Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi; we have had our female Golden Greek for just over 1 year now, and she has been on various meds for a recurring, and mostly persistant respiratory infection. She is 800g and quite strong, and is now kept in the 85-90 degree range in attenpt to see if the lower 80ish temps she was originally kept are at least partly the cause of her problems.

When we got her she had been put with regular, dark, European Greeks that had respiratorty infections, and she became symptomatic about 3 days later. Originally she responded well to Amikacin, but later seemed to develop a resistance to it. Baytril has absolutely no effect on her whatsoever, although it does work on our male who is about 2/3 golden, and almost died of pneumonia from being kept with her.

For approximately the past 6 months, and at the result of lab work, she has been on a combination of Pipricillin and Chloromphenocol, which does help to suppress the symptoms, but even if they do clear up, the results are short lived. 2 weeks ago we added oral Vibramycin on the chance that we are dealing with a Mycoplasma that did not show up on the lab.

The symptoms are as follows:
Chronic runny nose with clear discharge, sometimes thick, and much of the time mostly liquid. Occasional puffy eyes, although not the case at the moment, lathargy, as she sleeps alot of the time.

Husbandry:
She was in a 4ft x 5ft enclosure with the male, but was moved to a 50gal Rubbermail, covered and insulated to retain heat, newspaper substrate, water bowl, hide box, and 2 heat lamps: white light days, black light nights.

She is very strong, and does have the occasional fit, but remains symptomatic. The slightest cool down brings back the symptoms, so she is unfortunitely confined most of the time, except for the occasional trip to the bathtub for a bath, as the weather in New Englard at present is highly unseasonal, dismal, and cold.

Any and all suggestions from qualified people would be much appreciated!

Thank you, and sorry for writing a book!
Freight

It sounds like it could be viral. I had a group for about 6 months. During that time two died of a respiratory problem similar to the one you describe. I would have cultures taken by a vet and examined for viral inclusions.

Golden Greeks are not like northern greeks except for diet. Myself and others have learned that Goldens must be kept arid and hot. Keep the temps where you have them now 85 MINIMUM) to 90 but lose the newspaper and the water bowl. As soon as Goldens get any humidity they get runny noses and respiratory distress. Several of us tried keeping Goldens outside (Long Island, NY) in July and August but the humidity did them in. They actually lost weight outsides and two died (out of 8). Once they were indoors again they lost the runny noses. I have tried meds but they were always temporary fixes, once I realized it was hunidity that was doing the harm they have done quite well.

To emphasize just how sensitive they are to humidity, I once simply wet down the soil in the egg box and one female had a runny nose within three days! I stopped worrying about the egg box soil being damp and they did fine again. I just got my first two eggs from them this year and another is digging now. I keep them on a soil/sand mix with some flat rocks.

The newspaper will hold moisture too much and the water bowl is not needed and only contributes humidity. My Goldens have not had a water bowl in a year and a half. Both females are over 1000 grams (500 and 600 when I got them). I give them Romaine lettuce a few times a week to get the moisture they need. They urinate too much if I give them romaine too often.

You can also check out the tortoise trust on the web, they have a recent article about Goldens and how they should not be kept like normal greeks and need to be hotter and drier. Treat them like greeks for diet and like bearded dragons for environment!

Regards,
John

Can you tell me what you are feeding them? Both my Greeks are extremely picky about what they eat, and will not eat anything that is not exactly what they want!

Thanx, and I'll try drying her out some more.

Freight

Mine are eating Romaine, mixed green veggies (frozen/thawed), greenleaf and redleaf, Iguana diet pellets from Zoomed (this really puts weight on), dandelion greens, clover (a favorite food but I can only do this Spring to Fall) from the lawn (without pesticides) and a few other odds and ends like sprouts. I think you will find if you keep them closer to 90 and dry they will begin to eat a LOT.

John

OK, the diet part isn't too bad, although as I said they are very picky! I'll make the necessary adjustments to her husbandry this week, as I will move her back to the large enclosure so I can better regulate her temps. As for our little hellion male, he has been cruising the house relentlessly for some time now, so that's where he'll stay.

It's a funny thing, I would consider the male to be at least 2/3 golden, yet he is very temp tollerant despite possessing such a high degree of yellow. The only thing that seems to get him sick is our female, so no more meetings for them!

Thanx for all your assistance, and I'll let you all know where we're at when we get this beat, and after some more lab work!

Freight

I forgot to ask you exactly what you are using for a substrate? I'm thinking a top soil/sand mix?

What do you think of hay for burrowing into?

Freight

I use a 25/75 mix of topsoil and play sand. The topsoil tend to get very dusty if you let it dry out (which you need to do woth Goldens) I also include some flat rocks for them to climb on. I put the rocks in based on others advice as a way to keep the nails trim. I keep the sand about an inch thick (max) except for the egg box which is 12 inches deep (but I have found Goldens bury the eggs shallow and 6 inches would have been enough).

In case anyone is wondering, the egg box is a deep plastic sweater box that I installed flush with the enclosure floor. I cut a hole big enough for the box to slip into but not the lip at the top edge of the sweater box. I then push the sweater box into the hole so it hangs out the bottom of the enclosure. a little silicone to seal the box to the floor and you're all set.

Regards,
John

Excellent, thanx for all the info!

Freight

I couldn't agree more! I believe if you follow these guidlines you will see her improve!