Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Dear all,

my lizard is in an emergency now,so I really need your help.

My WC egyptien uromastyx hatchling has dirahhea now, and my vet told me its AST and gall bladder value is too high.

Beacause fecal test has no parasites and be checked through microsope,we consider the gall and liver problem caused this situation....and we dount it may stay in the hot environment too long and cause some damage of liver and gall.

actually , it always eats less and pick some seeds or sweet vegetables it wants to eat...

it has slight dehydration and eats less but willing to eat Bidens pilosa L. var. radiata Sch. and Hibiscus rosa-sinensis ,but still eat less.

my vet give me two kind of medicine, one can prove its appetite and the other can decrease his liver and gall value.

but today, I think it became much depressed and have no appeptide.
and I checked the content of "Clinical Reptile Gastroenterology", (but I can't read full text..)

I saw some key words and the content mentioned "some lizard will keep liquid inside the oral cavity",and when I feed medicine(my lizard is 100 gram and I need 0.4 ml medicine)

so I am afraid of letting it choke, but its tongue and throat always move but I listen some "gas sounds" from mouth.
Could you please give me some adive and any suggestion.

Thank you very much.

I am worry about this situation.....

I am having a little bit of trouble understanding exactly what you are asking, but I think you may be asking about administering medications orally and the risk of choaking. Administer just a little bit at a time about a cc or so at first and increase the amount if the animal will "allow" you to, rubbing their neck soometimes encourages them to swallow as well. If you are having trouble getting the meds into the animal, take a break and try later but try not to stress the animal too much.

Also- couple of other things- a negative fecal exam does not always mean that the animal does not have parasites. I had two consecutive fecals ran on a lizard- the first was negative and the second was positive for two different parasites. In your post it sounded like you may have said that you were not keeping the animal at warm/hot temps... I am not sure why you would be doing this. Can you explain?

Hibiscus should be safe to eat. I foound a relative of Bidens plosa on Melissa Kaplans list of toxic plants- Bidens frondosa (BEGGAR-TICK); plant may contain toxic levels of nitrates. I found (for cattle):
Clinical signs of nitrate poisoning are related to the lack of oxygen in the blood. Acute poisoning usually occurs between a half hour to four hours after consuming toxic levels of nitrate. Onset of symptoms are rapid and include:

bluish/chocolate brown mucous membranes
rapid/difficult breathing
noisy breathing
rapid pulse (150 /min)
salivation, bloat, tremors, staggering
weakness, coma, death
dark "chocolate-colored" blood
Pregnant females that survive nitrate poisoning may abort due to lack of oxygen to the fetus. Abortions generally occur approximately 10-14 days following exposure to nitrates. http://www.ag.ndsu.edu/pubs/ansci/livestoc/v839w.htm

From http://virtual.clemson.edu/groups/psapublishing/PAGES/AGRO/FORAGE13.PDF

Sublethal signs of nitrate poisoning... abdominal pain and diarrhea...

It may not have anything to do with you uro's condition but it would be wise to stop giving the Bidens spilosa and stick with the hibiscus.
Nutri-bac or another pro-biotic may help a little bit with the diarrhea. Nutri-bac is available on line. I haven't seen it in any pet stores around here. Pro-biotics are available at most health food stores in the US, get a non-dairy version. I believe that Uromastyx Dust also contains pro-biotics and is a good feed/supplement and is available at most pet stores around here. It may be the best way to get some nutrition into you uro if he's not eating much. If you can't find it you could probably use the "Iguana Dust".