Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I work in a pet store (I got the job to try and help the animals), and there is a Nile Monitor that looks like it could possibly die without some help FAST. It is about 8" long total and very thing. I picked it up today because I thought it was already dead. When I picked up this lizard, it felt so cold that I didn't know it was alive until it's eyes opened. I could feel the spine easily. It wasn't moving around while I held it, I warmed it up in my hands for a few minutes then the most it moved was to open it's mouth a few times.

Unfortunately this monitor is housed with a slighty larger Gold Tegu and a Bearded Dragon. There is only one 75W bulb for a tank that is a 20 gallon long. The BD hogs a lot of the food so I see how the monitor could've gotten so skinny (the Tegu is thin also). They won't seperate the lizards, I tried and they didn't listen. The monitor won't eat now even if there is food right in front of it's face. I got it to drink after lying it down on the water dish and putting the tip of his mouth in the water.

I'm not allowed to take the monitor to the vet so I'm going to try my hardest to get it in better health. I am under the impression that it needs to be force fed at this point but I don't know what I should use to do so. Please I need to know what to do.

Do not force feed it. More then likely it is dehydration making it thin not lack of food.

Being in a cage with those other lisards probly has them all stressed out.

They would be best to be seperated and rehydrated. A visit to the vet wouldn't hurt either.

I'm definately not an expert and am just going by the experience that I have (which is almost nil compared to others on here) so do not under any circumstances take what I say over what a more experienced person will say. One big issue could be dehydration. See if you can get the monitor to soak some and drink more. I have heard of using pedialyte with leopard geckos but do not know if this would be good for a monitor. Other than that see if you can entice the monitor to eat if you dangle food in front of him after you make sure he's hydrated. Of course the ideal situation would be that he has his own cage. Like I said before, take what I'm saying with a grain of salt because I only have one monitor. The hydration just seems like it would be the first thing to deal with. I'm sure others (much more experienced) will chime in soon. Good luck and let us know how it turns out!

~Katie
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JK Pets - Online Pet Supplies

2.3 Cornsnakes (Slink, Shadow, Suzie, Snickers, Selena)
0.1 Columbian Red Tail Boa (Baby)
0.3 Leopard Geckos (Cutie, Lily, and Miss Piggy)
0.1 Savannah Monitor (Sam)
0.2 Pac Man Frogs (Gordito and Spud)
0.1 Suriname Toad (Squishy & the Squishettes)
0.0.2 Giant Millipede (Mega & Mila)
0.0.1 Green Iguana (Iggy)
0.0.1 Yellow-Belly Slider (Tiny)
lots of snails and fish...

n/p
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JK Pets - Online Pet Supplies

2.3 Cornsnakes (Slink, Shadow, Suzie, Snickers, Selena)
0.1 Columbian Red Tail Boa (Baby)
0.3 Leopard Geckos (Cutie, Lily, and Miss Piggy)
0.1 Savannah Monitor (Sam)
0.2 Pac Man Frogs (Gordito and Spud)
0.1 Suriname Toad (Squishy & the Squishettes)
0.0.2 Giant Millipede (Mega & Mila)
0.0.1 Green Iguana (Iggy)
0.0.1 Yellow-Belly Slider (Tiny)
lots of snails and fish...

If your not allowed to take the monitor to the vet, then hand it to whomever will not allow that and tell them to euthanize(lethal withholding of medical are) it.

I will ask this, and please do not take offense, but what gives you the idea that you can get some magical advise on the internet and fix a nearly dead monitor? A vet is needed and if the monitors is in the shape you discribe, a very good vet.

Please understand, monitors are horribly tough and by the time they look dead, they are for all intent and purpose, dead, but their heart has not stopped yet. That may sound funny, but its true, they hold on to the last minute. Either fix it(a vet) or help it by ending its suffering.

I appreciate the quick answers from everyone, and even though it is harsh in the last post, the honesty. I come to this site because I have had nothing but good advise from it and was hoping for the same in this situation. I don't know enough about monitors to have any clue about this, so I came here for help and education. I'm also very stubborn when it comes to animal and will either try to make it better or make it as comfortable in it's last days. I care about every animal I come across, and refuse to go by without helping one in need.

