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We have had him for about a year. He has been healthy up until the last few weeks. He seems weak & is no longer eating daily.

We just noticed, earlier today, that down along each of his sides he is swollen and it's almost transparent. Kinda like a blister.

I have no clue as to what this may possibly be. Most likely we will seek the help of a vet tomorrow, but I just wanted to see if anyone has a clue as to what may be happening?

I would appreciate any suggestions.

Please post a picture so we can see. It could be anything, if you ahave too much moisture they can get something like this as well. what specie is it? Is it a male or female?
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Phrynosoma.com

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I thank you for your quick response to help me. We received Rex about a year ago from El Centro. He had been thriving, already shed 3 times, wagging his tail for feedings, basking during the day & burying at night. My son gets him wax worms, crickets, bugs, spiders...he's not big on ants though? Anyway, he has slowed his eating significantly the past week, one eye began to close & then his sides are now swollen. We took him to the herp vet today who says it's a virus possibly due to low temps (giving him a viral infection)resulting in these blood hemps on his side. So he recommended the following:
- Maintain tank 100-110 degrees
- Give prescribed antibiotics 1x daily
- Inject wax worm with meds & force feed

Soooo, I am not convinced he really diagnosed the actual cause? Our temp shows his tank reaches 110 degrees.My son does a great job keeping the tank clean and giving fresh water & food. But we do keep little crickets running around in the tank for him to feed whenever. Now, we keep Rex in a 20 gal tank with 3 inches of vita-sand, basking rocks & heatlamp (110 degrees) on one side with water & succulents on the other (80 degrees). So I am at a lost & would appreciate any words of wisdom. Bless you! Lisa

I hope you can view these pics...I am a rookie!

Image

This lizard will eat ants. Without them he will not do well long term, as you are seeing. What kind of ants have you tried feeding him?
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www.Phrynosoma.Com

We used black ants (we live in California). Should I just keep trying? Before being sick, he would slob up the wax worms, spiders & crickets. To the point where he would poop so much! Now we are just focusing on keeping the temp up.

I brought him in so the temp doesn't drop below 60 degrees. We had him in the garage for the winter & it would drop to about 50 degress at night.

I appreciate any thougths....

The black ants are not going to work, if they are the small argentine ants that most people have in CA. You should make an order to www.antsalive.com as soon as possible. 500 would see you through for a few weeks.
It would probably help you to read the husbandry pages at phrynosoma.com too. There is a lot of good info there and on the species pages as well. Ant's are going to be critical in turning him around.

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www.Phrynosoma.Com

Being that your lizard is not feeling up to power, I would recomend keeping the day temps up per our previous discussion and also at night the temps should stay 70 degrees or above, that is my recommendation. Right now low hibernation temps might be detremental, you need to get his body activated, also MArk made an excellent suggestion about ordering ants. I assumed you had read some or most of our site for HL info. If you can find large red ant near your house you could collect them with a large potatoe spoon and catcha bunch, make sure they are out in the wilderness and not by someones home where insecticides and other polltants could affect the ants. YOu need to put about 5 ants at a time and see if he will eat them, but his temps need to be up as well in order to get him eating..........If it gets too hot in the cage you'll see the lizard sort of pant, hopefully you should have the cooler side of the cage he can move away to cool down.....where do you live? Riversaide has a lot of ants but I don't know where you live?
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Phrynosoma.com

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Thank you, everyone,
for sharing your time & wisdom! My son is more than willing to give up Rex...it's in the animals best interest. I will order ants for now BUT are red ants & harvester the same? I went to www.antslive.com & they indicate not all HL eat harvesters? Let me know what's the best type & I will order some immediately.

Meanwhile, Reptoman, I give you permission to have your friend contact me...we really want to save this lil guy! We brought his tank inside so the evening temps will not drop below 65/70.
We did read up on HL husbandry but we had never sprayed the tank. He has a small pottery bowl 1/2 inch high which is filled daily. I sprayed today & he swelled up (not sure if that meant he liked it) like he would if defending himself.

The good news is, he is perking up...he is more active as oppose to being lethargic. Could have been the temps, huh?

So I give you permission to contact your biologist friend...again, we want to do what's right for Rex's sake. I take no offense to your passion for these animals! In fact, we are blessed by your directness with us to help this creature.

