Today I was thinking, a bad habit, I know. But fevers are detrimental to us because we have a set body temperature. Can reptiles get fevers, since their temps fluctuate with their surroundings? If they can, how would that affect them?

Actually, our fevers are our bodies kicking it up a notch in order to battle infection.
Since reptiles have no method of generating body heat, they can't have fevers. That's why we turn the heat up a bit on sick ones to raise their metabolism a bit.

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Merlin,
What's Life Without A Little Magic!

Merlin is absolutely correct. That's why when I see reptiles they are usually sooooo sick. Most, not all, but most of the sick reptiles usually have poor husbandry most often incorrect temperature, humidity and diet. So you have a sick reptile, plus poor temperature (weakening the immune system and other metabolic problems), plus dehydration, plus malnutrition = total disaster.

Just FYI.

This is just me being ignorant again, but I honestly don't understand the connection between fighting infection and metabolism with raising body temperature by a small degree, in humans or reptiles... We can't possibly get a reptile hot enough to kill bacteria, can we? But if not, how does this help?

Actually bacteria can be VERY prone to temperature changes. But, that isn't the main reason why we raise temps. I don't know the exact physiological details for reps but with humans, when you raise the body temp the body starts to work harder, which raises metabolism, blood gets pumped through your body faster, which will increase the amount of WBCs that come in contact with the infection. WBCs meeting up with infection will cause your body to naturally produce more WBCs to fight the infection... (trying to put it in the simplest terms possible and still have it be accurate)

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Exactly! Its not that you are killing bacteria with the warmth.
When the body temperature rises your, or the reptile's, body metabolism is accelerated. This means that all body processes are working faster. Including healing and the immune system.
Thats why reptiles get sick if their temperatures isn't right. If too cool their bodies are running in slow motion. Too hot and they burn out.

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Merlin,
What's Life Without A Little Magic!

Well I learned something today! Good thing my body's in on this whole metabolism thing, if it were up to me I'd be a mess. It's all pretty fascinating, but I'm just going to hope I never have to worry about temps for sick reptiles...

And not to mention that certain viruses work the other way. Ebola (the deadliest virus on the planet) NEEDS heat and humidity, but dies the second it's exposed to UV. With an 80 % mortality rate. Nature is amazing.

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Ken
" The United States Marine Corps......sure we are a department of the Navy,,,,,,we're the MENS department "

Thank you all. I also learned something as well from these posts. I get the "kick starting of the metabolism" but I had never really related it to reptiles.

It relates to digestion as well. I had a juvie cornsnake 25 years ago that had no access to any heat (he was kept at room temp. in upstate N.Y.) and could not digest. He died within 4 days with an undigested mouse in his belly. Back then there was not the information available as there is today. I learned that lesson well.

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Ken
" The United States Marine Corps......sure we are a department of the Navy,,,,,,we're the MENS department "