Resuscitating A Reptile : A MUST KNOW!

[Gina Gauvin]

I'd like to add a few things. Awhile back I heard on one of my reptile email groups, one gal gave her lizard mouth to mouth, and it did revive him, and he immediately bit her on the nose I think. I guess he was a little skeeved out that a human would put her mouth on his..hehe!
Concerning drowning, accidents happen. It can happen to the best of us. I give tons of baths, usually after egglaying I'll soak her in the tub, in chest high warm water for about 15 minutes. I had one gal that laid eggs and seemed fine, and I'm always doing 2 or 3 things at a time, like digging up eggs, making dinner (not using those eggs , but within a short time, she fell asleep in the water and had submerged.
I doubt she was dead as I've heard reptiles can hold their breath up to a half hour..but I immediately took her out, tipped her head down and water came out. After a minute I gave her a brisk but gentle towel rub and she started showing signs of life. So luckily that method worked for me.
Also, instead of something hard to wedge in mouth, I've used those rubber suction balls with a long neck, mean't for suction. I had a beardie choke on long strands of greens and vomitted and it was stuck in his throat. I had to wedge open his mouth and pick the greens out of his throat with tweezers. He would not have made it to a vet. These things always happen at midnight.
I am not a vet, and I may not have had the same luck with another lizard, but after caring, keeping breeding them for 9-10yrs, I feel I'm pretty aquainted with danger signs, body language and behavior so what may work for me, may not be as easy to an inexperienced person, so try at your own risk.

 

[kmarsh]

Well gonna throw my 2 cents in with Howling Gale and Gina. I too have tried many unconventional things when it comes to my reptiles. I am glad that she opened up the discussion of resuscitating a reptile because alot of others may not think about it or feel its not the thing to do. I too have used cpr techniques on a reptile in distress for different situations sometimes, I guess just for my own feeling that atleast I tried something. There are not always a Vet standing by to say this is right or wrong, You just have to go with Your common sense and atleast You tried something. I remember the shock my family showed the first time they seen me give mouth to mouth and cpr on a older beardie that passed. I couldn't bear that Sydney was passing and felt I should do something but thankfully NO one dared say a word as I did what I thought was best for my dying friend. Maybe atleast this thread will get others thinking rather than giveing up hope or exploring other not so conventional options... Just my humble opinion...