were unremarkable, the animal died during recovery. This case illustrates the first reported phacoemulsification in an amphibian.

A 2-yr-old male veiled chameleon (Chamaeleo calyptratus) was presented for open-mouthed breathing, lethargy, and progressive deterioration culminating in euthanasia. Postmortem examination revealed red discoloration of the lungs, liver, and coelomic fat pads and mild fluid accumulation in the coelom. Histopathological evaluation revealed acute septicemia characterized by numerous intravascular acid-fast bacteria and intravascular fibrin thrombi in multiple organs. Bacteriologic culture of the lung yielded heavy growth of Gram-positive, acid-fast pleomorphic bacilli which were identified as Mycobacterium chelonae chemovar niacinogenes with the use of 16s and hsp65 gene sequencing. The gonads were determined to be ovotestes. To the authors' knowledge, this is the first report of acute Mycobacterium chelonae septicemia in a veiled chameleon and also the first report of hermaphroditism in this species.

A 5-yr-old female shingleback skink (Tiliqua rugosa) presented for anorexia and lethargy 3 wk after producing a single healthy fetus. Three deceased fetuses were identified within the oviduct on radiographs. A salpingotomy was performed to remove the fetuses, and the patient made an unremarkable recovery from surgery. The skink produced normal offspring 1 yr later. Salpingotomy should be considered as an alternative to ovariectomy and/or salpingohysterectomy in cases of oviductal disease in valuable breeding animals experiencing dystocia.

The present case report documents acute ramson (Allium ursinum) toxicosis in tortoises. A group of four captive tortoises, including one Aldabra giant tortoise (Aldabrachelys gigantea) and three African spurred tortoises (Centrochelys sulcata), was fed a large quantity of ramson foliage. Approximately 12 hr later, the giant tortoise and two spurred tortoises developed acute and pronounced lethargy, anorexia, and palor of the oral and conjunctival mucosae. The remaining spurred tortoise showed palor of the oral mucosa but did not display other clinical signs. At initial presentation, approximately 24 hr after being fed with ramson, one spurred tortoise had died, and supportive care as well as the administration of activated charcoal was initiated in the remaining tortoises. While the giant tortoise died 5 days following initial presentation, the other two tortoises recovered. Gross pathological, histopathological, blood biochemistry, and hematological findings largely supported what has been documented in other species with Allium sp. toxicosis. Heinz bodies, however, do not seem to be a consistent finding in the blood of tortoises fed with ramson. Although the development of toxicosis due to the ingestion of ramson in tortoises seems to be dose dependent based on the present report, clinical practitioners and reptile pet owners should be aware of the potential detrimental effects of feeding this herb to tortoises. To the authors' knowledge, this is the first report of toxicosis caused by an Allium sp. in reptiles.

Cloacal swabs and feces were collected for four consecutive months from 19 young, healthy Burmese pythons (Python bivittatus) that were culture-confirmed, asymptomatic carriers of Salmonella enterica ssp. arizonae (S. arizonae). Standard culture protocols were used on 152 samples in total (76 fecal samples and 76 cloacal swabs). Comparison of the two sampling methods for each month and over the combined 4 months using McNemar's χ² test revealed that the two methods were not statistically different at the P < 0.05 level. However, of the cloacal swabs, 71 (93%) of 76 samples yielded positive cultures of S. arizonae, 15 (79%) of 19 snakes had no negative cloacal swabs, 1 (5%) snake had more than one negative cloacal swab (but not consecutively), and all snakes had positive cultures in two of the months. Of the fecal samples, 64 (84%) of 76 samples yielded positive cultures of S. arizonae, 13 (68%) of 19 snakes had no negative fecal samples, 4 (21%) snakes had more than one negative fecal sample (3 of which were in consecutive months), and all months had at least one negative culture. Serotyping of confirmed S. arizonae isolates identified three different serotypes. This study provides the first evidence-based data to support the statistical equivalency of cloacal swabs and fecal samples for the isolation of Salmonella from reptiles. Cloacal swabs are easy and convenient to collect and are less prone to confounding factors than are fecal samples, so clinicians can feel comfortable using this sample collection method.

A wide variety of bacterial organisms can be cultured from captive reptiles and their environments; however, the pathogenicity of these organisms can be difficult to determine. One-hundred fifty-five aerobic bacterial cultures collected from affected sites of clinically ill chelonian patients (114 aquatic, 41 terrestrial) were reviewed and categorized into eight different anatomic locations based on culture site, yielding a total of 183 bacterial isolates. More than 50% of the samples collected were from the integument category (56.1%, 87/155), followed by joints (9.7%, 15/155) and the upper respiratory tract (9 %, 14/155). Integument (80.5%, 70/87), joint (93.3%, 14/15), ocular (100%, 8/8), and lower respiratory samples (100%, 8/8) were predominately collected from aquatic species, whereas upper respiratory samples were predominately collected from terrestrial species (85.7%, 12/15). Gram-negative bacteria predominated, representing 86.3% (158/183) of all isolates and more than 50% of all sampling locations. The most prevalent isolates were Pseudomonas (36%, 66/183) and Escherichia (10.9%, 20/183). Pseudomonas sp. were the most commonly isolated organisms from five of the eight sampling location categories. Pseudomonas and Escherichia were found to be most susceptible to fluoroquinolones and aminoglycosides, respectively. Varying levels of multiple antibiotic resistance were seen in all genera cultured.