Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My lizards throught keeps getting fat then skinny it almost looks like he is gulping.It started happening when i put the aluminum foil.The basking spot is 110F and the temp is 75-87F.he is in a 20 gallon long and he is about 6 inches long.he is on top soil.

Like he is threat displaying you.
He is warm enough now to start acting like a normal monitor.

The throat deflates when they swallow, but they will quickly inflate it again to make themselves look big if the the threat(you) isn't gone yet....

hahahahaha
D.

no it isnt gone yet .It is probably a respitory infection but i dont see any discharge from his nostrils. damn i would have liked to have him for longer this has only been my forth day and he is already showing bad signs. Please help anybody im so bummed. His throat inflates then when he deflated it he looks like he has the hiccups because his head quicked bobs sometimes he even opens his mouth.

The only benefitual thing to do is, Take the monitor to a vet.

I don't care how well your going to take care of it, or how good the temps are, the poor monitor most likely was already very sick. If it is RI, it would not occur in four days.

The real problem is, ITS WILD CAUGHT, even if it was hatched from a wild monitors eggs. You see it really does not matter if its Sorta of CB or whatever crap they want to call it. The problem is what happens after its hatched.

They are held in bins of hundreds or even thousands. They are not fed or cared for, other then to get rid of them before they all die. Do you get the picture? Thats more of a problem then a monitor being wild caught. Heck, if you went out a caught a monitor and took good care of it from the time you caught it, it would be fine. Its what happens to them after they are caught or hatched.

I truly hope this is for nothing and your monitor is not sick. But if you think about it, how could it not be. Go to the vet please. This is the best help you will get. FR

okay i am gonna go take it to the vet it is my responsibility since i decided to buy it.I wont be able to take it to the vet till tuesday thats when i get paide and i dont know if he could wait any that long. as for now im broke. but has anybody ever experianced this?

Call the vet and see if they will see the poor thing and let you pay when you get paid. Better yet, borrow the money from someone. That's one of the problems owning any creature (or having kids, for that matter); they need help when they need help, not when you get paid. Get creative and generate some money. Not trying to be mean, but you need to bite the bullet and do what needs to be done.

Leslie

In fact what is happening to you, happens most of the time. If you hang around here, you will see, lots and lots of nice people like you post about their wonderful Sav. Of those nice people, all of them disappear as soon as their monitor dies. Which is very fast. The sad part is, they(the people) are replaced as fast as they disappear.

The problem is very simple, the cost of Savs does not compare to the cost of housing, or to the cost of Vet bills, or to feed costs or even electric costs.

Whether its the cart before the horse(monitors are sick before you get them) or the horse before the cart(they die of poor husbandry after purchase) Almost all of the imported Savs, disappear before the next years imports. Imagine this, I was told by Daniel Bennett, a monitor book author and researcher, that two african counties export something like 1.5 million Savs/per year and most go to the states. OK, lets say I heard that wrong and its 500,000 which I think I getting closer. What ever the number was, I fell over and bumped my head, so I am not sure.

Where are they NOW, after ten years(average life span) there should be 5 million Savs in the states, which means at least 5 million Sav owners. Where are the Savs and where are the owners? I can't get behind this.

Where are they? FR

I love reptiles and even if my monitor does die i would stille continue to visit and pot on this site because i have seen the beauties in monitors.The reason that im broke is becuase i spent all the money on the sav setup.But i have very good news the sav stopped doing it .I dont know what it was i am a bit confsed as to why he was doing that but i am glad thathe stopped.Now he is alsleep in one of the holes in the basking spot.Hopefully he isnt sick.I am proud that i have a site like this so i can get all the help and support frokm you people thats why i have been doing so for years thanks guys your help is gladly appriciated

It doesn't matter what your substrate is, or when he last ate.

This could be a health issue or as goon said it could be just doing a normal behavior. If your new to monitors a normal behavior will be alien to you. I (we) on this forum cannot see the monitor or its actions. Go to someone who can see your monitor, go to a vet.
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"Don't just use something because you read it worked, use that something because it does work. If you are to listen to anyone listen to your monitor."

now that the lizard is asleep he stop doing it.I was looking at the bag of the dirt substrate that i have for my sav and it is lightly fertilized i didnt noticed that is this harmful to the sav? if so i am going to replace it with some newpaper for now and then get some other substrate that you guys recommend.Do you guys think this is what caused it? or it was just probably a wierd normal monitor act.

like I said without seeing the behavior who knows what it was. You'd be better off taking it to someone who can see the behavior preferably a good vet.

