Reptile & Amphibian Forums

hello,

I work at a specality pet store and we are having a problem with our red niger uromastyx. He was shipped to us overnight express and well packed three weeks ago. but since then he has taken a nose dive for the worse. He is very thin, lethargic and dehydrated looking. His skin is pinched and wrinkled on the sides and he is very thin. all he does is sleep. He will not eat fruits or prepared foods. He does not like to eat kale either. He only likes leafy greens (boston lettuce, romaine, etc) but the only part he will nibble at are the thick, stalky parts of it, not the actual leaves. And now he is hardly eating any of that. Today he took three nickle sides pieces of lettuce out of my hand and that is it. I have contacted an exotics vet who saw him this afternoon. He told us to start syringe feeding him 1cc of Repta-Aid every day and a half cc of a high calorie paste that he gave me. He said that it is not clear what caused his downfall but it is apparent that he is dehydrated and weak. He is VERY hard to syringe feed and i dont know what else to do. He wont lick the repta-aid from the syringe and i get very nervous trying to pry his mouth open, even though the vet showed me how. Is there anything you guys could think of as to why this uromastyx is stressed and refusing to eat? any help would be much appreciated.

rachel
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4.3 African Clawed Frog
3.3 Calfornia Newt
0.1 Leucistic Texas Ratsnake
1.2 Veiled Chameleon
0.1 Albino Cranwells Horned Frog
0.1 Paddle Tail Newt
0.1 Green Iguana
0.5.0 Indonesian Floating Frog

alot of times uros are wild caught and they don't do well in captivity. as for stress, it might help in covering the sides of the glass and over time removing small sections.
any newly acquired uro should be soaked in warm water to give him a chance to drink some water, cause only god knows what happens during the catching/shipping process. just be sure to dry his tail well so tail rot does not set in.
if he is wild caught, he might have parasites which will cause him to lose weight and not want to eat. has a fecal been done on him?
i know it sucks opening his mouth, but it could save his life.
hopefully others with more experience will chime in
if you want to read a good care sheet, go to deerfernfarms.com
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vonnie
***There is no pleasure in having nothing to do; the fun is in having lots to do and not doing it. Mary Wilson Little ***

i lost my mali uro a week ago, he had round worm and nematoad eggs in his fecal. I'm not sure how he got them, the vet said he could have had them since before i got him (the pet store owner fed him crickets almost every day b4 i got him)Any how, he rapidly deteriorated, losing weight and energy. I had to try to tube feed him, which in the end proved too stressful for him. Do it now while you still can.