Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Today I was feeding my borther's water monitor for him and I saw these huge blisters on his belly. I asked him if he knew what they were but he at first said they were burns, at first. but I have seen burns becasue my savannah had a burn on his stomach, and these are no burns. they are all red like they're full of blood, and they're quite large. Also, the lizard has been walking draggin his body on the ground which is not nomral, and his legs are quite shaky as well. I've never had anything like this and don't know what to do. I was wondering if anyone on here knows what they are and or how to treat them.
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not the best pic, but here they are

Wow.. That looks REALLY bad.. You need to get that to a vet like this second.

Does he/she have a heatpad or any electrical heat in the cage? It might be from that? I don't know but that is something to drag yourself around for.. Get him to a doctor..
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Savannah Monitor - Artimus
Emerald Swift - Jesus
Baby veiled Cham - Sir August De Winter
Green Iguana - King Arthur
Rose-hair tarantula - Bill
Basilisk - Adam Used to be Adam and Eve but there was a food competition because my girlfriend was taking care of them and she didn't know what was wrong until it was too late.

I'm not an expert but I'd definately get to a herp vet ASAP. I believe there's a link on kingsnake to find one somewhere...

~Katie
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2.1 Cornsnakes (Slink, Shadow, Suzie)
0.3 Leopard Geckos (Cutie, Lily, and Miss Piggy)
0.1 Savannah Monitor (Sam)
1.2 Pac Man Frogs(Gordito, Spud, and Diablo)
1.2 Suriname Toad (Squishy & the Squishettes)
0.0.2 Giant Millipede (Mega & Mila)
lots of snails and fish...

It does not look good, sorry to say it but it dont. If i were you i would hope they are burns but it does not appear to be the case. I believe your animal has sepsis, it is a bloodinfection, well actually its blood poisoning, which can come from a number of things, including starting off as a burn then getting infected, it could be an internal thing from too large of a food source, an impaction, too low of temps, blah blah blah, anyway i have an animal with it now that is fighting pretty hard to stay alive, although it is rare for them to recover from the disease. As the others said go to the vet immediately as your monitor will require aggressive treatments of antibiotics, the sooner the better, Mine is still not out of the woods but the blisters have stopped and she has began to eat larger prey again.
best of luck, get too the vet NOW
scott

Yeah I don't get this at all. It seems like I'm the only one in my house whose annimals never have serious prblems. I don't know if these are burns, becasue My savannah monitor had a burn, but when I saw these I was shocked. He said they looked like burns at first, but when I showed htem he said they were worse. I dunno, he doens't really take care of his pets, he's always out riding his bike, and I get pretty piseed bceause he always gets new pets. He also had a ball python that died of a bacterial infection. and yeah, the bumps look like holes in his stomach filled with blood, it's disgusting, and whenever the lizard walks, it doesn't raise it's body off the ground, and it's legs are unstable and shaky. I hate to say it, but I think this guy is on his way out, and it's a shame becasue it's a real nice animal and I had my friend sell it to him for a cheap price. anyway, we can't afford the vet right now, so i'm pretty certain this is near the end for this lizrd. thanks for the help though, esepciialy about sepsis, I'll look more into that.

I'm sorry to say this, but that is PATHETIC !!!
Don't buy a reptile if you can't afford a vet !

K, Belgium
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0.0.4 Varanus Acanthurus (Spiny-tailed monitors)
1.0.0 Ctenosaura Quinquecarinata (Spiny-tailed iguana)
2.1.0 Pogona Vitticeps (Bearded dragon)

I know. But It's not my monitor. My sav is perfectly healthy. every reptile my brother has owned has died. I don't get it, and this is his only pet. I also have a green anaconda, and she's perfectly fine as well. I've always taken care of all my animals, the only one I got rid of was my ornate nile monitor at my mom's request becasue it was pretty wild. but I've neverhad any serious health problems with my animals. I don't get why his stuff always gets sick. but it's pretty pathetic, and it's pissing me off.

Sorry, I was referring to your friend, not to you
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0.0.4 Varanus Acanthurus (Spiny-tailed monitors)
1.0.0 Ctenosaura Quinquecarinata (Spiny-tailed iguana)
2.1.0 Pogona Vitticeps (Bearded dragon)

btw, got any mroe info on sepsis for herps? all the searches I did got results for sepsis in humans. anything would be appreciated

theres not alot of information out there on sepsis in reptiles, All i know is what the vets have told me, possible causes etc. I am told though any kind of skin infection that is not a burn or a result of too much moisture is sepsis, blisters, puss filled blisters, sores etc, its not a easy affliction to over come, it has been a long hard road and im truly surprised my whitethroat has made it this far, i have conteplated putting her down several times, but im glad now that i held out, the blisters are gone, she is taking food and slowly putting weight back on, i wish you the best of luck as there isnt hardly any good useful information on reptile diseases and disorders, other than pump em full of baytril and raise the temps. I am fortuneate enough to have some good herp/exotic vets in my area, and i have only spent about 120 bucks or so treating this animal, so it doesnt always take an extrodinary amount of money.
good luck
scott

Well some bad news, my monitor which was suffering from this died this morning, went down to check on everything and found her out in the middle of her cage dead, sepsis is a tricky thing, first off its a huge infection that rarely gets fixed, and then the cause of it is a mystery it could of been so many different things, who knows??? She is gone and she came in, in bad shape and went down hill, regardless of my attempts at making her better. Good luck, sorry to hear that your brothers monitor will have the same fate more than likely.
scott

sorry about the bad news scott.

