Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi all, i guess it's the first time posting here!

My collareds are about 8months, and in the last week they rarely eat!here in Portugal the temps rised after winter, but now the temps have another drop..can this be a cause for their lack of appetite?another behavior that i noticed on them was that they are always diging (i guess this is normal on them) and trying to hide under anything..The temps are ok!

I just want to know if is this a case to be concerned..

Many thanks, Nuno

Hopefully the weather and lower temperatures do have something to do with their not eating well and hiding more.

May I ask what your temps are, Nuno? Have you taken a GOOD reading maybe with a temp gun? Other than being too cool , the only other thing that I see that effects their eating behavior and makes them NOT want to bask , could be parasites of some kind.

How do look as far as weight, do they look as though they are getting thin?

Nice to see you , glad you stopped by. Been a bit slow here lately.
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PHEve / Eve

Hey Eve, how's everything?thanks for the reply!

Well as they are juvies they are in a smaller tank, but i'm waiting for a lamp to move them to the big viv!The temps as the viv it's not very large ,60cm x 40cm (lenght,deep),are about 30degrees all around and the spot about 47degrees!

today i noticed that they have a pieces of a crust on their anus..dont know if could be older skin or something!

I check them for parasites and nothing...they are great, they dont look thin, they are very active outside the viv, and sometimes inside too,but most of the time they are hiden!

I'll try to put some pics after dinner

Many thanks, Nuno

Here are the pics! The male is often as he is on the pic, with the eyes closed...

another one..

...

..

the female...

another one from her!

the "crust"!

So what do you think?:S

thanks, and sorry if i spam the forum with pics, but dont know how to put them all together..

they have mites, I recently went through a terrible time with them and the way you say they are acting , hiding, and also what I see on her vent area , ( I have seen) that's what I think it is.

Try what I told you and get back to us.
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PHEve / Eve

Well Eve..i didnt saw any signs of mites, i had put olive oil on them and nothing, on the male i saw black spots (as big as their sclaes on the tummy), but had no movement, it seems more like dirty stuff!

Should i remove their "crust"?it realy seems like a wound but i dont know how they got that..the female when i bought her she camed with that,but at that time was old skin that didnt come off...

if i can do nothing to get them better it's better to take them to the vet, but honestly if i can do anything to help them at home it would be the best, as i can trust on the vets here, the bests are too far away!

Nuno

There would be no movement after the oil is on, they are dead. It suffocates them. Where there alot of these black spots? Try it again tomorrow and see if more black spots appear.

As far as the crust on the vent it could be a fungus, I would soften it with some oil first, and try and see if you can remove with cotton ball, maybe some warm water on it.

If it comes off, I have used hydrogen peroxide, the stuff we use to clean out cuts, I wipe the vent with it, let it sit a minute then wash off and apply an antibiotic ointment such a neosporin or ointment for cuts.

This sometimes can look like our cold sores we get on our mouths when sick, I have seen what your talking about, brown/ tan crusty and looks a bit bumpy or blistery.
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PHEve / Eve

I went to check again with the magnifyign glass, and now i saw litle black spots!

how much time does it take to kill them all?i will desinfect all the viv and try to kill them all!

Many thanks for your help Eve!!

Nuno

I wish more people would check their lizards that way, with the oil test on the tummy and magnifying glass. So many people think because they do not see things walking that the lizard is fine. I have learned that they can be loaded, and you do not see them unless magnified or take macro pics of the lizard and you will see them.

After dealing with these horrible evil little bugs myself I have seen what they do and how they zap the energy from the lizards. The become anemic / from lose of blood and soon do not eat well, and do not bask, AND sit like yours with his eyes closed.

When I saw his pic I knew, also the females vent area. Lots of scabing, they hide in the vent area. I use a q-tip with mineral oil and clean the vent area out, you will get all sorts of nasty looking stuff. But will be helping your lizards.

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PHEve / Eve

I sent you an email . Also get a q-tip with some mineral oil and clean that off. You can put a bit of antibiotic ointment on there, neosporin, or something of that nature.

Do the test I asked you to do. And let me know what you see.
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PHEve / Eve

so the test is just applying a bit of mineral oil to the belly, and looking for specks with a magnifying glass? i got a little freaked out, so I checked all the lizards. I didn't see anything, so that's good, right?

Hehhehee, your funny ! it's a good idea to check them some times, especially after a new one comes in. I know I will always take the highest measures I can from now on when new ones come in and will probably check all my bunch periodically.

Once ya got a dose of the STINKIN EVIL Creatures ya never want them again.
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PHEve / Eve