Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I recently acquired two chuckwallas...a small juvenile male and an older female (maybe 3-4 years old?).. I'll post pictures another time. The little guy is doing fine but the problem is that the female seems to be losing weight..I've watched her eat, she has a decent appetite but she's at the point where you can see the bones in her tail... she has messy feces and her tail is actually stained green from them...and the smell is horrible.

I have no idea what could be wrong, even though she is on the scrawny side she seems to have a good amount of energy and is very alert.. she was very fearful when I first got her but has gotten a little better, but can be skittish and will generally bolt when you try to pick her up... I wish I had asked about her background, I bought her and the other guy while at a Reptile Expo in White Plains.

My main concern is the possibility of parasites... if thats the cause, wouldn't the other chucks be infected by now? I've had the 3 of them (the 2 newbies and my adult male) housed together since April.

any help is much appreciated!!

Hey I'm no expert, just have alot of lizards I would say no doubt parasites, and the messy droppings and also the terrible SMELL are usually signs of coccida. Should get a fecal done by your vet, and have her treated.

Parasites can take over if the lizard is stressed. Maybe this female had layed eggs and was not quite at her best (weight wise, so on ) and now the added stress of trying to acclimate, the parasites get hold.

Thats just my opinion, but I would not wait long as you are already seeing her bones. They go down fast.

I hope she will be fine and perk up quickly for you, let us know how she does.

Collareds, Care, and More

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PHEve / Eve

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"My main concern is the possibility of parasites... if thats the cause, wouldn't the other chucks be infected by now? I've had the 3 of them (the 2 newbies and my adult male) housed together since April.

any help is much appreciated!!"

Yeah ... what Eve said but to answer your last question,
Not necessarily,
whatever the culprits whether intestinal parasites or etc, in order for the cage mates to be infected they must ingest or be in directly contact by the fresh feces. (BTW, good Idea to guarantee her for a while till she gets a clean bill of health and then sanitize the cage in question). In order to see any signs of newly introduced parasites to her cagemates, the parasites (worms) must produce eggs once in the intestinal track. The gestation period of many common parasite eggs is often between 20-30 days. The eggs hatch and become developing larvae which takes additional time develop into adult worms as they soon begin to do damage to the intestinal walls. So two months of them being housed together is not necessarily enough time to see the effects on it's cage mates. If I were you, I would take fecals from all three to see if she and/or any are infested with eggs etc.

John