Reptile & Amphibian Forums

hi everyone, i was at the local pet store last night and i saw this baby uro and the little guy looked dead...come to find out he had a broken leg...and he was being kept in the worst possible conditions..no heat, only a black light....and he was dehydrated and shriveled up...i bought him for cheap and i took him home and set him up in a 10gal tank...i soaked him in warm water to help hydrate him and then he actually ate 4-5 medium crickets and quite a bit of romaine lettuce...but he still has a brokendislocated arm...it is like sticking straight out..he uses it a little bit but not much...i really dont have money to take him to a vet..but if worse comes to worse, ill take him...if anyone has any ideas like a mini-cast or something...i figured he would be ok as long as he was eating and stayed healthy, maybe it will heal on its own...any help is greatly appreciated...thanks...
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0.4 normal ball pythons
0.1 normal redtail boa
0.0.1 Mexican Rosy Boa
1.0 true redtail boa
1.1 100% het albino redtail
1 baby sulcata tortoise
0.0.1 Baby Bearded Dragon

I've used masking tape on my baby birds in the past with success, several wraps makes a splint. Not sure with what you describe that will be possible. It takes two to three weeks for baby birds, birds and reptiles are similar but healing time depends on age and metabolic rate. Soak the tape to loosen it before taking it off.
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Rick
Never Enough
Reptiles

wow, you fell for the oldest trick in the pet store book, and you don't have the knowledge or resources for your "rescue".

you didn't "save" anything, you just created a new opening for yet another pity case that they don't have to care for, one that will bring a tear to another eye, and sell. hooray, profit for the store! (sarcasm)

check out the link below for more on this issue, it is sad, and common...
the case against "rescues"

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robyn@proexotics.com

Pro Exotics Reptiles

listen here, i didnt fall for anything...id rather give it a good home instead of letting it die in the pet store...i know the people there and they are nice people, they just dont take care of their reptiles(so maybe they arent so nice but as people they are nice)...and i only paid 20 bucks for the little guy instead of a whopping 149..they wanted to give him to me but i thought about it and i thought that they might try to make me pay their full price in the future..(which is highly unlikely but you never know)so i gave him 20 bucks...and its mine now...i hope i can save the little guy...ive had uros before like i said earlier and i have the perfect setup for him and i figured that anything i could do would be better than what the store would do for it...
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0.4 normal ball pythons
0.1 normal redtail boa
0.0.1 Mexican Rosy Boa
1.0 true redtail boa
1.1 100% het albino redtail
1 baby sulcata tortoise
0.0.1 Baby Bearded Dragon

I can’t say that I disagree with Robyn on this one.

Taking sick and injured reptiles (of any sort) off the hands of stores who #1 buy them in this condition or #2 contribute to these conditions, does nothing more than put money in their pocket to continue the cycle.

What I find even more troubling are those individuals who decide to ‘save’ these animals when they do not have the financial means or experience necessary to do so and then turn around and refer to this practice as rescuing. I have expressed my views before on this forum that situations like this are not rescuing at all, but rather-pseudo-rescuing. A person that has little experience with the species that does not seek professional care for an obviously injured uromastyx, and instead places it in a 10-gallon aquarium while feeding the dehydrated baby herbivore a relatively sizable amount of insect matter, is not really rescuing anything. Those that feel they are rescuing an animal by taking it from one unfit environment to another are simply providing a new place for the animal to die, while giving stores the profit and encouragement to continue to sell more unfit animals.

The first response of some readers will be to jump on my comments and say, “Well at least the person is trying to help.” My response would be- What if someone with actual experience to care for this animal would have come along tomorrow and purchased this same injured uromastyx, immediately took it to a qualified vet, and directly after treatment was able to place the convalescing uromastyx in a nice 4 foot enclosure with the proper setup? That, my friends, would be an attempted rescue. Or…
What if no one bought the uro and it ended up being the fourth uromastyx to die that month and the store decides not to purchase inferior animals any more from that vendor or not to handle uromastyx at all? That, my friends, could be the rescue of dozens of uromastyx.

I know that it can be a difficult choice to turn your back on a sick or injured reptile but, if you do not have the means and experience to properly care for it, the situation usually benefits no one -including the animal. I take that back, it benefits the store or vendor selling the sick or injured animal.

Evercraig, I suggest an immediate vet visit and the purchase of a larger enclosure and proper equipment as well as a crash course on the diet and care of these animals. If you do not have the capability of doing these things immediately, I would encourage you to find a suitable home for this uromastyx today, even if this means giving away this animal. Hopefully this new environment will include someone with uromastyx experience who is willing to provide immediate vet care and an immediate improvement of living conditions for this animal.

My advice is if you can is take the animal to a vet and see if the leg needs to be set or anything. If you get an X-ray done it will cost relatively a lot. However, the animal could potentially get the use of the leg back if it's set, etc.

