Reptile & Amphibian Forums

This is an image of a Black Throat Monitor I received recently. It looks as if the tail had been broken, possibly just disfigured from being in tight quarters. It is extremely skinny ~ vertebral ridge noticeable from the skull to the tail (this animal is about four 1/2 feet long). The skull is well defined by a lack of muscle. It was fed nothing but dog food for the past few years and is about 11 years old. Just thought I would share this with you.

Skin & Scales

wow that poor poor creature.. good luck getting him back to good health. Just remember do it gradually, food wise as not to shock his system.
-----
"If you talk to animals,
they will talk with you
and you will know each other.

If you do not talk to them,
you will not know them,
and what you do not know
you will fear.

What one fears,
one destroys."
.

-Chief Dan George

Save Him Man you can do it, God Bless the poor Creature.

Good Luck! This being such a hardy species should be easy going after the first few weeks. As stated above I would be careful about wanting to feed to much to soon. Correct temps and humidity with small nutritious meals should have him heading in the right direction in no time. Its always great to see someone helping an animal in need.

Will you keep us posted on how he (or she?) is doing?
I am very interested and hope to see your good care helping this poor animal improve its lot in life.
You area saint for taking on this responsibility.

Thank you. Todd G.

Hello,
It will pull around fine with good heating and whole foods. It's a shame such a cool lizard was permitted to waste... TLC will do it right. It is better than an obese liver damaged animal though, at least that one gets a second chance with you... Best of luck- Mike S

all i can say is shocking.........

See update above
Skin & Scales

Who gave that animal to you? I would like to let the world know what these horrible people have done to these creatures. Not only this person, but all people like him.

I would never announce who the person that gave me the monitor was. That would be wrong, although it was neglected, it was still given to me before the animal died. Broadcasting things like this won't prevent it from happening, and naming names will only cause people to fear persecution, likely preventing them from wanting to come forward with their pets and giving them a second chance. I don't know why people do what they do, i'm just glad I can pick up the pieces when I can.
Also, I try never to jump to conclusions or "assume" unless I have the full story. Sometime we do that inadvertanly (like you did in your post when you assumed it was a him that gave me the monitor, it was actually a woman :/)
The monitor is doing well now, don't let peoples bad behaviour mess with you, it will only bring you down ~ there will still be people behaving badly regardless
Thanks, Leo