I know that it is a very rough situation but I and under about 6 people that would have to OK a trip to a vet, even if it was just to end it's suffering. That is why I want to try anything possible, I don't have the option of either "a very good vet" or euthenasia. I hate the idea of this beautiful little lizard simply dying in a pet store. Unfortunately, it is a pet store so the owners who simply see the situation as being able to order another lizard then to waste time, and money, one helping this one.

I'll try again to have them seperated and try to rehydrate it as well. Thanks again

You claim to care, but are you? Take the monitor to a vet, on your dime if you care like you say you do.

Lets look at the situation, If a nile monitor is dehydrated to near death, that means the kidneys have shut down. There are uric crystals formed in the urethrae. These crystals are like broken glass, cutting and slicing all surfaces.

Ask yourself, what is water going to do to help.

You may ask yourself, is a pet shop and in particular that pet shop, the place for you. I don't want to carry this on, but, in the next couple of months, there will be thousands of baby niles imported, and the vast majority will die in the same conditions that the one you are caring for and worrying about, was in.

If you come here to KS, your post will be a daily occurance, help my monitor is dying, urgent need help, etc.

Back to the point, the only effective help would be a vet, period. Someone has to determine what is wrong, there is no magic pill to fix all. All the normal husbandry tips are a bit late and are meant for healthy monitors, not sick ones.

Please do the right thing, FR

Because you work for them. Really to get a job to help the animals there, it is just not possible, you are limited as you are finding out by what the owner is willing to do for them.
If your that worried about the situation Id take pictures and video of the suffering animals then push the local authorities to do something and find a different job. If the owner is not willing to do whats right then why help them? The situation is a mess, and your options are limited. Of course if the animal dies and makes no money, then maybe its death will prevent the owner from getting more niles, who knows, probably not until they kill way too many and make no money doing so.
Its a tough situation for you to do anything about it.

The guy asked for help, he said a Vet isnt an option. So advising a vet visit that will never happen isnt offering any help,its going to kill the monitor.

If the monitor is cold, that means the temp is too low, monitors should almost always feel warm to your touch, monitors like virtualy all reptiles need a heat source, they cant make it themselves. The temp needs to be at about 100% for a nile, get pedialite and replace the water in the bowl with it. If the bowl is big enough put him in the bowl with pedialite, you dont need the brand name pedialite, generics will work and they are cheaper. When a monitor is cold everything inside his body works poor, his organs dont work, his heart slows and they get sick easy or just stop easting. The tegu and bearded dragon should be ok at the temp too. If you cannot seperate the lizards this is my advice. Also keep some crickets in the cage and maybe even a pinky at all times, you need to check in on him multiple times every day and make sure hes near the water mixture or in it. He will probably live if properly setup, ive had many in the condition your is in, dont play with him or handle him. leave him in the cage.

If the monitor is that far off the crickets will just cause more stress and might snack on the monitor. If you are to leave crickets in the cage then please provide other food for the crickets to eat.

First the person who asked is not you. Does not have your experience, and more importantly the context is totally different.

If a person has to come here to ask advice on a dying monitor. Its most likely too late. Vet or not.

If the person does not have experience with dying monitors, what is advice here going to do?

If the person somehow revives the monitor, what will happen to this monitor? Its in a pet shop, and will if lucky be sold to a newbie. Its most likely it will be returned to the conditions that caused the problem and die anyway.

Why a newbie you ask, because someone with experience would not purchase a monitor in poor shape from a petshop. The reason is, they most likely die, even with good care and vet visits.

When a monitor is stressed to a point of near death, it most likely has organ damage and will be compromised its entire life, however long that may be. So I ask, is this a good candidate for a newbie, or going back to the petshop that will not take its charges to a vet. The answer in all honesty is no. It may be better being put to sleep in the most humane way possible(At a vet clinic)

So while the persons intentions are good, the outcome is very bleak, no matter what the outcome.

IF the person said, I am buying this poor monitor, what should I do, that would be a different story, althought the outcome would most likely be the same. In that case, I would still recomend vet care as soon as possible. After a visit to the vet, then husbandry can be dicussed. In most cases with dying monitors, there is no need to dicuss husbandry after a vet visit.

Of course its possible that theres nothing wrong with the monitor and the person is just ignorant of what a healthy monitor looks like. In that case, all this is for nothing. But then a vet could tell you that. FR

wow a bunch of pessimistic people. Be more positive and hope for the best, if he changes the temps and conditons who knows he may just live.

