Necropsy shows huge liver - help

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Posted by SuzyQ on October 13, 2000 at 20:32:58:

I'm having an awful week. My 2 oldest lizards died within 6 days of each other. The oldest, Mrs. Figgles (Petey), was 9 yrs old when I thought she was egg-bound; she never woke up from anesthesia & necropsy showed that even tho she'd successfully laid 32 eggs 3 yrs ago, in the past few years she had resorbed her eggs (even tho she had dirt box), had tumors in her uterus, peritoniteal fluid in her abdomen, & old eggs from the past 2 years. The vet said he's doing research on female igs who somehow don't get the proper signal to lay their eggs in captivity.

Tiny Hannibal (who was actually huge), age 8, collapsed a few days later with all the symptoms of kidney failure. He seemed very dehydrated, & the day before had a tiny poopoo with crusty yellow urates & 1 tiny poo. I called the vet (it was Sunday) and was advised to try & rehydrate him & bring him in the next day. I had Pedialite & instructions (from Melissa Kaplan's website), and successfully got about 20 cc's down him, but he died 4 hours later. Necropsy shows he had a huge liver with possible tumors/cancer, BUT the vet advised I send some liver off to the lab to screen for something contagious as I have 2 remaining lizards, both @ 4 yrs old (males).

Of course, I'm blaming myself. I thought I was doing a great job taking care of them! I raised Petey from a hatchling, fed a pretty good diet of greens & vegs, outdoor basking 2x/week, uvb lighting...only thing is since I recently started reading on the web I'm seeing more stuff about calcium oxalates (maybe collards weren't the best choice, but not much variety in my small town). We also drink well water, which is hard water with lots of minerals, and I've been wondering about that. I bought Tiny H from some loser that had raised him to age 1.5 yrs in a small bird cage on top of the TV with no UVB, no hide box, and only cabbage to eat. He seemed stunted at first but quickly came out of that. I miss my buddies so much! 3 of my 4 igs are (well, were) free roamers - I have a lizard room. The 2 that died weren't housed in the same room.

I'm sorry to ramble, but this has been devastating. I loved my oldest ig in particular so much that I had to call in to work when she died. I'm so glad I found this site today where other ig lovers can understand how I'm feeling. If anyone has any insights about Tiny's huge liver, please chime in! Thanks

Follow Ups:

I am soooooo sorry (more) xta 10/14/00 (1)
- Here is the link-- not sure why it didn't post xta 10/14/00 (0)
No Advice, But Condolences (spelling??)...n/m Stephani 10/14/00 (1)
- Thanks. Vet said check well water... SuzyQ 10/14/00 (0)

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: I'm having an awful week. My 2 oldest lizards died within 6 days of each other. The oldest, Mrs. Figgles (Petey), was 9 yrs old when I thought she was egg-bound; she never woke up from anesthesia & necropsy showed that even tho she'd successfully laid 32 eggs 3 yrs ago, in the past few years she had resorbed her eggs (even tho she had dirt box), had tumors in her uterus, peritoniteal fluid in her abdomen, & old eggs from the past 2 years. The vet said he's doing research on female igs who somehow don't get the proper signal to lay their eggs in captivity. : Tiny Hannibal (who was actually huge), age 8, collapsed a few days later with all the symptoms of kidney failure. He seemed very dehydrated, & the day before had a tiny poopoo with crusty yellow urates & 1 tiny poo. I called the vet (it was Sunday) and was advised to try & rehydrate him & bring him in the next day. I had Pedialite & instructions (from Melissa Kaplan's website), and successfully got about 20 cc's down him, but he died 4 hours later. Necropsy shows he had a huge liver with possible tumors/cancer, BUT the vet advised I send some liver off to the lab to screen for something contagious as I have 2 remaining lizards, both @ 4 yrs old (males). : Of course, I'm blaming myself. I thought I was doing a great job taking care of them! I raised Petey from a hatchling, fed a pretty good diet of greens & vegs, outdoor basking 2x/week, uvb lighting...only thing is since I recently started reading on the web I'm seeing more stuff about calcium oxalates (maybe collards weren't the best choice, but not much variety in my small town). We also drink well water, which is hard water with lots of minerals, and I've been wondering about that. I bought Tiny H from some loser that had raised him to age 1.5 yrs in a small bird cage on top of the TV with no UVB, no hide box, and only cabbage to eat. He seemed stunted at first but quickly came out of that. I miss my buddies so much! 3 of my 4 igs are (well, were) free roamers - I have a lizard room. The 2 that died weren't housed in the same room. : I'm sorry to ramble, but this has been devastating. I loved my oldest ig in particular so much that I had to call in to work when she died. I'm so glad I found this site today where other ig lovers can understand how I'm feeling. If anyone has any insights about Tiny's huge liver, please chime in! Thanks

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