{"topic_id":"exotic_tox_reptile_scalerot","category":"exotic-pet-toxicology","context":"---\ntopic_id: exotic_tox_reptile_scalerot\ncategory: exotic-pet-toxicology\ntitle: \"Reptile scale rot (ulcerative dermatitis) — excessive humidity and unhygienic moist bedding in snakes and lizards\"\nlang: en\nsource: \"Merck Veterinary Manual (merckvetmanual.com) — non-Open-Access; paraphrased derived fact summary per COPYRIGHT_POLICY §3.\"\nsource_file: pdf-raw/exotic-toxicology/merck_reptiles.html\ndate_parsed: 2026-08-27\ntokens_estimated: 216\nverification:\n  method: paraphrase\n  claims: 4\n  passed: 4\n  date: 2026-08-27\nrecovered: false\npath: exotic-pet-toxicology/exotic_tox_reptile_scalerot/01_exotic_tox_reptile_scalerot.md\nsource_document: \"Merck Veterinary Manual (professional veterinary reference)\"\ncitation:\n  authority: \"Merck Veterinary Manual\"\n  title: \"Reptile scale rot (ulcerative dermatitis) — excessive humidity and unhygienic moist bedding in snakes and lizards\"\n  url: \"https://www.merckvetmanual.com/exotic-and-laboratory-animals/reptiles/bacterial-diseases-of-reptiles\"\n  retrieved: \"2026-08-17\"\n  ref: \"\"\n  doc_type: \"professional veterinary reference\"\n  needs_review: false\nlicense: paraphrase\ncopyright_note: \"Source Merck Veterinary Manual (merckvetmanual.com) is © Merck & Co., Inc. and not openly licensed; per COPYRIGHT_POLICY §3 all claims are paraphrased derived fact summaries (numbers and proper nouns preserved, sentences rewritten), not verbatim quotations.\"\nauthority_tier: T3\nauthority_tier_basis: \"T3:vet-ref\"\nauthority_tier_date: 2026-08-27\n---\n\n# Reptile scale rot (ulcerative dermatitis) — excessive humidity and unhygienic moist bedding in snakes and lizards\n\nSource: Merck Veterinary Manual (merckvetmanual.com), a copyrighted veterinary reference. Per COPYRIGHT_POLICY §3, the points below are paraphrased derived fact summaries: numerical values and proper nouns are preserved from the source, but sentences are rewritten and not quoted verbatim.\n\n## Claims\n\n- *[Paraphrased derived summary — non-Open-Access source.]* Scale rot — ulcerative dermatitis — is seen in snakes and lizards whose enclosures are unhygienic and excessively humid or wet.\n- *[Paraphrased derived summary — non-Open-Access source.]* Damp, dirty bedding fosters bacterial and fungal growth; combined with fecal degradation products and skin injury from improper floor heating, this can produce small cutaneous erosions in snakes and lizards.\n- *[Paraphrased derived summary — non-Open-Access source.]* If untreated, secondary infection by Aeromonas spp, Pseudomonas spp, or various other bacteria can progress to septicemia and death.\n- *[Paraphrased derived summary — non-Open-Access source.]* More broadly, humidity that is too high or too low can create serious problems for reptiles, and the importance of humidity has historically been underappreciated.\n\n---\n## License & attribution\n\nSource: Merck Veterinary Manual (merckvetmanual.com) is © Merck & Co., Inc. and not openly licensed. Per COPYRIGHT_POLICY §3, every claim above is a paraphrased derived fact summary (numbers and proper nouns preserved, sentences rewritten), not a verbatim quotation.\n\n- https://www.merckvetmanual.com/exotic-and-laboratory-animals/reptiles/bacterial-diseases-of-reptiles\n","sources":["exotic-pet-toxicology — Reptile scale rot (ulcerative dermatitis) — excessive humidity and unhygienic moist bedding in snakes and lizards (retrieved 2026-08-27)"],"source":{"authority":"exotic-pet-toxicology","title":"Reptile scale rot (ulcerative dermatitis) — excessive humidity and unhygienic moist bedding in snakes and lizards","url":"https://www.merckvetmanual.com/exotic-and-laboratory-animals/reptiles/bacterial-diseases-of-reptiles","retrieved":"2026-08-27","ref":"","doc_type":"official PDF","source_document":"Merck Veterinary Manual (professional veterinary reference)","verification_file":"pdf-raw/exotic-toxicology/merck_reptiles.html"},"source_document":"Merck Veterinary Manual (professional veterinary reference)","source_file":"pdf-raw/exotic-toxicology/merck_reptiles.html","trust":{"authority_tier":"T3","fidelity":"paraphrase","license":"paraphrase","display_grade":"B"},"tokens_estimated":224,"generated_at":null,"tip":"Use /api/v1/topics to discover more topics. /api/v1/nutrient for precise single-point queries. /api/v1/cross_compare for 2-3 standard comparisons."}