savannah monitor sick
 

I have a 5 1/2 year old savannah monitor that for the first time ever in his life has stopped eating, I have been having to force feed him food and now water all weekend, last week he would still drink water on his own if i offered it. His tail is shrinking up like when they are dehydrated, all he wants to do is be very hot, he has never wanted to be this hot before and sleep this much.

For a couple of months now he has been going to the bathroom in his water dish every day instead of every few days, I have fed him med rat three times but on the 4th time he threw it up, after that he ate 3 large mice about 3 weeks ago and has stopped eating completely now. I need to know whether his is something that will go or away or if I have to put him down. On monday we are going back to the vet with a stool sample and to get him x rayed to make sure he didn't get away form me and eat something stupid. I do not have a wife or significant other, this lizard is what I look forward to coming home to see everyday after work and means a lot to me, he has been my best friend for the last 5 years and i owe it to him to try and save him if I can. I would appreciate any help in this matter, the vet i go to in not in any regards a reptile expert.

He is housed in a 55 gallon tank with crushed walnut shells as substrate, he has a 10.0 UVB bulb desert that is in an outlet use for kitchens not for animals cages. His hot spot is 95-100 degree, about 85 out of it, and about 90 above his heat mat under/inside his hiding area. Sometimes after I force feed him he will sit there for 30mins or so with his head held upwards. i switched his heat lamp from 100watt to 150watt since he wants to be hotter. Is this a problem that has been going on for a long time and I just never noticed or is it something that happened recently?

Could have possibly eaten some of the walnut shells and I'm not sure how bid he is but a 55 gallon is pretty small for a savana monitor


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he is getting better
 

He started eating again and is going back to his original self except for his tail is kinked. even when I straighten it by hand I can feel tendons pulling it back to being crooked, I don't remember his tail every like this, and when he was sick it was worse. It seems like a more internal issue than just dehydrated. When they are dehydrated they shrink up evenly across the length of the tail. Here are some pics if anyone has any information I would really appreciate it.

What is flagyl and what is panacea? Is this something that I should have already treated him with? Should I treat him now? He was bought in a pet store 5 years ago.

I'M IN THE same predicament,other than the fact that I am married.is yours a hatchling? It is common for hatchlings to have a slim chance of survival, considering the fact that a small percentage of hatchlings survive out of each batch. If this is the case, then, buy one no younger than a juvenile. The hatchling I currently bought, is behaving the same way, along with similar appearance. I got the best advice from, the eastbay vivarium in berkely, c.a. I recommend you Google them and get the same advice as I did, as far as 100 on warm side and 80 on cool side, along with proper humidity. Besides the advice they gave me, I have been force feeding,crickets dust with multivitamin and calcium powder, holding tail while submerged in water, to exercise it's limbs, and exposing it to uvb lighting. I suggest you call the eastbay vivarium in berkely c.a. to ask before doing anything else though.

He's had him for 5 years, so it's not a hatchling. The original post was a month ago, so I hope he's been to the vet now - how did it go?

Flagyl and panacea are anti-parasite medicines, so they would be used in case he had worms or some other sort of gut parasite.

Crossfire,

Your monitor isn't doing well because your husbandry is way off. There's so much info on-line that it always surprises me to see these types of posts. You need a MUCH larger enclosure filled with a few feet of dirt. Walnut bedding will kill your monitor. Do you measure the basking temps or are you just guessing? A 150 watt bulb in a 55 gallon tank is way overkill. I use 4'x 2' horse troughs with a plexi glass top for some of my hatchling lace monitors. It's an easy, efficient, and inexpensive design. In each of these I have a 75 watt megaray bulb. This 75 watt bulb is enough for 130F basking temps and ambient temps in the mid 80's. If it helps, I can post pics for you.

The tail is due to MBD. What are you feeding him? If you want your monitor to have any chance of survival you need to make changes right away. Good luck and let me know if you have any questions.

Eric,

Only a small percentage of wild hatchling monitors survive because of predation and hardships. In captivity, the survival rate should be sky high but, due to poor husbandry, it's pitifully low. In the past two seasons I've hatched 15 lace monitors. All are alive and well because the people who bought them did their homework. I've raised many hatchlings, of different species, over the years and have lost very few.

Stephen, I'm aware the threads a bit old but how's your monitor doing?

Feed him wax worms my hat chilling was doing the same thing he was skinny weak and not moving much started giving him upwards of 4 2
Wax works daily and he's still not eating on his own but he's doing much better ::)