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Oral and cloacal aerobic bacterial and fungal flora of free-living four-lined snakes (Elaphe quatuorlineata) from Croatia

Information related to gastrointestinal microflora of snakes is scarce. Most of the investigations studied bacteria from the oral cavity of venomous snakes and complications of snake bites (JHO et al., 2011 ; LIU et al., 2012). Non-venomous snakes may also harbor a wide range of bacteria in their oral cavity able to complicate the bite wounds (DIPINETO et al., 2014 ; YAK et al., 2015) so the information on their microflora should not be neglected. Secondary bacterial infections, such as subcutaneous abscess or tetanus, are possible complications of snake bites, either venomous or non-venomous snakes (HABIB, 2002 ; GARG et al., 2009). In addition to bites, humans can be infected during manipulation gof animals (RABINOWITZ et al., 2007 ; DEKKER and FRANK, 2015) or via infected equipment (FOSTER and KERR, 2005). The popularity of snakes as pets and the models of biological and veterinary research increased the risk for a public health due to the zoonotic potential of these animals. Many fungal species were isolated from reptiles, including snakes (ROSENTHAL and MADER, 1996 ; NICHOLS et al., 1999 ; CHEATWOOD et al., 2003). Although most of the fungi are normal residents of reptile gastrointestinal tract, they can cause secondary infections under suboptimal conditions and can play an important role as disease-causing agents in reptiles including snakes (JACOBSON, 1980 ; HERNANDEZ-DIVERS, 2001 ; MILLER et al., 2004 ; OROS et al., 2004). There is no information regarding microflora and potential pathogens from gastrointestinal system of Croatian autochthonous snakes. Therefore, oral cavity and cloacal swabs were taken from a total of 20 four-lined snakes (Elaphe quatuorlineata) at Croatian islands Cres and Olib, to get more insight into physiological microflora, potential pathogens and opportunistic organisms from oral cavity and cloaca of free-living snakes.

four-lined snakes, oral cavity, cloaca, bacteria, fungi

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