Changes in housing and diet combined increase fecal oxyurid load in captive tokay geckos.

Abstract

Reptiles are increasingly popular as exotic pets and can suffer high mortality risks in captivity, yet research into their welfare remains limited. Commonly occurring practices such as frequent handling, changes in housing and diet could induce stress and increase parasite loads with potentially severe negative welfare outcomes. Therefore, it is crucial to understand how routine procedures may influence parasite infections. In this study, we exposed captive bred tokay geckos (<i>Gekko gecko</i>) to two stressors common in the reptile trade, cohabitation with a novel conspecific and a change in diet. We tested the effect of a diet and housing change on oxyurid egg shedding intensity in isolation as well as the combined effect of both treatments. We found that a change in diet or housing alone had no effect on fecal parasite load while both a change in diet and housing combined did increase parasite load. However, we did not notice a visible change in the lizards' body condition, food and water uptake or defecation within the short study period. Our study shows that common changes in housing and husbandry can increase parasite load in tokay geckos. Further studies are needed to determine which other procedures (<i>e.g.</i>, confinement, transport, novel environments) affect health and when combined could severely impact reptile health.