That is indeed the reality on that subject. The history is, most all imports die and die quickly. IF not, there would be no place to put them. That is not being negative or pessimistic, its simply being real.

I guess I could have said, oh your so nice, don't worry with a little loving(what is that about to a monitor?) care, He/she/it will be just fine and live happily ever after. Then back on sale you go, little monitor.

If that individual animal was described correctly, its only hope is a vet, and that is a very some hope. Again, its history and reality, not hopes and dreams. FR

i relize that it is a hard and not a very probible recovery, but to me it seemed like every one was basically saying its going to die. Some people dint even say things to help they just said it was going to die. thats pretty negative to me. there is a chance with some proper husbandry it will come back, and who knows maybe an unexperienced person may become good, all you have to do is reserch.

everybody(me) said, take it to a vet.(which means best chance of survival)

Also, you think research is going to help? hmmmmmmm research where, here? Try asking this, help my monitor is broken, help me fixing it, you will get a few good suggestions, a few really really bad suggestions, and a whole bunch somewhere in the middle. Then comes the problem. Which do you pick, the one that sounds the best? the one thats spelled the best, in proper syntac? A person with no experience has no ability to choose, do they?

Please understand, Vets would not get advice over the internet or without seeing the animal. Why you ask? Because they are trained and understand you need to see the animal to make the proper decisions.

Over the internet, very first question should be, whats wrong with it. If the person is inexperienced, they do not know whats wrong with it. Do they? Its laying there and its eyes won't open, that is not whats wrong with it, its outward symtoms caused by whats wrong with it. How many actually ask whats wrong with the monitor? most don't. The real point is, a vet looks at the animal and determines whats wrong with it. That sir is a giant advantage.

In order to have any chance at all, you must know whats wrong with the animal. Of course, if you are inexperienced, you simpy take a shot in the dark and keep your fingers crossed. Between you and a vet, I choose a vet.

Between a really experienced keeper and an average vet, I take the keeper. Between an expert reptile vet and a great keeper, I take the vet. You see, its all about informed choices. FR

lol i think u miss understood what i wrote. What i meant was trying to say is that if an unexperenced person bought a moniter from a pet shop, and the moniter was sick, there is a chance that the new keeper will do research, make it a good home, not one like a pet shop as u suggjest he may do. Than after research find something is wrong and take him to a vet. i just like to think postivly, when your out in war lets say and your seviery out numbered i wouldnt think man were ging to die, id think of good thoughts and survival. theres always the chance it will live and have a good life even if its no high.

I have been down this road with "sick" monitors only to see the really bad off ones die anyway. One lived over a year until it's organs finally just shut down. Once that happens there is nothing any vet can do to save it. If it is in the shape described and you can't get it to a "qualified" vet.
It is better to just end it's suffering.

Scott
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Do not meddle in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup.

Come- on, what are you saying?

I have had many monitors so bad off flourish a week later. I had a 2 foot savanah monitor that was so skinny every bone in its tail was nearly portruding out the skin, eyes so sunken in they were like dried out and the whole monitor was like "hollow" it felt like a empty platic water bottle and didnt weigh much more then that. I injected water into it, heated it up and soaked it, it began eating 1 day later and started drinking, it was a fresh import. 2 weeks later it was twice the weight pounding live mice. I dont know if its still alive now, its been 5 years, i sold him fully healthy, it seemed happy running around crunching on mice and running around his cage 2 months later. Do not kill that monitor, thats a crime. Soak it, heat it up, give it food, if it dies it dies.

Not seeking professional help(a vet).

Also, your explaination loses a little steam with you say, it. Does "it" mean, one individual? So your experience is based on one individual that survived after IT was slightly dehydrated? mildly dehydrated? extremely dehydrated? Which one was it? You don't know. How long was IT dehydrated? You don't even know the outcome, because you did not keep it. What if its dead now? sorry thats not even the point.

The point is, this person, does not know how to work a sick monitor, or he/she, would not have asked. Still even if they did know, the crime is not seeking professional help.

Now lets backstep a little, the person said, the monitor was cold to the touch. Hmmmmmmmmm Is there no concern for the bearded dragon and the other cagemate? If the monitor was cold, so was the other reptiles. What about them? How about the rest of the animals in the petshop, if they won't take this nile to the vet, will they take anyother animal?

