Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey everyone,

This the update to my post about my uro not eating.

I need some help- OK so I brought him to the vet as was described. The vet looks at him, not even knowing anything about this breed which bothered me alot.

Basically comes down to it, she said he was dehydrated. Asked what I should do about it (thinking she would give me a syringe with pediylye or something) she tells me to soak him everyday in warm water. This way he can absorb the water through his skin. I told her that I tried soaking him but it's not working - I only would soak him once a week. She said to keep soaking him but do it EVERYDAY!! and if that does not work She then says that we would need to hook him up to IV's, keep him in the hospital, do alot of tests ( blood work) etc....at this time I am about to fall over. Then proceeds to tell me, that for the price of him, and the price it would be to keep him in the hospital, you can either do that or try and give him back to the pet shop.

She then asks me if I give him water, and what the percentage of humidity in the tank is..I tell her I dont give him water, and that the tank is dry to a bone. Then I get the look of death when I tell her I dont give him water. --- I always thought uro's dont need water in there tanks????

I dont know what to do???? I know that uros should NOT be soaked everyday due to tail rot etc.... and I also always thought that they should not have water in there tanks?? But my poor little guy is in need of help!

I am soo confused, the vet visit made me more confused as ever.

I am not even sure if he is a guy or a girl because the vet did NOT want to check in fear she might destroy his internal organs if she tried.

Unfortunately, many exotic and reptile vets DON'T know much about Uros. I had a bad experience also with an exotic vet for my little Pooka when she had a foot problem, everything he told me went directly against what other uro experts suggested. $200 later it was a wasted vet visit. If you can find a vet that is experienced with Uros in particular, it could make a big difference.

You can offer your Uro a small lid (like a baby food jar lid) of water in the morning, and take it out in the afternoon and nighttime. You could also try cutting up melon or seedless grapes, those are good for hydrating. I almost lost one of my baby Saharans to dehydration. I called around to a lot of vets, most who said they would not even see her. The only experienced Uro vet is a 2-hour drive from my house. I finally located a vet who said he would see her, but couldn't guarantee that he would be able to help. At that point, she could barely lift her head up she was so weak. The vet injected her with fluids (into her abdomen) and she immediately started running around and eating as soon as I got her home. She has almost doubled her body weight since then and is doing so well.

I'd suggest getting out your phone book and start calling vets, asking specifically if they have Uromastyx experience, and also asking if they would be willing to at least see your Uro and possibly give an injection of fluids. If they tell you to soak your Uro, I'd say that would be a red flat to avoid that vet.

Hope this helps some, I know what it feels like to be desperate to save your baby.

Andi

Since Uros get all of their fluids through food sources, then not eating would cause dehyrdration. So, its possible your uro is dehyrdated because its not eating for another reason. Nigerians are from a more humid environment and I believe you can keep a water source with it (small bowl, nothing major). I am not sure if your lizard is dehyrdated from not eating, or not eating because dehydrated. Did the vet do a fecal check for parasites? I certainly understand the vet sticker price shock when comparing to price of the lizard. I quess you could try the soaking to see if you can get it come around and feed again. However, I would suspect stress/parasites as the cause of appetite lack.

Ok, well after waiting a couple of days. I get the fecal results back, apparently there is a score on 1-5 with parasites. 1 being the least amount of pinworms and 5 being the worst. My guy was a 4.
So she injected him with a shot, and I have to return now in 2 weeks for him to get a 2nd dosage. She said that I should see a diff in activity level and his behavior within these weeks as he should be more active rather than sleeping and not moving all day as he has been doing now, and he should be putting on weight as he only weights 71 grams, and is about 9 inches long I would say.

Hopefully this will make a complete diff and he can def put on some weight I hope!!!

Uro's do get the majority of their water from food. However, keeping them in a bone dry cage like so many do is a mistake.

Many of these Uro species do come from very dry climates. One of the reasons that they burrow in these harsh climates is to avoid dehydration. They can dramatically slow their rate of moisture loss while in these burrows. In addition, humidity within these burrows is often quite high.

I have a pair of Egyptians in a 12' x 3' enclosure. The surface temps are very hot and the substrate (dirt from my yard) is very dry. However, the substarte is about 4' deep and they've built impressive burrows. The humidity within these burrows is very high. They bask and eat in the morning and then spend the majority of the day in their burrows just as they would in the wild.

Uro's in capativity are very prone to dehydartion due to the conditions that they're kept in.

I would check deerfernfarms.com and see if Doug is still selling the droppers with a soft tip, and try giving small amounts of pedialite. Also, peas have a good amount of moisture, and are hard to resist. Lastly, as suggested, in nature their hides retain a large amount of humidity. You could try turning a Tupperware container into a hide, with a tube entrance, as this might give him a more humid place to hide. Good luck!

wow, sounds like an awesome enclosure 12 feet long!! great!

my baby egyptian does like to get sprayed and drinks a lot of water about every few days
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4.2 Bearded dragons (Lee,Stumpy,Blackie,Spazz,Lynn,Charlotte)
1 Egyptian Uromastyx (Niles)
(Papa Kunja and Uri have recently passed..we love you)

Thank you for your advice!

HOLY CRAP don't go to that vet!!! they sound like they have no idea!! you can't hook a uro up to an IV drip WTF!!! a good vet would have injected the dehydrated uro with fluids!! you CAN soak the uro every other day and it will drink sometimes but it DOES NOT INTAKE WATER TRHOUGH ITS SKIN!!! what a friggin' idiot! oh my god i can't believe that. you can get a dry syringe and pry open the uro's mouth (which is a [bleep]) and squirt water down its throat if it won't drink

take it do a diff. vet and insist that it gets fluid injections if it'd dehydrated jeez
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4.2 Bearded dragons (Lee,Stumpy,Blackie,Spazz,Lynn,Charlotte)
1 Egyptian Uromastyx (Niles)
(Papa Kunja and Uri have recently passed..we love you)

Thank you for your advice!