Reptile & Amphibian Forums

In the past week or so my Egyptian Isabelle has not eaten very much. She's about 17 inches long and I don't have a scale, but I can see she has lost weight. My first guess is worms, however I wouldn't be surprised if it's something else. My girlfriend and I take her outside a lot, so I wonder if she could have possibly eaten some grass or something along those lines... She isn't completely lethargic, she still glass dances quite a bit, but sleeps more than usual. One odd thing is that for some reason during this time she has gotten up much earlier than usual. I usually turn her lights on at about 10am, but now she's up and basking under the night light at around 8am. I plan on having a fecal done real soon, but does anyone have any other ideas besides worms? Thanks a lot!

how warm does it get under the night light?, when i had a night light on mine he stayed up at night basking and walking around and slept alot during the day and he didnt eat much so maybe thats it, how long has she had the night light?

She has always had the night light and never basked under it before.

How long have you had her?
Have you treated her for parasites before?
Has she been to a vet?
Some fecals do not show all the problems.
Make sure the vet is a qualified reptile vet! They generally do not see alot of these guys, so their experience is very minimal.
Being that you notice the weight loss visually, I would get her in asap.
Ed

Could be one of many things. Did you recently turn the AC on in your house? She could be trying to brumate. Basically I would look for any changes to her environment but check temperatures first. If it does not drop into the 70's at night you may want to turn off or change her night lamp. I've noticed my Egyptians sleep better at lower temperatures and the discrepency between night and day temperatures keeps them in a regular cycle. Did you just start taking her outside? Sometimes if it stressful for them they will react and hide for a couple days. I put my young Egyptians outside in a sunning cage and he ended up sleeping all the next day. That being said, if you could see that she has lost weight (which probably means she has lost a significant amount) I'd take her to a vet ASAP.

Peter

PS: My adult egyptians roams around the yard for hours and eats things. Usually he sticks to the dandelions, clovers, rose petals (much to my roommates chagrin) and nasturtiums, but sometimes he eats other "less desirable" things. I talked to my vet and he said as long as I don't use pesticides he should be fine. Herbiverous lizards have strong stomachs for vegetation.