As for your substrate I doubt it has much to do with your problems, but not knowing what the problem was I couldnt say for sure. All I would be doing is guessing and, all the guesses in the world will not help your monitor if it is sick.

Even if you take it to the vet and find out it was nothing, atleast it will give you some peace of mind.
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"Don't just use something because you read it worked, use that something because it does work. If you are to listen to anyone listen to your monitor."

yeah i am gonna go take it to the vet on tuesday for sure now and im gonna take a fecial sample with me too. does anyone know of a good vet i can go to around my area i live in bronx new york and alot of the vets out here dont know very much from my past snake experiances.

It the monitor really thin in the tail?

Has it eatin?

Does it drink?

Does it walk around?

Does it like to stay under the heat source?

Does it like to stay in the cooler are?

How long is it?

Does you enclosure have a screen top?

Have you sprayed it with a water bottle?

It the monitor really thin in the tail?no he is pretty fat on the tail the two bones dont show

Has it eatin?I seen him eat the first day i got him but there were more crckets in the tank and i dont see them no more

Does it drink?he drank the first day i got him and yesterday

Does it walk around?he was acting like normal he was walking around climbing and going on top of the basking rock

Does it like to stay under the heat source?yes like i said above he wasunder the basking rock

Does it like to stay in the cooler are?well earlier he was on the cooler side but now he is on the warmer side

How long is it?it is 6 inches

Does you enclosure have a screen top?yes but the screen top is cover with aluminum foil and he gets ventilation from around the light

Have you sprayed it with a water bottle?no i havent sprayed him with water i put him in a bucket full of water up to his shoulders but he seemed scared so i took him out.

Thanks for all the questions and response

If the temps are ok, in the cool side of the tank it should be about 75ish, under the heatsource about 130ish, your fine there.

He has eatin and drinks.(good)

He moves to and from the heat source to cooler area and back (good sign), dont put him in the water bowl. Just mist him with clean water from a water bottle few times a day, dont pick him up or poke him to see if hes ok. You can drip some water on his mouth from the top, he may take the drops, but dont pester him.

Sometimes they flagil(poison, to kill worms)and somtimes to much and it affects them a few days later. Nothing you can do if that happens.

Thats what i would do if it was mine. Thats all you can really do without a vet. If he makes it a few more days, he will probably be fine.

The reason i ask if he eats and drink is because it's normal behavior, not because hes starving to death.

The reason i ask if hes moving to and from the heat source is it is normal behavior.

When your monitor does not eat or drink or move to differnt heat ranges is when you got big problems.

He started doing it again but he still acting normal and i seen him taking a drink today in the morning but i have bad news when i went to mist him which he did seem to like and then i broke the bulb .Right now i have a bulb that makes it around 105 and the cool spot is still the same will i have to go buy a new one today or can i wait tilll my pay day which is tuesday? If i do have to get it today would a incandescent do?

any type

use a 45-50 watt flood bulb u can get almost anytemp from it!!! just move the bulb or basking spot closer or farther i hope this helps and they also last long too . I use 45s and 50s on my monitors and i can get anywhere from 135 to 175 if i want..

When he does this throat inflating, and gulping to breathe; is he standing up high on his toes, and trying to turn his body broadside to you, while pulling his tail back? Does he breathe normally before seeing you, and start this behavior when he spots you?

Does your monitor have anyplace dark and hidden from you to retreat to? He sounds just like my monitors when they are cornered and can't get away....
...just some thoughts....
D.

It isnt a defensive position it is when he breaths he kind of looks like he was struggling to breath a little and i know that it isnt a defensive position because he even does it when he sleeps.It seems to be getting better though.He has a dark place in his tank and that is his hide log which he usually sleeps in.I really want to buy new substrate though.Heres a link do you think this would be good?
Link

Or should i get this one.The reason i am worrying about the bedding is becuase i think he may have ingested it and thats what caused the problem but im not sure its just a guess.I also bought a 60 watt flood light hilogen bulb .
Link

What are you using now? Forget you ever saw the dessert blend.

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

Right now i have regular soil but it is lightly fertilized and thats what i think might have caused the problem thats why i wanna changed it.

I am trying to picture War reacting to being cornered, I keep seeing pain.

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