Reptile & Amphibian Forums

he's being doing great then today , I was watching my Rhino eat when all of a sundan he started shaking his head violtinly ( he was not choking ) and starting trashing his legs to the side . then he ran to the other side of the cage sliding to a stop with his eyes caved in ,and his tail flickering . I picked him up and he opened his eyes like nothing happened . I though he died . He's done that three times in the last couple hous . His vet is 1 1/2 south and no way in can get him in until tomorrow . If anything happens to him i am done . i have put too much time into him and not going to start over . Its just to heart wrenching

Hang in there dude. I would definitely get him to the vet. Until you can do that, remove the food, make sure he has fresh water, keep his lights low, keep him warm, minimize anything around his cage that could startle him, and do whatever you can to keep him calm.

Does it only happen when he is eating? Is he acting like there's something in his nostril irritating him? If so, make sure humidity levels are not low and add a fan. I know it sounds odd, but I had the same issue with one of my cyclura's. Added a humidifier and a fan for air circulation and never seen it again. Also are you on well water? Try bottled water also, Some minerals in water can build up.

Almost sounds like some type of seizure, I have had young cyclura get too hot and go into a full on seizure and all I could do is put cold water on the body asap and hope for it to come out of it and it did,two times. It happened when she was cool and then she went right under a 100 watt bulb. The smaller the animal the easier it happens. The head movements you described usually mean they want to throw up though? Good luck with the vet,it's tough to find a qualified reptile vet. An x-ray could rule out foreign objects.I would simplify everything for a month, tank with a light at one end with a 100f hotspot 75f cool end and feed it only collards and a big bowl of water. I am assuming this is a young iggy. Keep us updated. KB
P.S. Vet visit too

He's been the best reptile vet in N.Utah . She x-rayed his head checking his sinuses , ears and she also did blood work that showed nothing to worry about . He did have a runny nose that cleared up when i raised his temps for a few . The first episode was the worst , but he now acts like a ear infection and goes nuts when he lowers his head to eat and when i sprayed/misted him and the water hit his head and he scratches at his ear or side of his face every time he lowers his head to eat . The vet looked into his ears through the ear membrane and could not see anything and z-rays were fine . Thursday he's going back in and she scoping his sinuses and flushing them and then double checking his ears and sinus passages better to make sure nothing in there ,when he is sedated and not moving. Then she feels she should treat him with anti inflammatory and antibiotics for a possible ear infection . Unless she finds something scoping his sinuses and looking down his mouth .

I have had both ear and sinus infections and when i lower my head below my heart with a sinus infection or ear , its like to hit me in the head with a bat , boy can i get some pain . When he lower his he to eat he scratches and shakes his head back and forth and goes nuts .

I'm telling you. use bottled water, raise his humidity and give him a fan for air circulation. Trust me...

I have ventilation and high humidity 55-65 % and use distilled water in a ultrasonic humidifier and always have .

I also keep his cage Spotless Humid and 150-180 Mw of UVB on his basking area .two 50 watt Holigen lights keep his basking area 100-115 > a oil filled upright heater keeps his room at 75 . The cool side of the cage is 80 and warm side 85-90 . I have linoleum and tile on the floor and large rocks I spot clean it as soon as i see he pooped , Which he does on the rocks . I am disable and spend most of the day with him in his room , and i rarely go anywhere otherwise i would not have him . I go through three gallons of distilled water a week in the winter and one in the summer , when the swamp cooler is going . I bought a 6.3 solar meter to check the lights and glad i did . The Zoo-med Power-sun was putting out almost nothing 28 MW . so if anything he may have not got enough UVB for less than a MONTH if that when the MegaRay burned out ( in less than three month ) Glad i got the solar meter , as i don't trust any bulbs to perform like they advertise mot even Mega_ray .

