Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Well, my Uro lost A LOT of weight and was not eating. I had reason to understand why Jeeve's wouldn't eat. I made an appointment and went this afternoon. Jeeve's weight was 31 grams, he was dehydrated and has a sore under his right arm. The vet shot him up with Baytril, provided me with Baytril Oral Suspension to soak him in once a day for 9 days, and Bene-Bac Pet Gel to force feed him for 10 days.

I went out and bought a back-up UV light, a new night time heating lamp and a new halogen basting light.

Never force fed Jeeve's and I'm nervous about it. Has anybody had success getting your Uro to open his mouth??

>>Never force fed Jeeve's and I'm nervous about it. Has anybody had success getting your Uro to open his mouth??

A couple weeks ago "Dude" had dropped a lot of weight after two weeks of adjustment (WC Saharan). From about 60g to 48 so the vet shot him up with fluids for dehydration during deworming. I tube fed him with a 1cc small syringe (up to 2cc per session) with berry flavored Ensure and bananna. Each day he'd move up to 50g and drop to 48. Four days of that and I left more heat on at night, the next day he weighed 58g when I got home from work so I stopped feeding.

Opening the mouth was a two person/two hand job which left one hand to hold and one to feed. We ended up putting our fingernails in between the animals lips from both sides until it decided it was uncomfortable and started opening on its own, then the nails went in between the teeth followed by the syringe. We were careful to immobilize the head while trying to minimize strain on the neck, etc.

well, there's a problem, I only have two hands!!!

my plan tomorrow, during the first force feed, is to use a spoon to pry his mouth gently open. Then attempt to put the meds into his mouth and get the med in his mouth. I hate thinking he'll be uncomfortable....but when it's life or death for Jeeves I'll try anything!

Thanks for your response

>>my plan tomorrow, during the first force feed, is to use a
>>spoon to pry his mouth gently open.

Probably not a good idea from what I've gathered and I would discourage that method.
Check out these pages to understand what you're dealing with:

"Scaling of Morphology, Bite Force and Feeding Kinematics
in an Iguanian and a Scleroglossan Lizard"
http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/~kiisa/pdfs/Meyers et al. 2002b.pdf
There is evidence that bite force increases with reptile size/maturity and juvenile bite force is limited by skull/jaw strength and not muscular strength. Forcing the mouth open may harm the animal severely/fatally.

Here's an interesting site with skull and jaw details so you can see what you're dealing with. It's a fully digitized and interactive model of an animal skull.
http://www.digimorph.org/specimens/Uromastyx_hardwickii/
From the geometry of the jaw and teeth rows, it should be clear that there's nothing that will open that jaw witout harm besides the animal itself. We pushed our fingernails in at the back of the jaw where the large teeth are exposed behind the beak. Once that happens, it's easy but it can take a couple minutes.

My advice- find a friend or visit the vet. My vet offered hospitalization but I opted to find a way myself. Also, get a good scal so you can accurately track the animals weight. I weigh mine every day so I have a good idea of what goes in and comes out.

I've had to medicate three uros now (some on multiple occasions) and have force fed one. The spoon is a little much probably - the metal is asking for broken teeth and lip/gum abrasions. You can try a rubber spatula or one of those rubber dental picks, if you need an opening tool.

What I have done (with my insufficient number of hands - a mere two) is sit on the floor with my knees up, wrap the uro in a small towel, secure the tail between my knees, hold the head with my left hand, and maneuver the needleless syringe with my right. Wheee! With patience and a gentle, but steady hand, you can usually get them to open up by wriggling the syringe just to the side of the point of the lips. Good luck!
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Torey
Eugene, Oregon, USA
1.1 Uromastyx Geyri (Joe and Arthur)
2.0.1 Uromastyx Dispar Maliensis (Tank, Turtle, and new neighbor Spike)
1.2 Anolis Carolinensis (Bowser, Leeloo, and Sprocket)
1.1 African Dwarf Frogs (Bruce and Sheila)
1.0 Betta Splendens (Mr. Miagi)
1.1 Felis Domesticus (Roscolux and Jenny)
And several miscellaneous community fish

Well force feeding is a pain in the butt. I had to do it for my mali Buddy. My son and I tryed to open his mouth with a rubber spatula (sp) like the vet told us to do and there is NO way to open a uro's mouth if it doesn't want it open. My son with the cridical care food put it into the syringe and lightly squeezed it on the side of the mouth between the lips and Buddy started to sip it up. Finally we got food into him and he was and still is on the road to recovery.
Good luck!
Debs
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The addiction can be dangerous. 1 Uro named Buddy aka Big Boy & 1 Ig named Tiny