Reptile & Amphibian Forums

im working with local animal control, who called me to ask about an iggy found with 36 dogs, many small furrys, and some livestock, all with no food or water.

when i first saw him i though it would be a hard road, but worth a shot. he is skin and bones, legs have the MBD look, has i have no idea how many sheds stuck on him, sunken eyes...you get the idea. he was in the corner of his cage (the 40 breeder the owner had him in) they did get him a heat light (didnt have one at "home" he had a uv light, but im guessing the bulb was old as dirt. the thing that broke my heart when i suggested to give him a horse feeder they have (we are way out in the country) to give him a bath, i lifted him up to put him in the dish, and he could not get in, the half of a tail he has is fused solid and he just kinds planked across the dish if you can understand.
at this pont, after i held back my vomit from horror, i told the lead tech (they dont have a vet on staff) that any vet would probably be ok with putting him down if its that bad, she asked if its worth a shot, i said id call my herp vet friend, he thougt it was worth a shot and we came up with his health paln.

im not sleeping well, im worried about this guy, im ready to foster him so i can manage his care because they dont know herps at all at animal control im out of the county but they said its an extreem case so they would let me take him (this is the county where i work, not where i live)

i may be babbeling a bit, but my thoughts are running, has anyone seen an iggy this bad have a quality of life? should i bring him here? should i just give advice and hope animal control gets everything done for him? they seem to have the stuff i told them down ok, and they know they can call, and they are there all day for him, here he would have a large supply or herp stuff at his disposal, but only when im not working 11 hrs a day 4 days a week, and somtimes a 5 hr sat.

sorry if im babbeling, needed to get this out and this is about the best place to get it out to get some kind of good feedback!

crossposted on iggy forum for obvious reasons, though i come here more
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hanging out under heat lights burns up my brain cells!!

if this guy makes it, all be writting up for something or other for sure!!
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hanging out under heat lights burns up my brain cells!!

I'd suggest to try & rehydrate the Ig first via soaking. A light warm shower may encourage some drinking. Try to get him to a vet to do a blood chemistry & determine the extent of the problems. If the Ig can defecate, run a fecal analysis.

Hopefully, someone can add to this.

Goodluck

they dont have acess to a herp vet the only one in town is really a stay at home dad, i just happen to be friends with him so i call for advise, but i did tell the tech to run a fecal when he deficates (i had to explain the white stuff he produced was urate, not stool) to run a fecal and she can look up what he has, or bring it to me and ill run it at work. i called today and hes eatting grees well, and was going to get some outside time in a wire dog kennel with a big tub to soak in, so hopefully were on the right path!!
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hanging out under heat lights burns up my brain cells!!

This is probably the one time I'd suggest feeding iceberg lettuce. This guy needs the water and from your story the only positive is that he's eating on his own. As long as this continues, you can avoid parental fluids, but rehydration is a must. To much high quality food right off the bat might cause some gastrointestinal problems=== leading to more dehydration.

As towards your question on if you should take him, well, it's a personal decision. I'm sure you know the work needed to nurse these guys along, and if you don't think you can make that commitment, the it's best to just lend advice to the animal control people.

Good luck!

Ian