Komodo is a Bearded Dragon who slowly acquired a severe eye infection. Both eyes started swelling up and soon Komodo stopped eating.

Reptile infections often create granulomatous pus, which means their infection creates lots of extra tissue made out of the white blood cells that came to help fight the infection. In Komodo, this pus accumulated in the conjunctival folds until she could no longer see or open her eyes.

Surgical extraction of the pus was required on a bi-daily basis for three days, then saline irrigations flushed the pus from the eyes for a period of one week. During this time she was hospitalized and kept at 100 degrees and Ofloxacin ($$$$$) opthalmic antibiotic was applied through a small catheter into the conjunctival folds. Eventually, Komodo was feeling better and her infections resolved.

Many reptile infections are strange species of bacteria that and so it was important that we cultured the bacteria responsible and apply the correct antibiotic for that bug. Komodo was infected with a somewhat nasty bug known as Morganella morganii. Morganella species are becoming an up-and-coming nosocomial infection, often resistant to antibiotic therapy and infections with this species are often responsible for human hospital deaths. Komodo's bug was challenged with various antibiotics and found to be resistant to all pennicillins, augmentin, cephalosporins, chloraphenicol and tetracyclines. This bug was a pretty nasty fella!

A classroom pet infected with this particular bacterial organism is pretty scary. If a child became infected with this organism, the antibiotic choices would be very limited and if the bug was to make it into a wound or up to the hospital there could be really nasty human disease as a result.

Komodo teaches us two important lessons about reptiles as pets:

1. Reptiles can grow and harbor infectious and zoonotic disease. Humans in contact with reptiles should practice safe reptile handling protocols. (The school and staff were exceptionally responsible in this realm and all handlers were being careful throughout the infection this is mentioned here as a reminder to all!)
2. Reptile illness is usually prevented by proper husbandry, most importantly proper temperature gradients and thermoclines.

Komodo is an example of a herp illness that might have been prevented with better husbandry. Bearded dragons function best at relatively high temperatures, in the upper 90's, and she had been kept at lower temps for most of her life, which slowly disables the immune system and predisposes to infections such as this.

Remember that everything happens very slowly in reptiles, and even slower at lower temperatures. If your reptile has any changes in appetite, shed cycles, or appearance - the chances are good that there is a husbandry concern that is slowly taking its toll on your friend. Bringing them into the vet before they really get sick helps us make a difference before it's too late or expensive.

If you have a reptile friend, please take some time to find your pet on Mellisa Kaplan's site, Anapsid.org, and give us a call with any questions. Don't cut corners when it comes to husbandry.