Fluker Farms understands the importance of research to improve herpetoculture and reptile conservation. Since 1998, Fluker Farms has been supporting the research endeavors of Dr. Mark Mitchell. Dr. Mitchell is a wildlife epidemiologist with a special interest in reptilian medicine from the School of Veterinary Medicine at Louisiana State University . The support provided by Fluker Farms has enabled Dr. Mitchell to pursue research projects that have been intended to improve the management of reptiles in captivity, develop new methods to suppress Salmonella in reptiles, and thus reduce the potential transmission of these bacteria to humans, and to develop reptile conservation programs for threatened and endangered reptiles.
Walt Whitman has suggested that veterinarians make the best doctors because their patients can't speak to them to tell them what's wrong with them. This could not be more true than with reptiles. These animals have evolved to mask their illness to avoid predation. In the wild, this can be a life-saving technique, but in captivity it can ultimately lead to the demise of the reptile if its disease problem is not diagnosed and treated. One of the best methods of characterizing the health of diseased reptiles is by evaluating blood parameters. It is possible to perform complete blood counts and plasma biochemistries, just like those done on humans, for captive reptiles. Unfortunately, there are relatively few reference ranges available for veterinarians to compare the results of their patient with that which is considered a standard.
Fluker Farms understands the importance of research to improve herpetoculture and reptile conservation. Since 1998, Fluker Farms has been supporting the research endeavors of Dr. Mark Mitchell. Dr. Mitchell is a wildlife epidemiologist with a special interest in reptilian medicine from the School of Veterinary Medicine at Louisiana State University . The support provided by Fluker Farms has enabled Dr. Mitchell to pursue research projects that have been intended to improve the management of reptiles in captivity, develop new methods to suppress Salmonella in reptiles, and thus reduce the potential transmission of these bacteria to humans, and to develop reptile conservation programs for threatened and endangered reptiles.
