ENTEROBACTERIA OF REPTILES

  • 1 January 1976
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 236  (1) , 22-35
Abstract
The aerobic gram-negative fecal flora of 39 lizards of 23 spp., 15 tortoises of 9 spp., 24 snakes of 14 spp. was studied. Salmonella was present in 50% of lizards, in 16% of tortoises and in 16% of snakes. There were all together 15 different serotypes. Edwardsiella tarda was isolated in 20% of tortoises, in 12% of snakes but only in 3% of lizards. Arizona was isolated primarily from snakes. Citrobacter (52%), Escherichia coli (50%), Proteus mirabilis (49%), P. morganii (18%), P. rettgeri (26%), P. vulgaris (32%) were also common. Klebsiella and Enterobacter seem to prefer lizards. The overwhelming majority of the studied bacteria were lactose-negative, corresponding to the inability of reptiles to produce lactose. The normal habitat of Salmonella in reptiles and the high phylogenetic age of reptiles allows that hypothesis that salmonellae could have a similar old age as their host animals, because the ecological niche, i.e., the bowel of reptiles, has not changed for some hundred million years.