Identification of the microflora from the oral cavity of exotic snakes kepth as pets

Abstract

In recent years, snakes have become suitable pets for people with little spare time. By buying these animals people ignore the fact that they carry many microorganisms that are pathogenic for humans. The idea of ​​this study was to identify the microorganisms from the oral cavity of exotic snakes kept as pets in the Republic of North Macedonia, which can help in the treatment of bite infections if they occur. The study comprised 30 snakes of 9 species, from 3 families of non-venomous snakes: Pythonidae, Boidae and Colubridae. Snakes are part of the 5 largest collections of exotic snakes in the Republic of North Macedonia. Only one swab from the oral cavity was taken from each snake. The brushes were cultured and microscopically analyzed at the Institute of Microbiology and Parasitology at the Faculty of Medicine in Skopje. From 59 isolated microorganisms from the oral cavity of 30 exotic snakes, 37.3% were Gram-positive bacteria, 61.01% were Gram-negative bacteria and 1.69% were fungi. Of the total number of microorganisms, Pseudomonas aeruginosa was predominant with 27.11%, Providencia rettgeri / Proteus vulgaris with 18.64% and KONS / Micrococcus luteus with 16.94%. Pseudomonas aeruginosa was present in all three snake families, with 62.5% of the snake in the fam. Pythonidae; 50% in the fam. Boidae and 50% in the fam. Colubridae. The isolate Providencia rettgeri / Proteus vulgaris was most frequently found in the fam. Colubridae with 71.43%, followed by fam. Pythonidae with 12.5%, but was not isolated in any specimen of the fam. Boidae. The microbiome of the non-venomous snakes is composed of Gram-positive bacteria in healthy snakes, but also in snakes kept in inadequate hygienic conditions. Gram-negative bacteria were predominant, of which the most significant was the presence of multiple drug resistance Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Snakes as pets require proper knowledge of terms and conditions.