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 #1689967


BerySweetBear
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 I think my lizard is dying. need help.

I have a southern alligator lizard I have had for about 3 years and last week I noticed unusual behavior. He is sleeping a lot and appears to have a swollen eye and is unable to open it. I also think his gums are swollen, but I cant really tell. Was wondering the cost to cure him if I take him to the vet, but since I’m only 14, I cant afford much by myself. And is there someway I can cure it myself or should I just put him to sleep if he is suffering too much??



04/05/08  01:39am

 #1690643


Aliceinwl
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   Message To: BerySweetBear   In reference to Message Id: 1689967


 I think my lizard is dying. need help.

I have no idea on vet cost. When I’ve taken my herps in it usually runs around $60-70.

In terms of him getting better on his own, it will depend on what’s wrong with him. If it’s some kind of infection, he’ll need a vet. If its nutritional or husbandry related, correcting these deficits may allow him to recover.

If you can, get him to open his eye, and let us know what you see. Do the same with his mouth.

How are you keeping him?
-Lighting?
-Temperatures (warm and cool sides) ?
-Cage size?
-Substrate?
-Supplements (what type and how often)?
-Food (what are you feeding him, how often)?
-Gut loading (what are you using as a gutload for the prey items)?
-Water?
-Is he housed alone?

Some other questions:
-When did he last eat?
-Does he seem to have any difficulty catching his prey (insects slipping out of his jaws, striking and missing)?
-How do his stools look?
-Has he been exposed to any other herps?
-Are there stray prey items in the tank?
-Do any of his limbs look misshapen (bends in the forearms)?



04/05/08  07:52pm

 #1691134


BerySweetBear
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   Message To: Aliceinwl   In reference to Message Id: 1690643


 I think my lizard is dying. need help.

I tried to open his eye, but it seems like he is missing it, as far as his mouth goes, he is too squirmy and all I can see is swollen gums. I have him in a 50 gallon tank with a UVB light in one corner 24/7. He also has a small heating pad to keep him warm during the winter. I have given him antibiotics in his water and force fed it to him for 2 days, but I have not seen him eat anything for over 4 days, and the last time I did, he was having trouble aiming and was basically eating sand. I give him 3-4 mealworms a day, all store-bought. He is housed alone, although I once tried to put another lizard with him and it didn’t work out. I will try to post some pictures, but every time I try to, it says my file was too large and I’m not sure how to fix that.



04/05/08  11:56pm

 #1691640


Aliceinwl
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   Message To: BerySweetBear   In reference to Message Id: 1691134


 I think my lizard is dying. need help.

I’d stop with the antibiotics unless you’re giving them under a direction from a vet. They can do more harm than good if not administered properly.

What kind of UVB light are you using? UVB lights taper off within about 12 inches so you want to make sure it’s positioned within 12 inches of where the lizard would sit. The UV coil lamps (not the tubes) made by Zoo-Med have also been implicated in causing eye irritation in lizards. Check out this site for more info: http://www.uvguide.co.uk/

Mealworms are not a good staple for alligator lizards. They’re too high in fat. If you’re not using a phosphorus free calcium supplement with vitamin D3 your lizard could be coming down with metabolic bone disease despite the UVB light. I’d recommend switching to crickets. Prior to feeding the crickets to your al, let them eat things like fish flakes and carrots and orange slices for a day. Then dust them with calcium powder. I highly recommend Rep-cal with vitamin D3. If he won’t eat on his own, try goading him into opening his mouth and slip in a few small pre-killed heavily dusted crickets. Make sure there are no loose prey items in the tank. Remove any insects that he doesn’t eat within 15 minutes.

You mentioned when he miss-struck he was eating sand. A sand grain may have gotten into his eye leading to the inflammation. If you can swing it, you may want to have a vet look into this. If you can’t get him to a vet, get some of the saline solution made for people with irritated eyes or contact lenses (you want something that is just saline). Try gently opening the eye and flushing it with the saline (you may need a second person to help you). Get rid of the sand. Put him on something like paper towels for the time being, so that there is no risk of him getting anything else in his eyes. If his eye gets better, try a substrate like repti-bark. It’s less dusty, holds humidity better and has worked very well for all my als.

If you don’t have one, you may want to get a basking light. Try to set it up so that there is a basking area in the mid 90’s with a hide under the light in case he doesn’t want to bask in the open. When reptiles are dealing with illness or infection, they often need to raise their body temperatures to try to fight it (basically giving themselves a fever).

In terms of pictures, if you have some type of editing software like Adobe Photoshop or one of the Windows PhotoGallery or Microsoft Photo Editor, click the help button and type in resize. The directions are usually pretty straight forward. Crop them, or reduce the dimensions until they’re at a postable size. You can also set up an account at sites like www.photobucket.com and link to your pictures from there.
04/06/08  12:58pm

 #1695095


BerySweetBear
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   Message To: Aliceinwl   In reference to Message Id: 1691640


 I think my lizard is dying. need help.

Thank you sooo much for the advice! He is much better, although when he eats I have to put the cricket in his mouth and wait for him to eat them. He still has swollen gums, but they are much smaller than before. I think he should good as new by next week, except he will be missing an eye.
04/08/08  07:37pm

 #1696938


Aliceinwl
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   Message To: BerySweetBear   In reference to Message Id: 1695095


 I think my lizard is dying. need help.

Glad to hear he’s doing better!



04/09/08  10:50pm


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