Sepsis just describes bacteria in the blood. It means that a localized infection has entered the bloodstream and now circulates throughout the body, affecting everywhere. The reason it is harder to treat is because you have to treat the initial infection, and the rest of the body.

Enough with that. It sounds like this is your brother's monitor. Now I have some things to say about your parents... like why are you two kids allowed whatever pet you desire? And when it is clear that they aren't in the best of care (a burned savanna, a dead ball python, a dying monitor) they continue to allow them; and NEW ones?

In anycase, you can't avoid the situation you are in, nor the lack of knowledge/interest your parents have. It is time you become a young adult and take control of the situation. This animal needs treatment or humane euthanasia. It is suffering. It may be your brothers but you see the need, he doesn't. Tell your parents of the situation, and insist on a vet visit. If this falls on blind eyes then contact your local humane society to remove the animals and have them treated accordingly. Part of growing up is realizing that the needs of the animals have to come first.

If this still isn't clear; Do what ever it takes to see that this monitor sees a veterinarian.

K, so I know I rambled but I still feel the need to add that captive animals left in pain and suffering from whatever the cause is under the definition of animal cruelty and is against the law. Bring this to your parents.

first off, don't come on attacking me, I take care of my animals, the only mishap I had was my savanna got a burn about the size of half a dime. I take care of my animals, this is the only mishap I've had, but other than that he's perfectly fine, he's fat and healthy. I also have an anaconda that's in perfect health. my brother had the python that died, not me. I know how to take care of reptiles. and I've only had 3 reptiles, where as he's had a lot more. the 3rd was an ornate nile monitor which I gave to my friend becasue my mom didn't want me to have it. don't attack me becasue you don' tknow the situation, and don't talk about poeple's parents

I'm not a damn kid, so don't treat me like one. I'm 19 years old and I can handle my own. anyway, I wasn't even aware of this problem until I was feeding it for him, so don't take your anger out on me. I understand where your anger is coming from, but don't take it out on me

I know this is the 3rd response, but you need to stop talking about peeople. 1st, I'm not a damn kid, so stop saying all this crap about growing up, and do NOT talk about my parents. 2nd, I KNOW how to take care of my animals, and all mine are perfectly fine. No pet reptile has died or had an injury aside from a minor burn on the savannah. You act like every reptile coming into our house is dying. 3rd, I don't know how this infection got there, but it's not like my brother intentionally tried to get it sick. You're so quick to talk without knowing anything. I don't wanna be rude, but you're so quick to judge people without knowing anything, and you treat me like a little kid? and especially over something that's not under my care? don't direct your anger at me, especially over something that's not my fault. I'm sorry to be so rude, but you don't talk about how irresponsible people's parents are and aussme that someone is a kid. this is NOT my pet, so don't be getting mad at me homie.

sorry for your loss, and yeah, I'm pretty sure that this lizard is headed down the smae road. I really hate to say this, but all his pets have died, and this is another example. what pisses me off is that he cares more about his bike than his pets. I'll make sure that this is his last pet reptile for a few years >

lol, k, so I assumed you were like 13 or something. Just thought a 19 yr old would've taken responsibility for her younger brother's sick pet if he or the parents wern't. Okay, so my other assumption is that your brother is about 13 as well, not taking anything (like reptile care) too seriously.
So what about the monitor (that's the important thing right), what's going to happen?

ps, I only have your posts to know of the situation. How else would I judge you. Read what you wrote as if in a stranger's shoes and maybe see what I saw. I'll be more carefull in the future and keep to the point.

Ok, take a deep breath..

We are all here to help eachother, so let's not get mad at eachother. I'm sure he wasn't directing it towards you, but towards your brother. I am also very worried that your brother does not take proper care of his pets, if you, and not your brother found the blisters to begin with it shows your brother doesn't pay enough attention to the monitor, in which case he shouldn't have it. I wouldn't suggest letting anyone that isn't responsible for themselves yet be the care-taker of a reptile or any pet. I find 13 to be a pretty young age, unless under conditions, because 13 year olds seem to have other things on their mind with them growing and everything. Get that monitor to a vet, and if he makes it thru, see that it gets under the care of someone that will take care of him.

Also, there's no profanity on the forums.
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Savannah Monitor - Artimus
Emerald Swift - Jesus
Baby veiled Cham - Sir August De Winter 1-20-05 RIP
Green Iguana - King Arthur
Rose-hair tarantula - Bill
Basilisk - Adam Used to be Adam and Eve but there was a food competition because my girlfriend was taking care of them and she didn't know what was wrong until it was too late.

sorry to have been so rude, I was impulsive, nad I kinda flew off at the handle. sorry about that. but yes, I have been trying to information on sepsis, and we are having it taken to the vet on tuesday. again, sorry for being so rude

one of my iguanas burned himself. it looked a lot like that. i think he was burned.