Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey everyone. I'm Je, Jarred's (sn: kiethcox) girlfriend. I've had success with helping various species of both sick & healthy reptiles for quite a while, and thought this post could be helpful.

We have been meaning to add some of the strategies used to help rehabilitate our first rescued DHL who was obviously emaciated and near death. There's some short videoclips we shot of syringe-feeding our sickly one at the bottom of the page.

If your animal starts to show signs of weakness/sickness, the best option is to take it to a qualified herp vet ASAP. Do not wait for the condition to worsen. Most will need medical aide immediately in order to fully recover once they have become progressively ill/stop eating.

If there isn't a herp vet in the area, or it is beyond your means for whatever reason, you can try some of the methods below. (In addition, please ask others who know about sick HLs for their input.) The main point is to prevent irreversible damage. The sooner you act, the greater the chances for recovery will be. Don't give up.

These are only suggestions... I'm not an "expert" by most classification, but do have a wealth of knowledge from experience. These strategies seemed to help our animals tremendously, and we felt obligated to share. This is in reference to use with our small Desert Horned Lizard. Though some info. might work for all, or at least most HLs in general.

1) Sick animals need warmer temps than healthier. If you notice their appetite start to drop, increase the heating in your setup by a few degrees. Watch for changes. Depending on species, make sure not to exceed above 105 F or so in the hot end.

For our specific enclosure, we use: EXO TERRA Heat Glo Infrared Heat Lamp at 100 watts for our 67 gallon tank. This is a red bulb that gets to about 105 F at its peak, and works very well. At night, we use EXO TERRA Night Glo 75 watts... it's a blue bulb with heat that gets to about mid-upper eighties at most. Helps night-time digestion while providing adequate warmth.

2) Check UVA/UVB lamps. The lamp we were given along with the animal was not the right one for his kind. We researched a bit, and decided the EXO TERRA Repti Glo 8.0 Desert Terrarium Lamp was a much better match. It has 33% UVA which is supposed to stimulate appetite & activity. We saw a noticeable change in behavior the next day. He was more alert, active, and hungry.

3) Check for mites and ticks, especially if the animal is wild-caught. Put fresh sand in the enclosure, and try baking it, if there are any doubts. (Ticks and mites feed on the blood of the animals/people they leech onto, they may also be carriers of disease.) Mites are usually small and red... about the size of a pinpoint, or less. Ticks are usually black, larger, and may be found anywhere on the body. My experience in reptiles has shown that they tend to flock toward ear vents, between upper eyelids, between larger scales throughout the chest and arms/legs, and near tail vent openings.

Try warm baths for about 10 minutes in shallow water (small sink, holding the lizard securely, but gently) to see if any ticks will drown this way. Make sure the water is warm, not too hot... checking heat temps with your arm, not hand, when testing. Don't allow the water to pour out, but gently drip down on the animal, avoiding the head and eyes. If it is near a sensitive area, use a toothpick to gently remove the parasite in a well-lit area.

4) See what could be causing the animal stress. Limit human traffic/noise near the enclosure. Limit handling, unless necessary, especially when ill.

Quarantine; remove the sick animal from other animals, if possible, to avoid spreading infection from one to the other. Make sure to always clean out feces as soon as you see them. Don't wait for them to harvest bacteria. Wash your hands before and after handling the animals... avoid passing on any chemicals that may be in your hands. This includes lotions or perfume.

5) Emergency situations.

If the animal is not eating for several days (not due to shedding, and you have checked the above listed reasons) and is losing weight, take it to a vet immediately. If you absolutely are unable to see a vet... force-feeding by prying open its mouth may not be the best suggestion, in my opinion.

Horned lizards, as most small reptiles, are very delicate, and it could cause damage to their mouths/jaws... as well as cause choking if forced directly into the glottis (opening to the trachea... located near the back of the throat, behind the tongue).

The main point is to keep the animal well-hydrated. As all living things, it can go longer without food than it can without water. Try misting warm water lightly when the animal is basking. An eyedropper with warm water helps also.

If it is an impaired digestive system, it needs to be addressed appropriately. Try an electrolyte solution before solid food.

REMEMBER: The body may be too weak to process regular foods at this time, especially if it has not been eating for a few days and is already dehydrated. It can cause more harm to force a solid object down which may not even be capable of digestion... leading to potentially fatal problems as it sits there inactive, lodged in the intestines.

To increase appetite, and keep the caloric intake up/help regulate weakened, yet critical body functions, we have been successful with two products that can be purchased at Petco, Petsmart, and most local petshops/online retailers.

One is: "NATURE ZONE: APPETITE PLUS"

This product was about 5 or 6 dollars, if I remember correctly.

It contains B12 Supplements which help increase the animal's appetite. We tried two droplets per day, as needed. Making sure to offer water by means of eyedropper afterwards.

