Diagnostic Clinical Pathology of the Bearded Dragon (Pogona vitticeps)

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Key points

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    Thorough physical examination and a clinicopathologic minimum database are invaluable for prompt diagnosis in bearded dragons, which are otherwise stoic or display nonspecific symptoms when ill, or lack clinical symptoms until late in the course of disease.

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    Numerous factors including age, sex, environmental temperature, diet, and season influence hematologic and biochemical analytes in bearded dragons and should be considered when interpreting results.

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    The most common diseases affecting bearded

Hematology

Hematologic assessment of bearded dragons in the form of a complete blood count (CBC) is often performed for both routine wellness evaluation and as part of the diagnostic workup in sick animals. Indications are similar to those in companion mammals but results may be difficult to interpret due to changes associated with ectotherm physiology, environment, and lack of baseline values and abundant reference material.4 Therefore, annual or biannual wellness checks with the evaluation of

Clinical chemistry

The evaluation of plasma or serum biochemistry values can provide valuable information that is used to assess general wellness, metabolic abnormalities in sick animals, monitor response to therapy, or aid in the determination of prognosis.12 A systematic approach based on clinician preference can aid in creating a prioritized problem list and differentials for any abnormalities present. For example, analytes in a biochemical panel may be grouped by organ or organ system (eg, hepatic,

Infection, neoplasia, and selected metabolic conditions

Although metabolic disease occurs with some regularity in bearded dragons, infectious and inflammatory disease are among the most common pathologic conditions affecting this species, with various bacterial, fungal, viral, and parasitic causes frequently implicated.1 For this reason, it is recommended that new lizards undergo a quarantine period before introduction with other reptiles. Furthermore, normal flora from a particular anatomic site may cause pathologic condition at foreign sites or in

Neoplasia

Neoplasia of lizards is not uncommon and bearded dragons seem to be no exception, with more than 20 different tumor types reported. Although comprehensive reviews regarding neoplasia specific to the bearded dragon are not available, there are several reviews characterizing neoplasia with scope limited to lizards,15,42 and others that encompass class Reptilia as a whole.16,17,43 We will focus our discussion of neopasia of bearded dragons to those with reported clinicopathologic findings (eg,

Metabolic conditions

Derangements in normal metabolism are not uncommon in bearded dragons and often are multifactorial rather than resulting from a particular nidus. The most relevant conditions include MBD, hepatic lipidosis (see “Hepatobiliary” section), and gout (see “Renal and Urogenital” section).

Calcium and phosphorus concentrations are of particular importance in bearded dragons due to the prevalence of MBD, particularly secondary hyperparathyroidism that more often occurs due to poor husbandry rather than

Summary

Despite bearded dragon popularity, many basic clinicopathologic diagnostics remain unstudied for this species. Coagulation studies, studies of APP, more accurate bench top protein determination, cardiac troponins, and evaluation of enzyme activity tissue distributions have yet to be performed but could prove invaluable for clinicopathologic determination of health in bearded dragons. These lizards are stoic creatures and may not display evidence of clinical illness until the late stages of

Clinics care points

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    The clinicopathologic minimum database is crucial for adequate evaluation of systemic health in bearded dragons. The majority of health problems in bearded dragons are a result of poor husbandry.

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    Bearded dragons should have wellness check ups with a veterinarian biannually, or at minimum annually, to establish their baseline in health and potentially detect signs of illness early to allow prompt treatment.

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    Many routine laboratory diagnostic tests commonly performed in domestic mammals have not

Disclosure

The authors have no conflicts to disclose.

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