My savannah monitor was recently this past month coughing just occasionally and now very watery snot will pour out of his nose but he does not cough anymire. when it is warm enough he is house trained so je foes outside for the bathroom. Is there a home treatment for something like this?
Personally I would schedule a vet appointment as soon as possible. However, being the weekend, you may not be able to get the appointment until Monday. I would increase the temperature of its enclosure and extend its daylight until you can be seen by a vet. I would also minimize the time outside and let it alone to rest. Good luck, Scott
I have done all of the above except vet and he has gotten alot better he just has the snot now. He is leke 1 year and a few months old. I am still gonna try to get him to a vet soon. Thanks
It does sound like some sort of respiratory problem and a vet should be consulted a.s.a.p. The longer you delay a visit the more deep seated the infection will get and be harder to treat (and more costly) The chances are he's picked this infection up on one of his outside trips, it's ever a good practice to have frequent trips outside, keep him indoors for now till it's sorted. Also make sure the UVB lamp is good, if it's old then it should be changed. ReptiSUN 10% UVB is a good lamp to use, I would avoid the cheaper brands such as Zilla and ESU as these dont put out enough UVB. Make sure he can get within 8" of it and there is nothing between the lamp and Sav, mesh reduces the amount of UVB. Glass and plastic effectively block all UV. and should be avoided. If you follow scotyjp's advice and increase the temps slightly above normal will help a great deal. If you can post a detailed description of your setup, including size of tank what lights you are using for heat and UVB also the "photo period" the time lights are on and off, ie. day/night. temperatures at basking spot, warm end and cool end what you measure the temps with (type of thermometer) dial, stick-on or digital with probe. Water bowl, is it big enough for him to get in and soak Substrate used Feeding What and how often If you can answer these, it will help us to help you, correct any errors in the setup and increase his chances of a full recovery.
Getting ready to take him to seee someone and get checked out and see about meds. He has had a rough road since a baby. could bad genes be a culprit of so many problems?
Hey Bailey, As with all herps - genetics can always play a role...but husbandry is really key. In my experience nearly all herp related illness stem originally from husbandry. Im not big on monitors but Bruno has a bunch of experience with them and Scott seems to really know his stuff too. If you can answer the questions regarding husbandry that Bruno mention regarding tank size, temperatures, uvb etc etc then that would help them to rule out any husbandry related issues
Bingo!! As most sav's are imports, the small percentage that survive being imported may be already ill. Some illness may not be seen for sometime. I am a big beleiver in quarintine for 90 days after aquiring any herp. Even if I know and have followed the breeder. Second thing to concider. This animal may have been ill in the past. May have caused damage to its lungs, and like humans and other animals will now and possably be a canidate for respitory illness. The best thing right now get it to the vet...A GOOD VET. Not just anyone should look at him. Give us a chance to help out..thats why we are here. Give some details about its set up, temps, food and light. Good luck Scott
He has been sick before with a recurring parasitic problem and just little things here and ther. So we are very anal about his home and how he is set up and we have had him treated for these problems. I was just wondering how big a role genetics play in recurring problems even if they are not the same problems everytime. The first monitor we ordered died before we got it the second one like a month or so after we brought him home and got him tame and got attachedto him and then we got panik,our present monitor. They all came from the same group and seller.So I thought maybe his family line had something wrong with it. ometimes he is just fine and in top notch shape and just seldom he is sick in someway or other.and it feels like he shouldnt get sick as easily as he does with certain issues. We keep his husbandry up to par I have just described so many different times,I know not too u guys. Just kind of an inquiry about how the genes could be causing these things to happen to him.Like they couldve my bearded dragon this past week.