The other product is: "FLUKER'S REPTA-AID"

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. This one was about ten dollars. It is a liquid formula that our dying animal survived on. He was not physically able to swallow solid food, though he did lap this up eagerly. We have tried it on our healthy, young female (when needed) who enjoys it as well.

Some of the benefits are: 28% protein, 37% Carbs, Fat (crude) 20%, Fiber 1.5%, Moisture 10%, and others.

As labeled, it says it's supposed to provide energy and fluid support for malnourised and dehydrated animals. It also "assists newly aquired reptiles giving important fluids and calories during high times of stress."

It's much more easily absorbed than solids, and helps as opposed to harming when the animal's body is already too weak to process/breakdown food as it normally should.

This kit comes with the food as powder that you mix and put into a feeding syringe. Based on body weight, we used about 1cc of water combined with a spoon of powder (it comes with the spoon also). We used about 0.2 cc of formula in the syringe as the daily amount... which was split into three servings every four hours. Example: morning feeding was around 8am. Then again at noon, and from there, last feeding was at 4pm. Water was offered between, and after each feeding. (Depending on specific needs, you may want to try feeding once a day, and working up to more, and then less as the condition improves.)

NOTE: On days we used Appetite Plus, the two drops were included in the mixture of Repta-Aid, then put altogether in the syringe.

We tried feeding the formula on a heating pad on the low-medium setting with a soft cloth on top for the lizard to lay on. (Make sure the material does not promote tangling with their nails.) It seemed to aid in digestion, as well as ease defecation. The heating pad provided the extra heat needed.

Try putting a small drop of formula on the lizard's lips, gently tapping a couple times to see if it will lick it up. Even if it opens it's mouth for more, don't put too much at once... as it may overwhelm the animal, or cause choking.

Repeat with the small drops until an appropriate amount is taken. This may take some time and patience... some days we would be administering a single serving of formula for an hour each session. Don't worry about any leftovers that drip down; it can be cleaned with a soft cloth or napkin aftward. (Make sure the lizard is cleaned, and no residue is left after each attempted feeding. Leaving the solution alone will cause it to dry/harden, allowing room for bacteria/additional health problems.)

If your animal is not licking it up right away, don't automatically assume that it isn't hungry or interested.

If the animal repeatedly rejects the formula, wait it out for a couple hours and then try again. Don't let either of you get too stressed out. Remember that they may be ill, and they are not used to taking food this way. Keep trying. Have patience.

*Ours was a VERY severe case. He lived on this liquid diet and water for over a week, producing very small, yet firm droppings. He did not eat any solids at this time, but had increased energy and showed signs of gaining weight over time. He is currently (considerably) "chubby" as opposed to emaciated, and still uses this product, as needed, while in recovery. He does not require manual feeding each day; for now, he eats small amounts of insects on his own, and may need the extra supplementation some days to keep his weight gain steady. Again, ours was a severe case and his needs are individual. He shed his skin after gaining weight, and his colors are a little different. He looks, and is, so much healthier now.

For animals who are not as severe; just not eating as well as normal, try Appetite plus and see what happens when offering food over the next two days or so. If it does eat, but has lost weight, we recommend ants and a couple of small waxworms for extra calories during times of sickness. Waxworms are much softer than mealworms, and easier to digest. Try Repta-Aid in addition, if still not eating, and offer ants, etc. each day to see if interested.

Contact me at: invisibleempty at hotmail dot com, for additional questions. As well as my boyfriend via this forum, or at: aven_soulgazer at yahoo dot com.

Below are some links to footage of us feeding our male the formula. The second video is a bonus... which we thought was... well, very cute. He likes to head bob sometimes while I am feeding him, almost as a "thank you", more than anything else. He does different bobs to communicate with us, and the little female he lives with. It's funny, and interesting to watch.

Syringe

Bonus!

Thanks for reading... and good luck. We hope this helps as preventative measures, or as a guide of sorts to any sickly lizards out there.

-Je

I can see the wieght on this animal looks good, can you post a picture of what he looked like before you treated him. I am impressed with your video, and frankly many vets don't do as good a job. Did he recieve veterenarian help as well? IF so what did they do for him. YOu may have something here and with as little doctoring that has been written on horned lizards this is a real first step in hopefully addressing some of the issues we see on this forum. Thanks for sharing. Oh one thing I would like to mention is that a good mite spray will kill most of the mites you talked about, and yes wild caughts are ususall infested to some degree one way or another. These little parasites suck the blood of thier hosts and when they get sick it just drags them down further, so I'm with you on treating a wild caught right away. I have never in my experience seen a tick on a horned lizard but then that doesn't mean it doesn't happen..
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Phrynosoma.com

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signature file edited. [phw 11/14/04]

Hi... thank you for your thoughts. And thanks for taking the time to read through it all! Wasn't sure that anyone would.

