Managing the Reptile Patient in the Veterinary Hospital: Establishing a Standards of Care Model for Nontraditional Species

Based on a recent 2009 to 2010 national pet survey, reptiles remain popular as pets. Although, compared with reptiles, there may be more than 5 times as many dogs and 6 times as many cats, there is only 1 species of each of these domestic pets and more than 7500 different species of reptiles. Veterinarians working with domestic species need to recognize the requirements for managing these animals, along with some of the unique nutritional (e.g., calorie and nutritional differences between small and large breed dogs) and medical health differences among breeds; however, these differences pale in comparison with the species requirements and differences noted among reptiles. For this reason, it is important that veterinarians working with reptiles adopt a standards of care model to ensure that they are providing the most complete and balanced veterinary care possible for their reptile patients. The purpose of this article is to provide a review of the methods used for collecting a history, performing a physical examination, collecting and interpreting diagnostic tests, and reviewing the management of common diseases in captive reptiles.