Diagnosis of gastrointestinal parasites in reptiles: comparison of two coprological methods

Abstract

BackgroundExotic reptiles have become increasingly common domestic pets worldwide and are well known to be carriers of different parasites including some with zoonotic potential. The need of accurate diagnosis of gastrointestinal endoparasite infections in domestic reptiles is therefore essential, not only for the well-being of captive reptiles but also for the owners. Here, two different approaches for the detection of parasite stages in reptile faeces were compared: a combination of native and iodine stained direct smears together with a flotation technique (CNF) versus the standard SAF-method.ResultsA total of 59 different reptile faeces (20 lizards, 22 snakes, 17 tortoises) were coprologically analyzed by the two methods for the presence of endoparasites. Analyzed reptile faecal samples contained a broad spectrum of parasites (total occurence 93.2%, n = 55) including different species of nematodes (55.9%, n = 33), trematodes (15.3%, n = 9), pentastomids (3.4%, n = 2) and protozoans (47.5%, n = 28). Associations between the performances of both methods to detect selected single parasite stages or groups of such were evaluated by Fisher's exact test and marginal homogeneity was tested by the McNemar test. In 88.1% of all examined samples (n = 52, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 77.1 - 95.1%) the two diagnostic methods rendered differing results, and the McNemar test for paired observations showed highly significant differences of the detection frequency (P < 0.0001).ConclusionThe combination of direct smears/flotation proved superior in the detection of flagellates trophozoites, coccidian oocysts and nematode eggs, especially those of oxyurids. SAF-technique was superior in detecting larval stages and trematode eggs, but this advantage failed to be statistically significant (P = 0.13). Therefore, CNF is the recommended method for routine faecal examination of captive reptiles while the SAF-technique is advisable as additional measure particularly for wild caught animals and individuals which are to be introduced into captive collections.

A study on endoparasitic and ectoparasitic fauna of snakes in Mizoram, India

“…Parasites may have detrimental effects on the well-being of reptiles kept in zoos, farms or as domestic pets [4,5]. The different techniques were used for detection of parasitic ova in feces of snakes as per previous researchers [9][10][11][12]. For the identification of nematode eggs and protozoan oocysts, fecal floatation was found superior to other methods.…”

“…Direct smear, flotation and sedimentation techniques were used for fecal examination as per standard procedure [9][10][11][12]. Fecal samples of dead snakes were examined during post mortem examination.…”

Endoparasites of lizards (Lacertilia) from captive breeding and trade networks

“…Lizards were reported as hosts for more oxyurid species of the family Pharyngonidae (Greiner & Mader, 2006), but it was impossible to identify those species based only on the measurements and morphological features of eggs. Although recent studies (Wolf et al 2014) have shown that the use of flotation technique (CNF) allows differentiation of lizard species versus rodent species oxyurid eggs (Aspiculuris/Syphacia, e.g. in monitor lizard).…”

Helminths of Liophis miliaris (Squamata, Dipsadidae): a list of species and new records

“…These fi ndings confi rm data from stool survey, indicating that infections with more than one species of helminth may be common in L. miliaris, even under natural conditions. Since there is a defi cit in knowledge about the prevalence of parasites from snakes in nature, the observation of high percentages of occurrence of helminths in L. miliaris becomes more relevant, especially given the fact that most of the parasitological surveys in reptiles refer to captive animals, for which prevalence rates in stool samples may vary greatly due to the conditions of confi nement and/or periodic deworming (Rataj et al, 2011;Okulewicz et al, 2014;Wolf et al, 2014). Table 1 shows that a large number of species of helminths have L. miliaris as their host.…”