Reptile & Amphibian Forums

All of the Ctenos received from the Long Island Reptile Museum are doing well. I was very concerned about the large male similis for several weeks but with some extra pampering, subq fluids, and some meds he's perking up and eating well now. I figured it was time to post some photos of how they looked shortly after they arrived here. In a few more weeks I'll post some after photos to show their progress. It's slow going...once animals get as emaciated and run down as these were, it takes a while to get them well and healthy.

I saw them a few times at the museum, But the lights were too far away.. how did they get all those thermal burns ? They must have moved them to a smaller cage. My biggest complaint for the museum was the food. Those poor igs survived on whatever the keepers were able go get as scraps from the local grocery stores -- alot of romaine was all I ever saw. I gave them some marion dry food, I do not think they ever followed up on it -- what a shame. Atleast they are in good hands now. Do they have names ?

Museum

Are those 3 lizards in the photo the same ones that were rescued? They don't look too bad in the cage, but I can't believe that the male hemolopha and similis anr't trying to kill one another. Mabey I spoke too soon especially with that nasty gash on the side of the rescued hemolopha.

All of the animals had skin lesions in the same location on their bodies, midline behind the shoulder and some running back down the body toward the tail. They were not typical of fighting wounds. It was because of this pattern that we first suspected herpes. We concluded that it was a combination bacterial/fungal infection and they all healed nicely with Silvadene treatment. Of course, I have the males separated here. The hemilopha is living with 2 of the female similis and they are doing fine. He's actually very shy and retreats to a hide whenever I come near. He gave me a good bite the 2nd week he was here, clear thru my thumbnail.

Hey, there are some dead links on your website. Is that going to be corrected soon? I'd like to read them.

you get bit way too much. HEHE.

I don't keep any hots, as much as I'd like a Gila. There are so few hours in a day and so much to be done that I'm always in a hurry. This, of course, leads to accidents because I'm not terribly focused on what I'm doing at the moment. I received a bite last week from a Columbian Tegu in a stupid feeding accident. I'd place it in the top 4 worst bites that I've had. Number one was from a Green Iguana and required sutures, 2 was from a Prehensile Tailed Skink and was the most painful, 3 and 4 were both Tegu bites (I'm still have some nerve problems from the first one).

Thanks for your concern, Tom. I've got to get over your way in the next couple of weeks to pick up a small gator.

The dead links are due to one thing. Laziness! My webmaster and friend has been bugging me to finish this thing up. I'll probably start working on it again this spring. The site wasn't to be leaked until it was done, but someone probably found it on google spread the word.

John, I have no idea how they got into the shape that they were in besides the fact that they were covered in mites. The skin lesions didn't appear to be typical thermal burns and for a while we were concerned about a herpes infection because of the placement and pattern of the lesions. Soaks and treatment with Silvadene cleared the lesions up very quickly. The mites were eliminated and they were treated for internal parasites so all that remained to do was get some weight on them.
All but the hemilopha (he's a wicked beast!) are easy animals to handle. Of the 4 similis the smallest female will gape a little when you first pick her up but she calms down quickly. The largest, blueish female is an absolute doll and will probably stay here permanently. That is why I haven't named these animals nor the Rhinos. It seems that once they have a name they tend to stay longer than intended.

Here is a photo of the injury to the large male's foot. Don't know what happened but it sure was yucky.