New Methods of Reptile Health Assessment

Reptile health status is determined by the interaction of multiple factors, including host and pathogen dynamics, environmental quality, temporality, and the presence of concurrent stressors. To account for this complexity, health assessment strategies should consider a range of potential drivers at different spatial and temporal scales. In this chapter, we will address current knowledge driving health assessment in reptiles and propose the use of statistical approaches to evaluate health in clinical settings. The future of reptile medicine should incorporate both novel diagnostic tools and modeling approaches to improve objectivity and subsequent clinical outcomes. The methods described here provide a platform for improving health assessment in not only reptiles but all vertebrate taxa.