A new trick is that the policies of some stores now allow you to make them pay the vet bills in a given amount of time, but that probably doesn't apply since you got it at a discount.

i do have a bigger cage for it..and i am feeding it turnip greens and mustard greens...i just threw a few crickets in to see if he would eat..i know that they need a relatively little amount of protein(ie:crickets)...i put him in the little cage cause i figured he would feel safe, and i also have about 200 pages of info on uromastyx that i have read and gathered..i was just trying to find someone on here that WOULD ACTUALLY HELP ME...NOT PUT ME DOWN BECAUSE I TRIED TO HELP A SICK ANIMAL...IF ANYONE WHO HAS DEALT WITH THIS TYPE OF SITUATION AND KNOWS SOMETHING USEFUL AND NOT NEGATIVE..I WOULD LIKE TO HEAR IT....THANKS..
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0.4 normal ball pythons
0.1 normal redtail boa
0.0.1 Mexican Rosy Boa
1.0 true redtail boa
1.1 100% het albino redtail
1 baby sulcata tortoise
0.0.1 Baby Bearded Dragon

Don't know that I can be of much help but, from all I've heard, it might not be a good idea to feed crickets to a dehydrated Uro. You might want to look into that. On the other hand, while not nutritious, the Romaine is definitely a good means of getting the fluids back up. As far as the leg goes, you've little choice but to see a vet. Otherwise, how are you going to treat an unknown condition? Is it actually broken, could it be dislocated or even a congenital anomaly? Good luck to you two!

"while not nutritious, the Romaine is definitely a good means of getting the fluids back up"

Any solid food that isn't nutritious probably isn't the best thing ot put in a less-than-helthy animals stomach. To up the fluids, the vet should be able to dole out fluid injections and instructions to do them and/or tube feed somethign more nutritous. For a person with no experience and no related resources a vet trip is all there really is.

As far as rescuing is concerned, if the store isn't willing to give up the animal (theyre goign to write it off anyhow) then I'm not going to have time for it. I spent a lot of money on the one animal a store gave up to me (which was a quick failure), but I also learned a lot providing for greater success in the rest of mine.
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uromastyx geyri (Saharan/Nigerian), hardwickii (Indian),
macfadyeni (Somalian), ocellata (Sudanese), ornata (Ornate), benti pseudophilbyi

I'm only saying that, vet visit not an option, romaine does have it's place. Often, Uros will take to it when nothing else appeals to them. Being 95% water, it's easy to digest & hydrates them quickly. The first order of business with any sick animal should be to get it's fluids up. They aren't likely to eat the more nutritious items if their overwhelming instinct is for some water. Romaine can be an excellent vehicle for that. And it can do it's job in a single feeding. I'm not saying it's a substitute for anything else, only a jump start.

I agree.

This is my opinion, may not be accurate, but what I do with a newly arrived possibly dehydrated animal.

My first priority is hydration, not nutrition. Iceberg lettuce if I have to (although romaine should be fine). Lack of water kills and causes kidney damage before MBD and all that fun stuff shows up.

Aviod high protein foods during this phase in plant or animal form.

After maybe two or three days or whenever your satisfied your animal is hydrated then worry about diet. I wouldn't feed insects though. I'd also lay off foods high in things that dehydrate and bind calcium. Any diet I serve has at least 4 different greens in it.

Can you talk to your Vet and see if you can make payments? I'd give that a try. Good luck!
~Loraine

You should probably listen to deb_loves_uros and robyn. On the General board, I had pretty much the same problem. I was asking advice and was ready to run out and buy an Armadillo Lizard that was being kept in terrible conditions, thinking i'd save it. I would have just gave the store money and gotten an animal that wuld die on me a few days later. I was going to buy the lizard and found out the shop doesnt have it anymore (Probably died). If robyn and deb replied the same things to me, I would have quickly changed my mind. Do the animal a favor and take it to the vet. You definiately need a bigger cage but i'm sure a 10gallon is fine for the moment. At least the Uro has lights and heat now. Just get the poor thing to a vet.

Where'd you go? Did you get lost in the responses? Come back to us...

im here...ive been reading the post and the information is outstanding...ive been working 12 hour days so i havent had much computer time...i have move the baby to a 20gal long and my heat gradiant is perfect...115 on the basking side and around 85-90 on the cooler side...he is doing great..eating mainly romaine lettuce and turnip and mustard greens....i only gave him a couple of crickets each day...he seems to like them...and his leg seems to be getting a little bit better...i plan on calling the vet tomorrow and getting advice....i just want everyone to know that I DIDNT GET FOOLED into buying him...i bought him at my own will and they actually tried to give him to me...i gave the pet store guy only 20 bucks because i know him as a friend and he wanted me to help the uro out because i have the proper caging for it..the only reason i havent moved him into a bigger cage is because he is still small and i want him to feel secure...i have two 55gal terrariums and im in the process of building a larger one...so he will get one of these in the future...ive refreshed myself on the care of these lizards by reading phillipe de vosjoli's book on uros that i had bought about a year ago and im in the process of reading all of the many care sheets that i have printed out...thanks for all of the help...any additional advice is appreciated and i will post a picture of the little guy soon...
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0.4 normal ball pythons
0.1 normal redtail boa
0.0.1 Mexican Rosy Boa
1.0 true redtail boa
1.1 100% het albino redtail
1 baby sulcata tortoise
0.0.1 Baby Bearded Dragon