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So a blood test was done on my collared and everything looks normal, although there is an increase in phosphorus and calcium which the doctor said is an indication of egg production. She also has some signs of a parasite, I forget what name, but its in the blood and the doc said its not the kind of parasite that we should be worried about, that its normally there or something. She also said there is a slight increase in white blood cell count, but nothing extreme. So basically it looks normal besides the calcium/phosphorus amounts.

I've been treating her eyes with gentamicine sulfate for about a week now, her final drops were yesterday. They seem to be getting a little bit better, but not the bright and wide eyes I am used to seeing. Should I continue after a week? I also took her off sand and put paper towels down again, and she hasn't gotten anything in her eyes since that. She has moments where she's acting normal and running around and jumping and whatnot, then sometimes she just goes lazy and sleeps. She is eating well, she is gobbling some waxworms and some megaworms, and ate a cricket yesterday. I currently have pedialyte in place of her water.

What are my options now? The doc suggested giving another dose of Baytril, orally. She had baytril injections about a month and a half ago (mid december) for an URI. So we're going to do another 7 doses of Baytril, every other day, orally, and see what happens.

As far as her egg production is concerned, should I be putting sand in a container somewhere? I don't want to risk getting sand in her eye but at the same time should I be having a container of sand in there if she wants to lay her eggs? Or will she just be absorbing them back into her? She was ovulating last year and didn't lay any eggs, I'm not sure whether or not to worry this year.

Yesterday was her first dose of the Baytril again and the final eye drops. Her eyes don't seem to be getting better, some days they are fine others they are shut. Could the drops be irritating her? She keeps trying to scratch them. I flush her eyes out with water every now and then and she opens them up again. I'm at a complete loss with her eye problem.

Do you remember if the parasite was a hemogregarine (intracellular red blood cell parasites)? Or microfilaria (extracellular blood parasites)? Just curious.

Ca and P vary with the egg production cycle, indeed. Nothing to worry about.

The egg production cycle is a bit sticky. Ova will occasionally be reabsorbed, but not once they have passed into the oviducts where the shells are secreted. It is uncertain what will stimulate the female to reabsorb the eggs, it may be lack of fertilization (which clearly isn't always the case since females often lay unfertilized eggs), lack of environmental cues (photoperiod/temperature/humidity?) or lack of a suitable hiding place. Since this cannot really be controlled, provide her a nesting box anyways, because if the ova are not reabsorbed, lack of a suitable nesting area may be a contributor to egg-binding.

A spacious nesting box filled with damp sand 4-6" deep would probably suffice. This would prevent your lizard from always being exposed to sand- and a restricted area is easier to keep damp which is less likely to get dusty and further irritate her eye problem.

Pedialyte in a hot enclosure is a great place for microbe growth. I wouldn't leave it in there all day. Unless she is dehydrated (which would have shown up on the blood test), plain water should be just fine.

Her appetite will probably fluctuate as the ova develop. Once they get larger and take up more room in her body cavity, her appetite will decrease. Egg production takes a lot of energy, so she will lose some weight. A healthy gravid lizard is alert and active, although I wouldn't think that her sleeping spells are a sign of another problem. A gravid lizard with egg-related problems quickly becomes depressed and generally inactive. It would be a very noticeable, big difference.

If the eyes are not improving with the gentamicin (how far into the prescription are you?), what about a culture and sensitivity test to determine what antibiotics will be effective on the problem-causing microbes? This could save you time and money rather than trying different antibiotics one after another.
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Christina Miller, CAHT
www.herptiles.net

You had mentioned that the eyes did well after flushing with (sterile?) water. I would do this on a regular basis, perhaps before giving the gentimicin. If the medication is sitting on a film of mucous, they will not be reaching the problem. What was the new Baytril for? I don't want to contradict your vet, (so discuss this with them), but it if I was in your position, I'd finish the med's started, and then continue with flushing the eye regularly with sterile water or saline. It is good that the animal is active, and eating. Are the periods of "lethargy" just natural down time for the lizard?

Ian

OOPS- should be "lack of a suitable nesting place," not hiding place.

>>It is uncertain what will stimulate the female to reabsorb the eggs, it may be lack of fertilization (which clearly isn't always the case since females often lay unfertilized eggs), lack of environmental cues (photoperiod/temperature/humidity?) or lack of a suitable hiding place.
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Christina Miller, CAHT
www.herptiles.net

The parasite, I believe was hemogregarine, only because I don't remember her saying microfilaria.

I'll take the pedialyte out.

These times of lethargy seem to be coming out of nowhere, one minute she's out and about jumping and whatnot, the next she's hiding somewhere. I put down paper towel, and she's continually underneath it, almost like she wants to burrow. She has a hide rock but is under the paper towel more. She is also digging at the corner a lot, or scratching at it as if she wants to dig.

AND she's scratching her eye with her back legs. Her eyes, as of today, are much better, but she still scratches them. She told me to do the drops for a week, and that ended on Friday, but I decided to continue, so this is the 3rd day over the prescription time. Should I stop?

The downtime sounds normal. After she is better, I'll be she'll utilize a particulate substrate and feel much more at home. The hide box might also be too large and roomy, defeating it's purpose.

Talk to your vet about the eye drops. These three days arn't going to hurt, but at some point a line needs to be drawn, either to see how she does without continued med's, or to decide on a new course of action. If you stop the med's, perhaps continue your flushing for an additional few days. You can't really stop them from scratching the head, but you can make sure the nails are trimmed. It's not much, but sometimes it's the difference.

Ian

Well I stopped the eyedrops on Tuesday, so thats a total of 4 days over the 7 days originally prescribed. Her eyes are looking better, better than before actually, now she has both open all the the time instead of walking around with 1 shut.

She had her 4th dose of baytril today, out of 7.

She also ate 3 wax worms and 2 megaworms today, which is a lot for her. She's gaining fat back, particular on her tail which I noticed to be getting thinner a few days ago. She is basking more in the light now, but still tries to get under the paper towel. Yesterday she actually stayed in her hide house all day and didn't really come out until I gave her some worms. I also put in a container of wet sand for her. Overall I'd say she is becoming more active and she is losing her orange stripes.

I hesitate to be relieved because she started to get better last time but her eye problem was always there. I'm going to continue with the Baytril, keep her on the paper towels until the meds are done and go on from there. I also plan to get her a smaller rock cave when I get some funds.

Thanks for all the help and I'll keep you updated.
Here are some pics of her I took today, you would never know she was sick when she is running around and jumping..

So she's been on paper towels for a few weeks now.

Her last dose of Baytril was yesterday, and her last eyedrops was like over a week ago. She hasn't gotten anything into her eyes since then, and she's been active and running around. When should I put the sand back?