Diseases of farmed crocodiles and ostriches

Abstract

Crocodiles and ostriches are very sensitive to stress, and the ideal conditions for intensive rearing have not yet been established. Consequently, mortality is often directly linked to conditions on the farm. Crocodile and caiman pox, adenoviral hepatitis, mycoplasmosis, chlamydiosis and coccidiosis are crocodile-specific infections with reservoirs in wild populations and adult wild-caught breeding stock. Other important conditions are salmonellosis, non-specific septicaemia, trichinellosis, the nutritional diseases osteomalacia, fat necrosis and gout, as well as winter sores. The only ostrich-specific transmissible disease is libyostrongylosis. Other important conditions are Newcastle disease, avian influenza, fading chick syndrome, tibiotarsal rotation and enteritis. No cases of coccidiosis in ostriches have ever been confirmed.