Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My male collared lizard has been acting wierd for the past few days. Hes been sticking his neck up and fliping over. He cant walk straight without flipping over. When i hold him he rolls around. I have quaritined him. Whats wrong?

That is hard to answer without a little more info. Can you answer these questions?

Do you use UVB? What kind of bulb are you using?
What are your basking temps and how are you measuring them?
What are your ambient temps?
Do you provide water and has he been drinking?
Do you use suppliments?
Have you had a fecal done?

I use a 60 watt house light.
My temps are in the 90s i measure with a radar gun.
I dont know what ambient means.
I do use calcium but i just ran out.
Never had a fecal.
I feed him crickets and mealworms. This sterted after I started suppling mealworms.
He does drink water but he hasnt lately.

thanks

Okay, you MUST us a UVB source with a collared, and you MUST use calcium, w/D3 or calcium with a Mercury Vapor UVB bulb. They cannot produce D3 without it and can't absorb calcium without D3. You need to get him to the vet for calcium injections and an assessment because it sounds like the beginning of Metabolic Bone disease.

Get a good UVB bulb ASAP. Once MBD starts, I think they need a Mercury Vapor bulb, so I would go with that if your tank size allows. They also produce heat, so you won't need a second basking light. You can read about them and MBD at www.reptileuv.com

Also, you need to create a proper temp gradient. Ambient temp is the overall temp in your tank. You need to have a basking SURFACE temp, SURFACE ONLY, of 105-110, 115 at the most. The hot SIDE of the tank should be in the mid 80s to 90. Then the opposite side of the tank must be in the mid 70s to 80 so that he can retreat from the heat.

So, get a bulb, get to the vet, get that temp gradient set up, and lets see if that doesn't help. Collareds are not easy in the sense that you cannot cut corners on the husbandry. They have to have proper basking temps to digest properly and the must have UVB and calcium. That is not necessarily true of other lizard species, but it is of collareds.

"Stargazing" is a symtom that seems to be showing, the very way you are saying, the collareds neck is pointed upwards towards the sky, they appear awkward and fall over/flip.

It seems to be a virus of some type, going around, I thought it to be IBD or Inclusion Body Diease a sickness snakes get.
Stargazing can also be seen as a result of toxins, mites, bacterial infections, .....

I recently took in a few collareds from Will Wells one in which showed signs of the star gazing. I have kept her isolated from my other collareds. Wash your hands really well before goign to any other tanks. This can be contagious to others so seperate any other lizards from the one thats sick.

See a Vet and tell him of this virus, and see if he can help you.

Here is a good description of what I'm trying to tell you it sounds like... from Melissa Kaplins site
____________________________________

Star-Gazing
A sign, not a disease.

©1995 Melissa Kaplan

Stargazing is a term used to describe a deceptively innocuous behavior: the head and neck are raised almost straight up, as if the affected animal is gazing at the stars. This condition is common to several diseases that affect the central nervous system. Symptoms that often occur with stargazing are disorientation and the inability to right itself.

There are several conditions that may cause the symptom of stargazing, including viral infections such as paramyxovirus, found in viperids and some colubrids and boids which attacks the respiratory and neurological systems; and inclusion body disease, found in boids, which involves the respiratory, gastrointestinal and neurological systems. Bacterial infections such as meningitis, and septic infections that breach the blood-brain barrier may also cause stargazing. Major organ dysfunction may also cause dysregulation of normal metabolism which in turn may cause neurological disease. Extreme temperatures, head injuries, and toxins (as from flea sprays, pest strips, cleaning products and environmental toxins) may also cause neurological disorders.

A thorough examination, including fecal and pathology work-up, must be done to determine the underlying cause. As stargazing is merely a symptom of a deeper, potentially quite serious disease or disorder, the underlying condition itself must be treated.

-----
PHEve / Eve

So will he get over it, or is this pemanant/deadly?

I think if it is a bacterial infection/ virus that they can get over it, but left alone whatever it is can get worse. Thats the shot you take when you go to the vet and ask what they think. I'm not a Vet that's for sure so I could be wrong, but yours sounds the same as the girl I have.

I took a chance, first read alot about this and read of some meds that can be successful and luckily I had some and used a tiny amount and she stopped star gazing. Shes a very thin girl so I'm working on that and hope she can snap back. The medicine I used if you go to the vet you can ask about or tell him I tried a tiny amount of Flagyl mixed in some liquid food/ or a dropper of water.
I also left the heat on at night for about a week or so. I used a 75 watt night/ black light.

A vet could help you, I took the chance in treating her myself as I thought she was dying and had to atleast try something. But I would mention star gazing, if he is not aware of it.
-----
PHEve / Eve

Eve, Hows the female bicinctores doing? Is she gaining wieght? Still looking upwards?

It could be a broken back from MBD that has caused him to lose control of his legs. Make sure you have the correct lighting, heat and vitamins as Rosebud said. He maybe able to survive with some extra help once the condition is nuetralized.

Without the proper UV lighting, that collared will not last long.

Rosebuds is right even if he doesn't have a virus you must improve your husbandry for the animal.

Ok I got a good UVB source now. One problem, he looks even worse today. He is wild caught from Utah. He probably has parasites huh?

You really need to take him to a vet.

Did you get your temps straightened out?

My temps are in the 100s.

Which temps? The basking or the whole tank?