No, we didn't take him to a vet, unfortunately. BUT, I really do recommend it to those who can. I think to those who haven't dealt with these types of illnesses/conditions before, it could be a helpful way of diagnosing the true problem and getting a more detailed prescription on how to provide aid.

There isn't a herp vet in the area for us that we know of. One of my older HLs died with a back injury 5 or so years ago, and I had called EVERYONE in the yellow pages, but none would treat small reptiles, if any at all. It was hard to watch her die for a year, and I just did whatever I could think of to ease her pain all the while. It felt like a repeat with this sickly one. There are not enough people out there (in volume) who are truly in the know on reptiles and their recovery. It's one of the reasons I wanted to be a herpetologist as a child. And one of the reasons we thought our lizard's painful process of extreme sickness -- and then recovery -- was a blessing of sorts, illuminating some new, maybe unconventional approaches to helping other ill HLs out there.

I've heard of mite sprays before... do not have any experience with them, though. I always use extreme caution with the adding of extra chemicals, especially to an already sick animal. Having said that, it may work well for some people, and I am not one to disagree on something I have not tried. I'm probably just a bit paranoid when dealing with the weaker ones... tending to opt to more alternative, natural methods, if at all possible.

Sure, I'll try and get a before and after shot of him put together soon. Over a period of three weeks or so, he's put on a lot of weight (given the circumstances), and we're so relieved/happy about it.

-Je

Hi Je,
This is some very interesting information regarding feeding therapy. The video's are very convincing. I wanted to ask you what your background and experience is with reptiles?
Thanks for the great post.
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Phrynosoma.Com

Hi, Cable. I'm so glad that the videos seem to be serving their purpose. I think the visual examples can bring hope as well as provide a better idea of exactly how the "feeding therapy", as you call it, was done.

I'm currently 22, but my background with reptiles started very early on. I grew up having a host of them as pets, learning a lot from my dad who had extensive knowledge/experience on husbandry and care... and then my own obsessive reading/researching reptiles in the local library as a kid. Some of the (near hundred) herps I have personally cared for include: rescued Coastal HLs, Desert HLs, Desert Spiny Lizards, Sagebrush, Side-blotched, Desert Night Lizards, Bluebelly Fence Lizards, House Geckos, Green Anoles, Green Iguanas, Alligator Lizards, Box turtles, Red-ear slider turtles, California Kingsnakes, San Diego Gopher Snakes, various treefrogs and toads, and some VERY interesting, beautiful legless lizards that I found under a lemon tree pot in our yard.

Otherwise, I have some general knowledge in the medical field which came from training to be a medical assistant, while also occasionally pursuing herpetology here and there along the way.

My animals lived long lives, though some did come across very serious conditions at one point or another that I had to deal with on my own, as there was no herp vet available in my immediate area. I usually consulted whatever books were available, but even then, most where outdated, or otherwise obsolete. There were so many times when I had to play by ear and browse petshops on a whim seeing if there were any products that I might be able to incorporate with home recovery.

Some areas that I have had successful experience in are: treating wounded animals... either with deep abrasions, infection, or broken limbs (mostly from breeding season mishaps... and otherwise territorial fighting), treating animals who have lost appetite -- sometimes due to changes in season/weather, new environment, stress, recovering from injury, imbalance in digestive system, or improper care by previous owners.

Technique varies a bit depending on the kind of reptile... but I believe that there are similarities enough to form a general guideline when treating a wounded, or an "anorexic" animal. I've tried many methods/home remedies/products over the years, and have been able to come up with a pretty good idea on what works well, and what does poorly when treating the ill. I have found in my own experience, that force-feeding is not the best solution. Also, when the vet is not available, if the problem is spotted early on and action is taken, there are still means to help the animal that are not too costly, but may instead require extensive patience (as well as a bit of creativity) and time.

I'm always open-minded to trying new strategies even if they seem unheard of at the moment introduced. I think it's a collective effort of past experience, knowledge, collaboration with others, and what seems an unconditional love for herps... that truly equals any bit of success.

The point of posting the strategies for our DHL was to try and promote new methods that have proven great results for us and our animal. Too many HLs die so easily in captivity, and it seems the numbers keep rising. Maybe if we all work together and keep trying/sharing new ideas we can do something to change this. I really do hope so.

Thanks so much for reading, and your thoughts. We'll post again if we try anything else in the future (in terms of sick HLs), and will definitely let you know of the results.

-Je

Do you have any more photos you can post?? That's amazing! Great job with the little ones!!!!!

Thank you! Yes, we're trying our best over here. Depending on our schedules, I'll see if either my boyfriend or myself can post some more pictures soon. We try to take pictures as often as we can, trying to document any bit of progress, and also just because they are so adorable.

-Je