Did you see they (Megray) went up 30.00 . Crap i paid around 50.00 for mine lasted less than three months . have yet to get my replacement and no e-mail back ,or have them EVER answer the phone and they still owe me $$$$ for a back order that i have Tried and tried to cancel for months ,Do not expect to see that money again . Sorry still pissed at Meg-Ray , i wasted around 90.00 with them .

anyway i am sure trying to do a good job with this guy

Robert
It all sounds right what you are doing. I would raise your basking area another 10 degrees or more. Where they bask and terrain they live on in the wild gets much hotter. It will also boost his immune system. He will regulate his own temps, just give him the option to get hotter. I will bet you see him use the hotter temps. You have a rhino at only 3/4 speed.
good luck

jf

Yesterday my Herp Vet put my rhino under and flushed his sinuses and also his right ear through a small cut she put in the ear membrane . Blood was removered from his right ear during this flush , yet he had no infection . ?? He is now on Antibiotics and anti inflammatory pain drugs for two weeks . We/she are not sure why he had blood in his right ear as the membrane has now blood vessels in it . I sent her 6 videos showing my Iguana and how he acted while tryimg to eat with his head down . she shared this videos with other Herp vets on a Herp vet forum for a few days before she/they came to the same conclusion to open his right ear and flush and inspect it . ?? I hope this worked . ?? As i noted before he had x-rays and blood work done that showed nothing . I have tryed to take care of him the best i can ,with good diet , suplements , clean cage and proper lighting and heat . I am very saddend by this and pray and hope he will recover . He has really tammed down and ilove this little guy very very much . If i have to put him down i will noy get another , just can't put another one through this if its my fault , ?? in any way . I have put a ton of time into this guy and its just too heart wrenching .

http://www.youtube.com/user/rgkempton#p/u/11/8E0nYa0Sa1o

Robert from what I read there is no reason to think he will not recover. A good job by the vet. They are bullet proof when healthy. Who knows how he did it. Look for ways he could have fallen or got stuck somehow, maybe his head got caught and he shook free. When wild ones get noosed, caught, they thrash violently to get free, ear damage is the biggest concern.
keep him warm. Their ability to heal is impressive.
Stay positive

jf

thanks JF

for the peptalk , i have been pretty down over this .

This little guy is amazing , he cant stop shaking his head , and with his eyes half closed , he still comps down a hand full of watercress . It was still so sad to watch .

R

Right now the right ear membrane is solid red , i hope its just a thin layer of blood on it and his whole ear canal is not full.

Do you have a fan in there? I have experienced the same thing with a couple of my rhinos. I am on well water and if I give them unfiltered water they will start doing that. I know for me, when I made sure to keep there humidity levels around 70% and put a fan for air circulation it stopped. If you don't have a fan, I suggest trying that. I don't think there is anything wrong with your rhino, just something is irritating him with the enclosure or something. I went rounds over the same thing and the fan and humidity fixed it. I think it was more the fan than the humidity though. I would love to know if you vet has any other ideas. Did they check his blood for high levels of hard metals(from water)?

i have always used distilled water in my Humidifiers and i have a fan that blow through a small vent on the cool side of his cage .

I keep his night temp at 80-83 . what do you guys think ? should i raise that too being he not fealing well ?

temp sounds good to me

jf

Try raising the humidity level above 70% on the low side. Maybe that will work. Like I said, you video brings back memories as I have had a couple rhinos do the same thing. Raise the humidity level and a fan and mine stopped. It is also note worthy, this is only in rhinos, none of my cuban's or hybrids have ever shown anything. AND, younger rhinos that were doing this were housed with other juvenile cuban's. I don't think there is anything wrong with your rhino health wise. It is a weird husbandry situation in my opinion.

I will have to admit , that the only REAL improvident came when i removed the plexi glass , added screen . I know this may sound crazy ''BUT'' i get better control of the humidity with screen and a fan circulation warm air around in his room , then i did with the front of his cage closed . ???? And after doing these changes he improved 100% in in a week and is now good as new . Not sure why the vet got blood in his ear , unless she did something while probing his ear . BUT fresh air and HIGHER humidity did SEEM to do the trick . NOTHING else seemed to help , so i though i would take you advise . I also tiled and grouted his cage floor and have nothing in there to collect moister or mildew . SO anyway he good as new !! I also potty trained him to go poop when i set him in a warm tub of water in his cage . He poops and pees then climbs on his basking rock , then i flush the tub . Never any poop or pee in his cage . when you walk into his room and can't tell by ANY smells that he's there .