How to diagnose in practice – which diagnostic tests to do? Investigating feather plucking in companion parrots can be both challenging and complex. A good understanding of the medical, psychological and environmental causes of this syndrome is required to give the best patient outcomes. Alongside a short review of common causes, this short presentation will cover the most useful diagnostic tests that can be performed in a primary care setting.

Factors involved in skin disease in reptiles – detecting infectious causes: Infectious skin disease is common in reptiles, especially in young animals that have been captive bred and mixed in shops or with dealers. Underlying husbandry deficiencies will affect immunity and aid establishment of pathogens and even result in skin pathogens causing systemic infections. Social factors and stressors (e.g. mixing different species/age groups/sizes) will also increase the likelihood of seeing infectious dermatopathies. Once established, these infections can be extremely hard to treat and may require months of therapy. In some cases the infected reptile will be a source of infection for others in a collection. Early recognition of disease or likelihood of these diseases is essential so the correct diagnostics can be performed and therapy started as early as possible. This talk looks at the most common infections, their diagnosis and treatment.