I'm getting a little confused here. The first monitor died before you got it???? So you got another, do you still have it or do you have 2 monitors now? I've read the topic in the beardie section and I'm very sorry you had to have it euthanized. From MimC's replies it seems you have issues with the UVB for your beardie's....right !! Did the beardie come from the same seller as the sav's? Was the seller in fact a petstore?? The sav's are most likely wild caught and as Scott says are very likely to have problems to start with. It's highly unlikely to be genetics related, 99.9% of all problems usually stem from poor husbandry by the owner, may be not intentional, just misguided advice. If they came from a breeder then I would be highly suspicious of his breeding and husbandry. You seem reluctant to give details of your setup, you may have told it elsewhere, but not here. It is extremely difficult to help, unless we know exactly "how up to par" the husbandry is. We are not "experts" here, but do have a lot of "experience" with large lizards. I would be less interested in the genetics right now and be much more concerned about setup and husbandry. It's the most likely cause of his present problems. You really do need to see a good rep vet, advice from a petshop will not cure him, believe me. We really do wish to help you, please give us the chance and answer the questions requested. If cash in a problem, is there anyone who will loan the cash to sort out any issues with housing, vet visits etc. It's hard times for everyone just now but priority should be given to the reps to prevent any suffering. Please help us to help you. I have no wish to read another post saying he had to be euthanized.
Panik is the only monitor we have. We had them ordered cause the pet store didnt carry them.The guy at the pet store has owned a t of reptiles and monitors included so he knew a guy to order them from . The beardies came from the pet store.We are now getting them some direct sunlght at least until we get the lights. If I havent been misinformed sunlight is perfect for them and they are getting rotated throughout the day now that it is warm. I care about my animals very much! And am tryng to do all I can and the very best for them. They have always ben spoiled. About my monitors husbandry, He is about a year and a half nice size, plump from no winter exercise. He lives in a 75 gal tank with reptile carpeting. A heat pad under the tank and a large 90 or 100 watt floodlight forbasking on one end and is in the window for extra uvb when he cant go outside into the sun. He has a large den to cozy up in. And since he has never been much of a climber there is nothing to climb up in there but other furnishings. Alarge rock, He has a large water dish I keep it changed out with fresh water and then some decorative leaves and such. He eats cooked chicken, mostly breast, and some cooked steak, lean. He used to eat a small mouse or raw meat but we were advised the raw meat was a horrible idea and we soon agreed and he is uninterested in live prey. I only assume because he is around and frequently sees us around our other small lizards and sort of feels like he shouldnt. He is very tame. We put a mall mouse in with him the last time we tried to feed him one and he wanted nothing to do with it. But ate normal with his cooked food.He was very passive with the mouse even when it nibbled his tail slightly and when we dangled it like regular feeeding. it seems unusual that he did this.But like I said he is very sweet and all of our tanks our in the living room so we have contact and can see everyone all the time so he sees all the other lizards and is never aggressive to them.I may have left something out but I tried to remember everything.
He also gets calcium and vitamin supplements once a week as we ran into a problem with this in the past.
Wher to start? here goes... Vivarium size 6' x 3' x 3' (Kaplan) I recommend 8' x 4' x 3'. heat basking spot 130 degrees, mean (middle) 88 degrees cool side 75-80 degrees. Plenty if hides in all three zones. Subsrtate...sand and dirt mixed. enough to dig in and act normal (opinions very on exact depth). Food...nothing cooked!! Prekilled frozen (then thawed) size appropriate mice and chicks, insects(i.e. crickets, roaches and YES scorpions) the occational hard boiled egg is ok as a treat. Suppliments...calcium dusted on most of the insects and multivitamin at least once a week (i use nekton rep color) Never, never and I mean never put a herp viv in front of a window. uva and uvb should be achieved with your lighting hardware. Bruno am I forgeting anything?? Scott
Firstly the 75G tank will be ok for now but he will need at least a 6ft x 2ft floor space when adult this is the minimum size for a sav. bigger would better. I would NOT use a UTH they require all their heat from above, as in the wild. Cooked chicken is ok for a treat not a staple diet, they are insectivore's and should be eating up to 100+ crickets a day and should be dusted with calcium every feed and multi-vits 2x a week. He is not getting a balanced staple diet You say you have had problems with vits etc, why was this ?? He needs UVB inside his tank if he's stood in window he is not getting any UVB at all. Glass blocks 100% of UVB, the window and the tank = NO UVB. The mice are probably far to large for him, try pinkie mice but only once or twice a week. I would strongly suggest that all the issues you have right now directly relate to lack of UVB. What are the temperatures under the basking spot and cool end etc. Standing the tank in the window runs a great risk of overheating You need a change of diet and a good UVB in the tank to resolve the present issues.