Okay, let me know about the ants, asap, so I can order. Thanks! Lisa & Max (son)

Hi Lisa,
The ants from antsalive should be just what you need. You HL will eat them. Red ants is a generic term and could mean fire ants or harvester ants. Your HL eats harvesters, which is what they will send you.
Thanks for taking the time to find out what he needs.
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www.Phrynosoma.Com

by the way, we live in San Jose, California

How are you giving anti-biotics to your lizard? I would like to make a few possible suggestions. If you take a long broomstraw or very thin piece of wire you can take a cricket pull his back legs off and paint him with the antibiotic. Then move the cricket stuck to the broomstraw close to him when he is heated and seems most active and see if it moves or if you move it a little if he will try and eat it. You might try wax worms, it's toss up, but I have trained my horned lizards to eat crickets off a broomstick. I am concerned that the vet told you to force feed him. Maybe Mark or others would like to make a comment, but I think a creative way of getting it into their system with the least of stress as possible. Sounds like your doing the right things especially if he is beginning to get more active, This is good......I couldn't see both pictures last time, just the top one. Could you possibly take a litle closer up picture of the spot that is the problem, so we could see it more clearly....other than that keep in touch, you have my personal e-mail as well as Mark Brock who is very very knowlegable as well.
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Phrynosoma.com

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The method of force feeding is actually working really well.
We really don't have to "force" him just more of a nudge.

My son cups his hand around Rex's whole body (with just the head sticking out & with his small finger (other hand), he can gently coax the lower lip down (by the spikes) and then my daughter slips the tip of the wax worm in and Rex does the rest!

As soon as he feels the worm he slobs it down.

Good news, his color is not as dark anymore, he is turning redder which matches his sand! Thanks guys.

P.s I already ordered ants via antsalive.com, woo-hoo!

Is he eating at all by himself? I am very familiar with this method you describe of feeding him, just curious if he's eatingby himself at all? By the way, I have seen Pacific horned lizards drink from a bowl, but I do prefer to spray a corner near or on rocks and a plant. Do not over do the moisute as this is not healthy for them if there is too much moisture. If you look at our site Mark has put an article on watering that is interesting and helpful. Again the color change sounds like a good thing as well. Also as a side note some people use Home Depot playsand or Toys or Us playsand. Just be sure it is playsand and not silica sand which is different and can cut should they swallow it. You'll notice that HL's do lick up small rocks which most believe is for digestion. I only mention this as it is cheaper than reptisand and also mimics natural sand from nature. Reptisand is very fine and some people don't like it because it is so fine and gets in the eyes, etc. I understand the Toys or Us sand is preferable as it has less dust in it......cheers.
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Phrynosoma.com

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Dear friend, this horned l;izard needs big red ants right away and also you need proper tempreatures, the problem also is i assume you live inb California? This lizard is a coastal horned lizard and is highly protected in California. We have a friend Lester MIlroy who is a Bilogist and is an expert on this specie. If you give us permission we will contact him and hopefully he can help, but you'll need to be willng to relinquish the animal as it is a protected specie. If not our best advice is to contact is that this is an ant eater and the wrong ants won't help, but when ever horned lizards are sick like this it ususally due to husbandry problems, your temps are probably not right. How long have you been doing reptiles and what kind of experience do you have with them? I don't mean to sound copndesending in anyway but because these are becomeing more and more rare and are highly protected, and there are many other horned lizards you can pourchase legally on the market in makes no sense to me to have this animal die. Will you let us know right away so we can get help for the animal.
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Phrynosoma.com

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Let me try this one more time, I read your stuff again and mine and let me respond some more specifically.

Your vet is correct about the temps, 105-110 on one side and 80- on the other. I am not a vet, so ani-biotics I assume are correct. Force feeding is a dangerous thing to do to horned lizards, if the temps go up and he gets active he should eat. YOu need large red ants this is their main diet. ALways as I said before with rare exception do horned lizards get ill like this from natural reasons, most of the time a husbandry issue is involved. Also are you occasionally spraying water on the rocks and plants in the cage? They do take in water from time to time and lap it up like a dog from off the rocks and plants as they would dew in the morning in the wild.

I am serious about this lizard being a highly protected animal in Califonia, I think you should seriously consider turning him in, because it is illegal to keep these in California without a permit I am concerned for the health of the lizard. Do you also have a UVB light as well for him?

Anyway sometimes e-mail doesn't say what we mean, and I am not trying to be mean spirited in anyway but also informing you of the facts of this lizards protection status in California, and without a proper ant diet he is not going to do well in the long run. THe bumps seem to be viral in nature, Lester may have more insight to this - for the sake of the animal let us know what you want us to do from here..........
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Phrynosoma.com

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