Reptiles as Pets
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  • Introduction to Reptiles
    • Amphibia and Reptilia
  • Purchasing Your Reptile
    • Is a Reptile Right For You?
    • Reptile Equipment
    • Purchasing a Healthy Reptile
    • Wild Caught (WC) vs Captive Farmed (CF) vs Captive Bred (CB)
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    • Consequences of Catching Your Own Pet
  • General Care
    • Quarantining
    • Housing
    • Substrate
    • Heating, Lighting and Humidity >
      • A Comprehensive Look at the Benefits of Lighting for Reptiles
    • Food and Feeding >
      • Foods >
        • Vegetables
        • Fruits and Others
        • Insects and Animal
    • Water
    • Taming and Handling
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  • Behaviour
    • Social Behaviour
    • Aggressive and Defensive Behaviours
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    • Abnormal Behaviours >
      • Signs of Pain in Reptiles
    • Activity Levels in Reptiles
    • Hibernation and Aestivation
    • Changing Colours
  • Senses and Communication
    • Radiation Reception >
      • Vision
      • Infrared Reception
      • Parietal Eye
      • Evolution of Snake Eyes >
        • Evolution of Snakes
    • Chemoreception >
      • Olfaction (Smell)
      • Taste
    • Mechanoreception >
      • Hearing
      • Detection of Water Currents
    • Other Senses
    • Behavioural Communication
  • Nutrition and Disease
    • Disease From Vitamin and Mineral Deficiencies and Toxicities >
      • Vitamins >
        • Vitamin A
        • Vitamin B1
        • Vitamin B7
        • Vitamin C
        • Vitamin D3
        • Vitamin E
        • Vitamin K
      • Minerals >
        • Calcium (Ca)
        • Iodine (I)
        • Phosphorus (P)
        • Selenium (Se)
        • Sodium (Na)
      • Other Nutrients >
        • Carbohydrates
        • Fats
        • Fibre
        • Proteins
      • Anti-nutrients >
        • Oxalates
        • Goitrogens
        • Tannins
        • Phytic Acid
    • Metabolic Bone Disease (MBD)
    • Obesity
    • Anorexia
    • Dehydration
    • Vomiting and Regurgitation
  • Other Illnesses
    • Stress in Reptiles
    • Bacterial Infections >
      • Scale/Shell Rot
      • Mouth Rot
      • Septicaemia
      • Abscesses
    • Viral Diseases
    • Parasitic Infestations >
      • Ectoparasites
    • Skin Issues >
      • Shedding
      • Traumatic and Spontaneous Damage
      • Hereditary Skin Abnormalities
  • Ecological Issues
    • The Commercial Trade of Wild Reptiles and Amphibians
    • Chytridiomycosis in Amphibians
    • Biodiversity Loss in the 21st Century: The Sixth Mass Extinction
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Abscesses


Abscesses have recently been quoted as being more accurately termed fibriscesses due to unique nature of avian and reptilian abscess formation. Instead of the liquid puss we are more familiar with in mammals, reptiles and birds form a solid, caseous, dried swelling surrounded by a thick shell of fibrous tissue. This is due to lack of lysozymes that help liquefy foreign matter. Instead the reptile engulfs the material in immune system cells to contain the problem further throws up a think connective tissue wall around the area, forming a solid swelling. These may form anywhere, but a common site in chelonians is the middle ear, causing bulging of the ear drum. The pathogens involved are frequently Gram negative species, although presence of fungi in abscesses well recorded.

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