The expressed additude was, let it die.(from the petshop) So your going to revive the monitor to return it to the "let it die" shop, come on yourself. Get a clue. The crime is, this shop having living things.

The clue you need to get is. The crime is prolonging and extending a death of an animal, when under the conditions stated, it will certainly die anyway. Now what is the best recomendation, TAKE IT TO A VET, THEN IF NOT, end its suffering. Remember the person did not say they were going to buy or take the monitor to rescue it.

They also mentioned if the monitor died, the petshop would just buy another one. Do you know how many will be imported in the next two months? That poor keeper could end up with two or three hundred rescues from that one shop. FR

Well i guees by your rational the other lizards should be killed, and if the pet shop cares for other animals why not kill everything in the shop

you sir are a sick person. Ive had over a thousand monitors, ive seen severly dehydrated stinking rottin festering skin monitors flourish with help. A sick dehydrated monitor doesnt deserve death, the kid at the pet store needs to learn about careing for the animals, pet shops dont hire 40 year old herp experts at $50 bucks an hour to care for the pets, they hire kids at minimum wage. Teach the kid how to care for them not give up and start throwing them in the freezer. Maybe this kid is the best thing to happen to the pet shop and will learn and inform the management on how to care for the reptiles better.

first i would make sure he is hydrated, spray him with water, he should put on wait, and make sure there is a bowl of water, but even more importantly is get the temp up, use a higher wattage bulb if nessisary. feed them individually once the temp is up, if the temp is low a monitor wont eat. i wouldnt leave live prey in the cage, it probally already stressed. He also may have parisites....that would suk and need a vet visit, or parazap...tremoniter has an idea that if a monitor is given a temp at 120 basking spot, the parisites cant live and will die off.
hope they get better, u can always but it and give him a better home, if you think you could.

I have also been experimenting with the higher temps to possibly kill parasites. I have med size croc monitor that has internal parasites (more then just average). The stool is coming out really white clumpy and rancid smelling now, the parasites are dying and the monitor is way less bloated and hes more mobile and feeding much better. His "tree monitor" theory which i have always figured a good theory does seem to work for parasites in large monitors as well (seems reasonable)to be a good alternative so far. If my croc fully recovers, i will be fairly convinced its a good idea. Ive had Vets give really poor advice on reptiles, meds and doses. A person can take a minor ill reptile to a Vet and have the Vet kill it with their advice too. If you keep a reptile at the proper temps/humidity and have food available most will live if left alone. Somtimes the monitors food eats the monitor, but usualy if the monitor is hot hes active and more aggresive. My opinion

during this entire post there's only been 1 person that has suggested this person buying the monitor. I know the views on giving monitors to "newbies", especially sick ones, is very bad and all, but the person stated that he wants to help the monitor. In my opinion, which doesn't matter much, If you care for the monitor you should buy it, take it to a vet, listen to them if they have a good rep, and try to get the monitor into health. Now i'm also with Frank on this one with the putting the monitor to sleep, but only if you think you couldn't provide a better home. Or find someone that could provide one. Ask friends that have had some type of lizard experience, there's a start next to nothing.
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1.0 Savannah Monitor - Artimus
2.0 Emerald Swift - Jesus, unnamed
1.0 Baby veiled Cham - Sir August De Winter 1-20-05 RIP
1.0 Green Iguana - King Arthur
1.0 Rose-hair tarantula - Bill
1.0 Basilisk - Adam
0.1 Water Dragon - Lady

I will first admit that I did not read the entire thread above but what I did read had some very good advice.

My first question for you is why you would get a job at a horrible pet store to try and save the animals. There are many better methods of doing this, including writing letters to the owner and (you could do this as an employee as well) try to convince them that profits would increase if they sold happy, healthy animals instead of write off a bunch of dead ones. Also of benefit to these animals would be a visit from local animal control and bilaw enforcement. US laws may be different from Canada, but I'm sure they are similar. As mentioned in the above thread, it is illegal and considered animal abuse to have animals in such neglect. I would contact whatever authorities are in your area (police, SPCA, animal control, bilaw enforcement...)

say it died then steal it it should work if you can play it off