Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have a monitor that is about 6 months old, after handling it the other day, I put it in its water bowl, where I usually do after handling, for no reason, he climbed out and was walking around his cage, (4' x 3', so he has plenty of room)he found the wall and was shaking his head back and forth hitting his head on the side of his cage, now, I believe that I've heard this before, but htis was the first time that I have observed him doing this.......Is this Normal? what should I d odifferently if not???

on another note as well..... I fed him tonight, and he was shaking his head as well, and was struggling to grab the meat that I was feeding him, it reminds me of an elderly person with parkinsons, as far as his behavor and having to struggle to get his basic necessities...I'm lost.......

You might try crushing a multivitamin into powder (use the back of a spoon if you don't have a mortar and pestle). Dampen his food slightly and dust with powder. Sounds like neurologic symptoms of a vitamin deficiency. Do this ASAP. If he's not better within a few hours (like 3), get him to a Vet quickly.

Could be viral or bacteriological as well, but that's what your Vet is for.
Good luck

trying the vitamin thing, after i got thinking i came to the same conclusion, also giving baytril until i can get to the vet on monday...hopefully the vitamin thing works, actually thought of that one myself too.....keeping fingers crossed....

How is he? What was the Vet's opinion? Are we better?

ok, one of my biggest problems with reptiles, is not the reptiles, themselves, but the lack of knowledge most vets have on them. I went to the FIRST vet on monday, told her i thought he was having some type of neurological problem, and that we needed to figure out what was going on, now, this is a vet thtat CLAIMS to be able to do reptiles, come to find out she has never even drawn blood from a savannah.... go figure .... so i walked out knowing that ...guess what....he has some type of neurological issue going on...there goes that $32...she wanted to refer me to a specialist 1.5 hrs away, and he said it would be about 450, to diagnose that problem, and then we could go from there....I guess thats what i get for not going to my regular vet, but he has made it thus far, i put him on batrill, and have been giving him vitamins and extra calcium, which is all i know to do...I have actually found another vet that is closer than my normal vet (hes about an hour or so away) that has the same certifications that my specialist has (ive had issues w/ a boa prolapsing, and took her to the #1 cancer institute, and emergency vet clinic in fla)...SHe is only about 5 minutes away actually, (recently moved to opposite side of town)just from the preliminary paperwork, i have a good feeling about her, but the monitor seems to be doing worse today than he has all week. My appointment with her is tonight at 7:15 (they have really good hours to 7 am to 8 pm, and 8-2 on sat) so i guess ill write back tonight to let y'all know whats going on....pray for me, it doesnt look good though.....
~Lauren

the vet was amazing, I absolutely loved her, she spent about 2 hours with me, and explained everything..blood work came back today, all levels of everythig were normal, we thought it might have been an ear infection, but it seemd to be a vit. D defic...so some good cheap sunshine, and a uvb light should do the trick, im tube feeding him right now until he gets his strength back, for hopefully a week or so, but possibly longer (im hoping for the shorter end) im offering food every few days to see if he'll take it...and then we'll go from there....keep praying im not through this yet...
~Lauren