Tracheo-bronchopneumonia of bacterial etiology in Indian pythons

Abstract

In modern Russia, private terrariums have become part of ecological culture. Therefore, the issues of care, feeding, treatment, and preventative care for reptiles become increasingly important. In the Russian Federation, requirements aimed at improving the rules for keeping exotic animals were adopted on September 1, 2025. Pythons have anatomical and topographic features of the respiratory system that should be taken into account to avoid diseases or death. The research goal was to study changes in the trachea, bronchi, and lungs of Indian pythons with bacterial tracheo-bronchopneumonia. The objectives were as following: 1) to describe the pathological changes in the trachea, bronchi, and lungs in the studied pythons; 2) to identify the etiology of trachea-bronchopneumonia in the studied pythons; 3) to identify the anatomical and topographic features of the trachea, bronchi, and lungs in pythons that contributed to the development of respiratory diseases. The research targets were tracheae, bronchi, and lungs of 3 Indian pythons of the age 6-8 years, males and a female, which died naturally with signs of depression, without any manifestations of clinical symptoms of diseases; they did not receive any therapy, and were kept in the same terrarium according to generally accepted rules. The following research methods were used: 1) review of legal information for conducting studies of Indian pythons; 2) registration of animals; 3) pathological autopsy; 4) laboratory (bacteriological) diagnostics; 5) analysis of the findings with the identification of some anatomical and topographic features of the respiratory system in pythons that contributed to inflammatory processes. As a result, acute lobar tracheitis and acute lobar bronchopneumonia were found in the studied Indian pythons at pathological examination. Non-plasmacoagulating staphylococci were the causative agents of the inflammatory process. The development of acute croupous inflammation was facilitated by the following: the significant length of the trachea; the lack of physiological ability to clear the contents of the trachea and bronchi (cough reflex); the python dependence on ambient temperature (housing conditions); a significant amount of surfactant; and respiratory sacs. The animal death occurred due to respiratory failure as a result of the development of acute inflammation in the tracheae, bronchi, and lungs.