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 #1726732


Crocdoc
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 "take it to a vet" a rant, sort of

I went to a reptile conference on the weekend and one of the better known herp vets from around here gave a talk. He said something that reminded me of a lot of posts I see on monitor forums - and it particularly reminded me of an incident that occurred on this forum a while ago, when a keeper posted about a sav with MBD. Many of us were asking questions about its husbandry while one person was solely concerned with forcing calcium down its throat and couldn’t understand why we were asking the questions about husbandry. To me it was simple - MBD is often not due to a lack of calcium in the diet, but from the animal’s inability to process whatever calcium it is getting due to a lack of vitamin D3 (either dietary or through UV light), insufficient heat and/or insufficient humidity. Forcing calcium down its throat without addressing the above issues will not do much, since whatever issue caused it to get MBD in the first place is still there.

So, what was it that the vet said that triggered my memory? He started his talk by saying that whenever an animal is presented to him with MBD, it is invariably due to one of five causes. He then held up one hand and counted them. The audience was rapt.

The five causes:

1. husbandry

2. husbandry

3. husbandry

4. husbandry

5. husbandry

In simple terms, if your monitor has MBD to the point that it needs a vet to reverse it, you had better fix whatever husbandry issues caused the MBD in the first place or you may as well just put a bullet to its head. Once the vet has reversed the MBD through treatment and the monitor is returned to the same husbandry conditions that started the MBD in the first place, it’ll just be back at the vet again in no time. Or dead.

It’s not just applicable to MBD, though. People often use ’take it to a vet’ as a response to many other monitor problems posted on forums that are related to husbandry. Food refusal is the most frequent example - people often jump to the conclusion that it must be parasites, when almost always it is husbandry related.

This is in no way me saying that you should never take your monitor to a vet. When your monitor has a bad cut, a burn, a broken limb or anything of that nature, a vet is your best bet. But when the problem is almost definitely related to husbandry, there’s not much a vet can do until the husbandry issue is sorted. They’re not miracle workers. Most aren’t even fully schooled in the subtleties of monitor husbandry, anyway. They can sometimes offer bandaid solutions to fix the symptoms, but it’s up to you the keeper to fix the cause. And if the cause is husbandry, then that needs to be sorted out first.



05/06/08  04:18am

 #1726821


BansheeRacer25
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   Message To: Crocdoc   In reference to Message Id: 1726732


 "take it to a vet" a rant, sort of

Great post crocdoc. I know exactly who you are talking about because it is me. I listened to the known members and did what they said and my sav is 100% right now. I had a few kinks in my husbandry and i will be the first one to admit it. But now they are fixed.
heres a pic from a while ago after the mbd hes doing fantastic.



Thank you all.

Bill
05/06/08  08:48am

 #1726875


Jtmoney528
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   Message To: BansheeRacer25   In reference to Message Id: 1726821


 "take it to a vet" a rant, sort of

Very nice post, and I fully agree.

I mainly deal with geckos and I have seen loads of people posting and saying that their gecko wont eat or they are afraid its not eating or its losing weight.

First thing I ask is what is your humidity and what are the temps. 99% of the time the reason why the gecko is not eating is because of low humidity and this is why I encourage everyone who gets a gecko from me or has gecko feeding problem to put them in a plastic tub for humidity reasons. If you cant provide or cant take care of the animal, dont get it.
05/06/08  10:08am

 #1726954


Sidbarvin
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   Message To: Jtmoney528   In reference to Message Id: 1726875


 "take it to a vet" a rant, sort of

Ha, Dave I remember that thread very well. In fact. Not long after that I had some lengthy exchanges with our friend Dunces. I began to question the speciffics of Dunces’ husbandry practices and he immediately brought up the issue of Billy’s sav and the MBD issue. It seems he takes full credit for saving your sav Billy, since it was he who sent Creo and coached her on exactly what to say. In the end it was just as you’ve stated in your post Dave, a husbandry issue.

Anyone who would like to see the results of "band-aid husbandry", need only ask DWS what the exact cause of death of Lilly was. You won’t get any clear answers from him. He calls us "Dirt worshippers" and "vulgar, blood thirsty individuals", ha ha ha.





05/06/08  12:38pm

 #1727345


Norf
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   Message To: Sidbarvin   In reference to Message Id: 1726954


 "take it to a vet" a rant, sort of

And all this time I thought MBD was only caused by an insufficient amount of calcium. I learn something new everyday. Thanks for this informative post Crocdoc.
05/06/08  07:09pm

 #1727494


Crocdoc
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   Message To: Norf   In reference to Message Id: 1727345


 "take it to a vet" a rant, sort of

Although the calcium in the world is not going to help an animal that can’t process it.
05/06/08  08:45pm

 #1727616


BansheeRacer25
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   Message To: Crocdoc   In reference to Message Id: 1727494


 "take it to a vet" a rant, sort of

Sorry to break their heart roger but you, crocdoc, krusty, and some others cant really remember who but you are the reason my monitor is still alive.


Thank you all
Bill
05/06/08  09:58pm

 #1727860


Krusty
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   Message To: BansheeRacer25   In reference to Message Id: 1727616


 "take it to a vet" a rant, sort of

Lol. Tell him that. He’s posted on Utube that he "sent someone" who saved your lizard (Creo/Lighraider).
05/07/08  07:52am

 #1729205


BansheeRacer25
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   Message To: Krusty   In reference to Message Id: 1727860


 "take it to a vet" a rant, sort of

Send me the link please. I can’t find it.

Billy
05/08/08  11:28am

 #1729224


Sidbarvin
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   Message To: BansheeRacer25   In reference to Message Id: 1729205


 "take it to a vet" a rant, sort of

Billy, any time anyone disputes or says anything to the contrary or negative concerning his advice or what his videos contain, he deletes the posts immediately. You should still let people know he is full of $hit whenever possible. Should you ever chance to converse with him and question any of his BS he will go completely off his rocker and start calling you every name in the book, ha ha ha. It took me all of about 15 minutes in a chatroom one night to get him to completely break down and loose his mind.
05/08/08  12:06pm

 #1729303


BansheeRacer25
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   Message To: Sidbarvin   In reference to Message Id: 1729224


 "take it to a vet" a rant, sort of

I always leave them idiots nasty comments. Its ashame because he has so many followers that actually think he is right about everything. They see how "TAME" their boscs are and just like fall in love with the clowns. I dont get it.

Bill
05/08/08  01:38pm


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