Reptile & Amphibian Forums

From what my dad has told me, he went to his friend's house down the street and saw that he had a lizard that "looked like a tortoise without a shell, and with a spiky tail (a Uromastyx of some sort). I have pieced together the information that he has given me to make me conclude that the lizard has a skin infection. Is there any way this could be treated without having to take it to the vet? Would something as simple as neosporin work? He also said it didn't look like the reptile had a heat lamp or a UV lamp (though he said it was moving around a lot). He also said that while he/she had fresh greens in the tank, there was also a lot of rotten old greens, so much that you couldn't see what was being used as substrate. I think my dad also said that the tank it was in was only about 10 gallons, without a top, and the guy said something like "I have a 30 or 40 gallon one somewhere".

From what my dad said, besides the infection it doesn't look like a lost cause. If you do think I could save the little guy with some sort of antibiotic, and of course the larger tank (the guy said I could have it if I wanted the lizard), and of course a heat lamp or two, a UV lamp, and some cage accessories, probably something pretty steril like paper towels on the ground and other stuff until I could nurse it back to health.

I think I'm going to try to go get a look at it tomorrow, so I could probably get you more information then on whether or not I actually think it might be worth it, but I wanted to hear your opinions. I think basically if I don't try to help the animal (or at least get it to someone who can), he's probably just going to keep throwing food into the cage and let it live as long as it can. It's already lived for two years, but I think he probably cared for it better when he first got him/her. By the way, I have a bearded dragon and have a lot of experience treating him for parasites, maintaining good living conditions, and spoiling him rotten.

Please send me your advice. I was thinking about adopting a pair of leopard geckos I had my eye on, but if you think I should, I would gladly put my time into fixing this guy up.

-ryan

I doubt that anyone will be able to answer the skin question here on the forum without at least being able to see it. What does it look like? He probably really should see a vet. I know some treatments for one type of infection will make other kinds worse (bacterial vs. fungal, etc).

I hope you are able to do something to help the poor guy - at least find someone else who will take him, even if you can't take him yourself! Where are you located? If he's a uro and he really has no heat, it's a credit to his species' hardiness that he's alive after two years!
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Torey
1.1 Uromastyx Geyri (Joe and Arthur)
0.1 Anolis Carolinensis (Leeloo)
1.0 Betta Splendens (Mr. Miagi)
1.1 Felis Domesticus (Roscolux and Jenny)

I think the guy might be thinking about taking it back to the local reptile place he got it from, but I'm worried about that too. That reptile place has a hard enough time keeping healthy animals healthy, they wouldn't be able to get this one back into shape.

i think from what I've heard the Uro would have to see the vet. My dad said that the infection was pretty big, on the side of the lizard, whitish in color, and it looked sticky. I would like the guy to put some money towards it, since he hasn't helped the animal really at all, but besides that...maybe I could ask for donations from some of my friends and neibors that seem to care more about animals.

I'm just worried about how I'm going to pay for all of it. It seems like he's going to need a vet trip, meds, lighting (unless the guy has the lighting stuff and just isn't using it....I don't think the reptile place would have sold him the Uro without the correct lighting), and whatever else he would need. Normally this wouldn't be a problem, but I'm in debt about $140 because I recently bought my bearded dragon a new tank and didn't quite have enough money for it.

later

I want to put in another vote for getting this little guy to the vet. Guilt the guy if you have to. He is the reason this poor creature is in the shape he is. A wound of this size is going to take quite a bit of medical care and home care. If the previous owner didn't even get him heat equipment I doubt he can follow through with the home care that will be necessary. There are many knowledgable and caring uro owners on this site maybe he could get placed with one of them? Where is this uro? What state and city?
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Stacey

If I could get him or some one else to help put forth money for a vet trip (I would like it to be him, for the same reason you said), I could give it a great home myself. He says he has a big tank that he hasn't moved into yet that he'd give me, so that means I'd just have to get lights and cage stuff...and my mom's been bugging me to think of christmas presents (it's a little late). I have experience with bearded dragons, and I have researched a lot about Uros in the past. I'd just need to determine which subspecies it is and then get it the appropriate care.

But if I can't, I'll be sure to let you guys know. I don't want this little guy to end up dying because of the carelessness of his owner. It's in one of the smaller towns outside of Rochester NY.