Whiptail with an Ear Infection?

Discussion in 'General Lizards' started by SweetLucky, Sep 5, 2010.

  1. SweetLucky

    SweetLucky Embryo

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    Hello. Hoping someone can offer some advice.. this is the only pic. I could get of him, cellphone is away

    Lucky___.jpg


    Anyway, he means a lot to me, so I was concerned to notice that he stopped eating two days ago-yesterday he attacked and killed his crickets but would not eat..and he's not taking water. He tilts his head back and a waterish noise comes from it, and he smells funny. I'm pretty sure it's an ear infection, and I'm hoping it's all that is wrong. The only thing I can think of is that the water may of done permanent damage to his body. that was not apparent until just the few days ago. Just this evening he won't open his eyes. Is it possible for chlorine to over time cause blindness? Is there anything I can do for him? He's such a small lizard. ..anything that can be done at home, because a vet is out of the question due to many things. )= I
    convinced he's trying to die. Saw one the other day it was huge. I think Lucky is young-a few years at the most?

    Symptoms: One of his ears is a weird color and appears blocked up..with wax? It's darkorangish but doesn't go out of the ear.
    Extremely fatigued- sleeps nearly all the day and night-since the other day
    Dehydrated- wont take any water
    Starving- took one cricket today-hand fed, not forced
    Can't see his bones or anything, but he's pretty thin
    Refuses to open eyes-since earlier today-only opened them a little yesterday
    Weakness- he's always been a lil slow and sleepy, but now it is a lot more than normal
    Not passing- from what I've seen, he's not relieving himself



    Below is Lucky's story (some parts may be useful in answering). May 3, 2010

    I walked into my backyard and found a lizard at the bottom of my pool, it was upside-down and not moving, so I pulled it out thinking the pool claimed another life. I held it in my hand for a moment looking for any sign of life at all, even though it seemed hopeless. The lizard lay in my hand cold and limp, eyes closed, and not breathing. I felt sorry for it, and stroked its back, even though I knew it couldn't feel it..then..it twitched!

    Somehow..the lizard was still alive! I flipped it over and pressed on its chest a little, and water came out, so I pressed again, and the lizard began to breath! I stood there with that lizard in my hand, thinking of how amazing it was that it was still alive. I stroked its neck and it opened its mouth, letting more water out. My dad came out and asked what I had, and I handed him the lizard, which twitched again. He pressed on it too, and more water came out till finally..the lizard began to breath slower, but steadier, and its eyes opened!

    In its weakened state there was no way it would stand any chance in wild, so I brought it in the house. I didn't have anywhere to put it, so it sat in my hand for hours, sleeping. Later on it woke up, and being that it was a wild lizard, I half-expected it to jump out of my hand..but it didn't. Instead, the lizard calmly walked over from my hand to my shirt, and climbed up to my head, where it slept again.


    When the lizard woke up again, it was very alert and climbed back down into my hand, and sat there looking. I reached down and pet its back, and it closed its eyes. Throughout the day the lizard would sneeze water, and his breathing improved. I came to notice that even though he was weak, he had the will to live. The lizard walked between my head and shoulders to my hand all day, sleeping on and off. As it neared night, I found a temporary container for the lizard, filled it with sand, and placed some water and part of a small box for shelter.

    It wasn't much, but it would be okay as a temporary place for the lizard to rest. If the lizard made it through the night, I planned to release it home the next day. When I went to put the lizard in the container, it jump up and frantically scratched at the side. I was worried it would stress itself, so I put my hand in, and the lizard climbed on and up to my shoulder. As soon as the lizard was on me again, it was calm. I tried a few more times that night, but with no success. Since the lizard was not nocturnal, it would be too late to release it, and it still hadn't gained full strength. Finally, after realizing there was no way the lizard would stay in a container, I made up my mind to stay up with it.

    The lizard climbed over and fell asleep on the back of my neck, and I sat and read a book, waiting for morning. The next morning the lizard woke up, and climbed up to my head. It seemed happy to just be somewhere on me. I figured the wild lizard would run off now, but it stayed with me the whole day. Deciding that it might stay in a larger container, I went to the petstore, and of course the lizard tagged along on my shoulder.

    We got a container and filled it with fresh sand and set the lizard in it. The lizard looked up at us, then walked around a little, satisfied. When we got home I tried my best to match the wild it was used to. I set everything up and released some crickets, hoping today the lizard would take food. I set the lizard down, and it began to hunt, no longer worried over being in the container.

    That night, we named the lizard Lucky, and I decided that since this lizard got a second chance at life, that it would live indoors and no longer be at the mercy of predators and our pool; Lucky became the newest member of my family. Over the past few days I noticed that not only did Lucky survive drowning, but that he acted just as tame as a captive-bred pet. Not only is this unusual for a wild lizard, but whiptails are fast, nervous lizards that do not like to be handled. Lucky is clearly an exception. Maybe it's because he was saved, or maybe he just feels comfortable..I don't know, but I'm really glad to of found him. <3
     
  2. JEFFREH

    JEFFREH Administrator

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  3. rinako

    rinako New Member

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    I would recommend you take him to a veterinarian.
     

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