Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey all,

Is it normal to be able to see the hip bones on a Collared? I think my little girl Chloe has been neglected and is too skinny. Her tail is very thin and I can see her hip bones.

Also, she is not a very enthused eater. Is this normal?

Thank you for your help.

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Kelly Wood

1.1 Cherry Head Redfoots
0.1.1 Brazillian Redfoots
1.1 Leopard tortoises
1.3 bloodred Bearded Dragons
0.1 collared lizard
0.3 Dogs
1.3 Parakeets

Just wondering wildcaught or 100% not 99.9% sure captive bred? (wouldnt belive some pet store buying Wildcaught) Is he getting proper UVB lighting and vitamins with his crickets? Also are the crickets getting vitamin good food to eat 24hr before feeding your collarded?

ALL ARE A MUST TO HAVING A HEALTHY COLLARD PLUS ALOT MORE!

I am not sure weather she is a WC or CB to tell you the truth. She is a baby though, does that make a difference?

She does get UVB lighting and I dust the crickets with calcium at every feeding. The crickets also get gut loaded with vegetables, dark leafy greens and cricket food days before I feed them to any of my lizards.

Right now, she is housed in a 20 gal long. I am using sand as a substrate and she has a hide on each side, a water bowl on the cool side, a heat lamp with temps at the hot side at about 90* and basking is about 105* The cool side stays around 75*. I also use the flouresent tube for the UVB and she has an undertank heater for nighttime.
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Kelly Wood

1.1 Cherry Head Redfoots
0.1.1 Brazillian Redfoots
1.1 Leopard tortoises
1.3 bloodred Bearded Dragons
0.1 collared lizard
0.3 Dogs
1.3 Parakeets

She is not eating enough, it is not normal for a healthy collared to have their hip bones showing. It is a sign that they have no more reserve fat from food they have been eating. It is a serious sign of either dehydration or starvation, so you will need to stuff her up.
It shouldn't be the worst of problems unless she is not eating. That would most nearly mean she isn't acclimationg to her tank right.

So really just feed her plenty of crickets each day, but not too many (whatever can be eaten within one minute).
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Collaredkeeper
-If You Don't Have A Penny, A Half Penny Will Do-

Is your lizard favoring the cool or hot side of the tank? I notice with all of my different species of lizards they sometimes want to cool down, and even my collards have done this in the short time I have had them, they crawl under a piece of corkbark on the cool side and chill for a few hours. Sometimes herps know it is winter time outside regardless of how warm you keep them inside your home and their instinct to brumate or hibernate takes over. I have seen this in bearded dragons before and if they stay on the cool side they wont eat as much because their metabolism slows down. Years ago when ball pythons became popular people who kept them use to worry and force feed them in the winter time because they go off the feed, they found out this is their instinct aimed at brumation and let them do their thing and brumate. My biggest concern would also be hydration, if the lizard starts to dehydrate it makes them look skinny to and wrinkly. Make sure they know where their water dish is and sometimes I will put them in a shallow dish and they will drink. Lizards can be dumb sometimes and dehydrate even though their is a dish of water in the cage. You may want to try waxworms, they seem to help sometimes when a lizard isnt crazy about eating.Try feeding some mealworms to.
Bob

a day, mine do. I notice you said your temps were about 75 on the COOL side.

Well with collareds the temps are about 100 - 105 for the basking spot, but the whole rest of the tank should be in the high 80's to 90.
These guys like it hot, and have no real COOL side. Maybe with the temps a bit higher throughout, her appetite will increse.

If she continues to lose weight, don't wait to long to have a fecal done to check for worms/parasites. Hope her appetite perks up! Let us know Shes a real cutey .
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PHEve / Eve

Contact PHEve

I keep pilbara rock monitors which are from a very HOT rugged area of Australia that is much like the areas in the American deserts where you will find collard lizards at. I have a HOT side for them and a cooler side, I give them a choice, sometimes they will go to the cooler side and hide under cork bark or something and after about a week of not seeing them I will pick up the cork bark and pick up the monitor who has a cold feeling to it from laying on the cool side 75F. It never seems to hurt them and they do go into this cool area more then one may think. They are growing fine and eating well. I believe a choice of temps is only normal in the wild as well, I bet under some of those huge boulders collards tunnel under that it is probably in the 70s [in the wild]. I set up my new collards the same way and I notice them going to the cool side and sleeping in a little hole they dig under the cork bark, they dont stay thier for long periods of time but they do utilize the cooler side of the cage.For whatever reason they like to cool I dont know but I do give them that option.
Bob

in the high 80's to 90 IS COOLER than the basking spot it's 10 to 15 degrees cooler, :0) They DO have an option
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PHEve / Eve

Contact PHEve

Now remember, I have only had her for about 3 days now so it will take her time to adjust to her new environment. Her feeding habits have pick up greatly with the crickets. I am going to go get some wax worms for her this afternoon and see if she will munch on a few of those.

She spends most of her time basking, but I have seen her go to the cooler side and lay down for awhile. I will, however, increase the cool side temps and see if that helps her a bit.

I also know that she was not getting any UVB at the petstore and I bet that she was not fed as well there either. I hope, that with a little TLC, she will start gaining weight and of course, stop naughing on my finger. LOL

Thanks again for the help everyone!
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Kelly Wood

1.1 Cherry Head Redfoots
0.1.1 Brazillian Redfoots
1.1 Leopard tortoises
1.3 bloodred Bearded Dragons
0.1 collared lizard
0.3 Dogs
1.3 Parakeets

Sound like some good news to me, keep posting different pix.

Kelly I have only had my collareds for 3 days to and they [all 8 of them] do the same thing as you describe. They go to the cool side of the cage and chill out at around 73F under a piece of cork bark. This I feel is very normal because all of my desert speices do this wheather it is my australian dwarf monitors or my gilas and beadeds, remember one thing, if you give them a choice and they choose the cool side I wouldnt worry, if they remain in the cool spot for a couple of days then you may want to check them out for other problems by a vet. My theory is cool temps have never killed any of my reptiles but to hot has and so many people new to reptiles think they all love heat, truth is they need a heat source to utilize and thermoregulate as they are cold blooded but I have seen people cook reptiles way more then their reptiles die from staying on a cool side. People turn the cage into what I call a beef jerky machine and cook and dehydrate their lizards, smaller lizards will dehydrate much faster than the larger ones do. If you raise the cool side temps I would be very careful and truthfully I believe a cool side of 75F should be Max. for any reptile. As far as UVB light, well I could write a book on all of the testing and different bulbs I have used and tested with a UVB meter and all of the lights that are available dont live up to what they say they do. I will save that post for another time because my fingers are getting sore LOL
Bob

She spends most of her time basking, but I have seen her go to the cooler side and lay down for awhile. I will, however, increase the cool side temps and see if that helps her a bit.

I also know that she was not getting any UVB at the petstore and I bet that she was not fed as well there either. I hope, that with a little TLC, she will start gaining weight and of course, stop naughing on my finger. LOL

Thanks again for the help everyone!
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Kelly Wood

Hi Bob,

I probably will leave the cool side alone. Even my desert tortoises "chill out" on the cool side from time to time. (no pun intended)

Her cricket eating has increased ALOT, but I cannot get her to take a wax worm or a meal worm. I bet she never even had any before. Oh well, I will keep trying!

Thanks alot!
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Kelly Wood

1.1 Cherry Head Redfoots
0.1.1 Brazillian Redfoots
1.1 Leopard tortoises
1.3 bloodred Bearded Dragons
0.1 collared lizard
0.3 Dogs
1.3 Parakeets