Cloacal aerobic bacterial flora and absence of viruses in free-living slow worms (Anguis fragilis), grass snakes (Natrix natrix) and European Adders (Vipera berus) from Germany.

Disease problems caused by viral or bacterial pathogens are common in reptiles kept in captivity. There is no information available on the incidence of viral pathogens or the physiological cloacal bacterial flora of common free-living reptiles in Germany. Therefore, 56 free-living reptiles including 23 European adders (Vipera berus), 12 grass snakes (Natrix natrix) and 21 slow worms (Anguis fragilis) were investigated on the island Hiddensee in northeastern Germany.