Tickborne Diseases in Reptiles

Ticks feed on the blood of animals, spreading diseases and parasites through their saliva. Ticks may bite reptiles, including lizards, snakes, turtles and tortoises. As humans can contract serious diseases from tick bites, it's vital to find and destroy tick infestations on reptiles kept as household pets.

Features

• Most adult ticks are large enough to be seen without magnification, particularly when the body is engorged with blood after feeding upon an animal. To feed on reptiles, ticks attach themselves to the scales and nostrils of snakes, around the nostrils and anus of lizards, and in soft areas under the shells of turtles and tortoises. Reptiles can develop anemia due to blood loss if the tick infestation is significant. Ticks can also clog the nasal passages of lizards and cause suffocation.

Types

• At least eight different kinds of ticks, including ones carrying the bacteria varieties Coxiella burnetii and Cowdria ruminatum, are known to attach themselves to reptiles. Coxiella burnetii causes Q fever, a disease that can infect humans as well as livestock and domestic pets, while Cowdria ruminatum causes the disease heartwater, which has been known to devastate herds of livestock.

Solution

• Use tweezers to remove ticks individually from a reptile. Grasp the tick by its head, against the reptile's skin, instead of by its body. As ticks are difficult to kill by crushing or by drowning them in water, submerge removed ticks in a jar of alcohol. Don't try to smother the tick with petroleum jelly or alcohol or burn it with matches, as this may encourage the tick to produce more disease-carrying saliva. The antiparasitic medication ivermectin may be used to kill ticks on lizards and snakes, but this substance is toxic to turtles and tortoises.

Geography

• Ticks, including the varieties that infect reptiles, are found in moist, humid areas worldwide. They thrive in areas of heavy vegetation, such as forests and overgrown yards.

Warning

• Ticks can transmit diseases, including Lyme disease and Rocky Mountain spotted fever, to humans. Anyone who may have been bitten by a tick and who exhibits symptoms of tickborne diseases, such as rashes, fevers or chills, should seek medical attention. Never touch or squash a tick with your fingers. Wash hands thoroughly after contact with tick-ridden animals. The British Veterinary Zoological Society recommends that children under 5 years old, elderly people, pregnant women and anyone with a compromised immune system avoid skin contact with reptiles to avoid contracting diseases or infections.