I am very lucky to have found Dr Barney Oldfield, who has a special love for collared lizards. He's been here all along, and somehow that fact passed me by. He knows of our forum and said he's been herping with Will Wells. Check out his page and fabulous photography (not limited to lizards) at:
www.lizardsandlandscapes.com
Little Cadence has a respiratory infection. We saw Dr Oldfield on Thursday and again today. Each time she got an injection of Baytril and will get another Wednesday. He also prescribed her a nutritional supplement called Nutri-Cal. It is a thick, gelatinous stuff that I am having to force into her with a syringe. Her breathing has improved. Last week she was waking up with crust around her jaws and stringy mucous inside her mouth. That seems to be gone, as is the popping noise when she breathes, although the noise reappears when she is stressed. She does not open her mouth as often but is still sitting with her head up, to make breathing easier. It is hard to believe that not too long ago she was my fat girl with too many neck rolls to count! She is maybe 17 months old and weighs 20 grams now. Dr Oldfield says she is not that thin, considering she just had a clutch of eggs a month ago. As the other lizards have already been exposed, he said I did not have to isolate her unless she was not staying warm or had too much competition for food. I have seen her chase down crickets and am not sure that she has ever stopped eating, she just is not putting the weight back on. Her pregnancy took every spare fat cell she had! She basks or retreats to the heated cave, so I have not moved her yet. Anyway, so far I am cautiously hopeful that she will have a full recovery and am so grateful to have found a vet that knows so much about my babies. And I am grateful for this forum. Because of all of you, I have learned so much about keeping them. No time was lost because she got see a Dr immediately.
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Valerie
We may have all come on different ships, but we're in the same boat now.
--Martin Luther King, Jr.--
God bless the USA
I'm sorry you're under the weather. I had my first ever sinus infection late last year and nearly ended up in the hospital. They're certainly not to be taken lightly, I have learned.
