Resuscitating A Reptile : A MUST KNOW!

But Ed, what if you took what she wrote here and interpreted it differently than she meant for you to. Then you pick up your dragon, shake it wrong, and give it brain damage, paralysis, or worse, you kill it trying to save it? I think that we need more detail here.

Originally Posted by Miss Tuniwha

then.. "Here is how I saved my dragons from drowning" still would have been better suited.

Agreed *Big hugs*

This should not have been posted as factual information with the suggestion that it be used on peoples animals. especially not a "How To". Passing out this kind of information without the proper veterinary qualifications can absolutely be detrimental to an animals well being without further study. Nicole is NOT a vet, she should NOT be passing out this information as a suggestion for other Keepers to do the same.

Not to mention that there was NO warning about the problems that could occur if this "Method" were to be preformed incorrectly.... and that it may actually worsen the problem!!! Absolutely irresponsible information.

Originally Posted by Mooing Tricycle

This should not have been posted as factual information with the suggestion that it be used on peoples animals. especially not a "How To". Passing out this kind of information without the proper veterinary qualifications can absolutely be detrimental to an animals well being without further study. Nicole is NOT a vet, she should NOT be passing out this information as a suggestion for other Keepers to do the same.

Not to mention that there was NO warning about the problems that could occur if this "Method" were to be preformed incorrectly.... and that it may actually worsen the problem!!! Absolutely irresponsible information.

What do you suggest then? whats your answer?

Standing there and watching an animal die? or not attempting to revive a dragon that is near death from drowning.

I say ask your vet to show you what to do.

Originally Posted by rosebud945

I say ask your vet to show you what to do.

Thats not so easy to do when you walk into your herp room and find a dragon with its head under water and drowning. at that point you dont have the time to call your vet, you act with any training you have. or that dragon is a dead dragon.

Originally Posted by Ed Clark

Thats not so easy to do when you walk into your herp room and find a dragon with its head under water and drowning. at that point you dont have the time to call your vet, you act with any training you have. or that dragon is a dead dragon.

Well, but why would you?? I never leave my dragons unattended in a bath and I never put a water bowl in their vivs that is deep enough for them to drown in.

I meant talk to your vet about it next time you see the vet. I did not mean that you should wait until your beardie is drowning. My point here is that you can't know exactly what to do from Nicole's first post. She needs to clarify some things and better yet, needs to provide a video. She says that she was SHOWN what she is trying to explain, and I think that any medical technique that you use on a person or an animal, whether it is an emergency procedure or otherwise, needs to be shown and better yet, taught hands on. Have you ever heard of shaken baby syndrome? Well, that is what you can do to your beardie if you shake it too hard or shake it wrong.

I had several thoughts when I first saw this thread, the first being about putting a dead lizards head in my mouth. Think about it - you walk into the room and see a bearded dragon with its head submerged, apparently dead...unless you were there just a few minutes before, you have no idea that this is a new occurrence (and therefore a salvagable animal). Now, jump to bacteria and parasites...and factor in temperatures + water, then put that bad boy in your mouth.
The next thought was regarding picking it up by the base of the tail and shaking it (kind of brings to mind a little boy chasing a girl around, doesn't it?). I would think that it would be more secure, and safer for the dragon, to be grasped around the body - this would allow for any sort of positioning, and better control of the shake (??WTF??).
Holding the mouth open with a popsicle stick? Are you serious? Maybe while shaking your dead dragon - but couldn't that process cause more bacteria laden fluid to come up into the mouth or run out onto the face (which you are about to put into your mouth ). On a more serious side, unless you broke the popsicle stick off close to the head, it would be a deterrent to serious resuscitative measures anyway, as it would prevent a seal from being made. When doing CPR on a baby, you don't worry about keeping the mouth open - your mouth is over their nose and mouth, so the air will go in.*

Of course, my statements regarding CPR should be taken with a grain of salt, since I let my BLS and ACLS instructor statuses expire after teaching for 10 and 6 yrs, respectively

Originally Posted by rosebud945

Have you ever heard of shaken baby syndrome? Well, that is what you can do to your beardie if you shake it too hard or shake it wrong.

With all respect, I think that the two are very different. I think the damage to a beardie, caused by shaking it by the tail, would be much different than shaken baby syndrome...


After thinking about it for another minute, or so, I was going to retract that, as it is probably possible to cause similar damage if the shaking were violent enough....but then I paused again for more thought. I think if you were to shake it violently enough to cause the neurological damage seen in shaken baby, the tail would probably break off in your hand...sending the beardie flying across the room. (little light bulb goes on) Maybe THAT'S why the vet said to hold it by the tail - to serve as a failsafe against the possibility of causing shaken baby syndrome!! This makes much more sense now

Originally Posted by hhmoore

With all respect, I think that the two are very different. I think the damage to a beardie, caused by shaking it by the tail, would be much different than shaken baby syndrome...


After thinking about it for another minute, or so, I was going to retract that, as it is probably possible to cause similar damage if the shaking were violent enough....but then I paused again for more thought. I think if you were to shake it violently enough to cause the neurological damage seen in shaken baby, the tail would probably break off in your hand...sending the beardie flying across the room. (little light bulb goes on) Maybe THAT'S why the vet said to hold it by the tail - to serve as a failsafe against the possibility of causing shaken baby syndrome!! This makes much more sense now

Yeah, Harald, you are right. I was very tired last night. Shaken baby syndrome occurs when the brain is repeatedly and violently knocked back against the scull. You would have to shake the lizard pretty hard to do that specific thing, but you could easily cause brain and spinal damage by shaking the lizard from the tail.

But again, why would you walk in and find a beardie floating in water deep enough to drown it?? I don't leave beardies unattended in a bath or keep water bowls in beardie vivs, but if you do, and if it is a water bowl shallow enough that the beardie can easily get out of it, which it should be, then that beardie must have something else wrong with it. But even if I suspend disbelief and go with the idea that one of my beardies could drown, without seeing exactly what Nicole means, this advice could do more harm than good, or simply be ineffective.