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Aingon Atelia   RedGator   MannLee  
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 #2055830


Aingon Atelia
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 Partially blind SAL?

Hello. I have a SAL who is only a couple of years old. When I caught him, he was freshly missing his tail, which has grown back about 3 inches. Anyway, I’ve noticed for a while that his movements are quite strange: when startled, rather than run for cover, he winds up turning in circles, coiling up on himself. When he walks, or rather drags, himself around the tank he moves his head back and forth. Just last night I noticed something I hadn’t before - when he hunts, rather than locking his gaze on his target like my other SAL, he waves his head back and forth, and then misjudges the strike. That’s when it hit me - he may be partially blind, or somehow not able to align his vision.

Do you think a vet would be able to do anything? I have heard that there can be neurological damage when a lizard drops its tail, could this be related?

Because of this, I don’t know if he’s been eating at all for a very long time. I did isolate him a couple of weeks ago (I thought he was sick) with a few crickets but it didn’t look like he’d eaten any. Do I need to force feed him, or maybe create some way of teasing him to eat a dead cricket?

Thanks in advance.
08/12/09  09:06pm

 #2059328


RedGator
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   Message To: Aingon Atelia   In reference to Message Id: 2055830


 Partially blind SAL?

The back and forth movement has been described to me as "triangulating" his vision. That is, he moves his head side to side to gauge his distance from objects by noticing how some objects move behind others. He’s definitely doing this to aid his vision, but whether he misses his target because he is partially blind or or just not very coordinated is hard to tell.

The coiling up might be a reaction I’ve read about where they sometimes grab their own tail in their mouth, making it harder for predators like small snakes to swallow them.

Don’t know about the feeding problem, but if it grew three inches of new tail, I suspect it’s been eating something.
08/18/09  05:20am

 #2060260


MannLee
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   Message To: Aingon Atelia   In reference to Message Id: 2055830


 Partially blind SAL?

Yeah my lizard acts like that all the time too. The not eating part is kinda weird tho. My alligator lizard eats alot.
08/19/09  12:20pm


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