some ideas ... (THIS is a long post!)

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Posted by iZ's mom on November 15, 1998 at 14:43:34:

In Reply to: A little help on a sick lizard(long) posted by Todd on November 15, 1998 at 10:56:00:

(you don't know what a long post IS!) ***GRIN***
ok ... MY opinion and what's worked for me .... i wouldn't worry about the eating as much as i'd worry about the dehydration ... get some "Infalyte" or "Pedialyte" in the baby section of a drugstore or grocery store .... (it's an infant version of Gatorade and replaces electrolytes, etc.) and give the ig a drink from an oral syringe or dropper a few times a day .... not too much at a time, maybe 3cc at the most (in several SMALL squirts)..... you don't want to overwhelm his system when it's trying to shut down .... for the same reason, i wouldn't give him solid food .... get some baby food and either spoon feed or give him small squirts with the oral syringe ... iZ liked the mixed vegies when he was sick .... maybe a bit of fruit .... again ... SMALL amounts! instead of waiting til he opens his mouth to bite, try GENTLY, SLOWLY opening his mouth, just enough to give small squirts of food/infaltye .... might help to kinda wrap him in a thick bath towel and definately wear long sleeves! his lack of appetite is a symptom NOT a cause of his illnesses and will return as he starts feeling better .....
warm soaks in the tub ...... don't make the water more than a couple inches deep to start with .... iZ was terrified of the tub when he first moved in with me ...
gently wash his nose with diluted betadine .... (alcohol or peroxide will sting too much) and apply antibiotic ointment twice a day (DON'T use betadine that often tho)
i'd highly recommend a trip to the reptile vet .... poor guy very probably has worms and/or other parasites and that should be addressed soon as well .... also the vet can give you better. reptile-specific antibiotics for his nose (and the burn if it's still in the healing process) i've had very good results with "Silvadene" and also "Nolvagen" (i think i'm reading the vet's writing correctly ....)
NO MORE CRICKETS!!! (besides the on-going debate on whether igs need animal protein or not, which i'm NOT going to get into!) .... he is too sick to digest that solid of a food right now and it's not helping him ..... (just MY opinion here) ....
The Iguana Den and Melissa Kaplin both have good sites AND widely used diets, as well as misc. info on housing needs ....

you and your buddy get lots of gold stars for helping this iggy .... good luck and let us know how it's going .....

:P + :)
iZ + mom

Follow Ups:

I'm keeping mine short!........... Iguanamomma 11/16/98 (0)
Re: some ideas ... (THIS is a long post!) Todd 11/15/98 (2)
- Oops... Todd 11/15/98 (1)
  - his e-mail is..... iZ's mom 11/15/98 (0)

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: (you don't know what a long post IS!) ***GRIN*** : ok ... MY opinion and what's worked for me .... i wouldn't worry about the eating as much as i'd worry about the dehydration ... get some "Infalyte" or "Pedialyte" in the baby section of a drugstore or grocery store .... (it's an infant version of Gatorade and replaces electrolytes, etc.) and give the ig a drink from an oral syringe or dropper a few times a day .... not too much at a time, maybe 3cc at the most (in several SMALL squirts)..... you don't want to overwhelm his system when it's trying to shut down .... for the same reason, i wouldn't give him solid food .... get some baby food and either spoon feed or give him small squirts with the oral syringe ... iZ liked the mixed vegies when he was sick .... maybe a bit of fruit .... again ... SMALL amounts! instead of waiting til he opens his mouth to bite, try GENTLY, SLOWLY opening his mouth, just enough to give small squirts of food/infaltye .... might help to kinda wrap him in a thick bath towel and definately wear long sleeves! his lack of appetite is a symptom NOT a cause of his illnesses and will return as he starts feeling better ..... : warm soaks in the tub ...... don't make the water more than a couple inches deep to start with .... iZ was terrified of the tub when he first moved in with me ... : gently wash his nose with diluted betadine .... (alcohol or peroxide will sting too much) and apply antibiotic ointment twice a day (DON'T use betadine that often tho) : i'd highly recommend a trip to the reptile vet .... poor guy very probably has worms and/or other parasites and that should be addressed soon as well .... also the vet can give you better. reptile-specific antibiotics for his nose (and the burn if it's still in the healing process) i've had very good results with "Silvadene" and also "Nolvagen" (i think i'm reading the vet's writing correctly ....) : NO MORE CRICKETS!!! (besides the on-going debate on whether igs need animal protein or not, which i'm NOT going to get into!) .... he is too sick to digest that solid of a food right now and it's not helping him ..... (just MY opinion here) .... : The Iguana Den and Melissa Kaplin both have good sites AND widely used diets, as well as misc. info on housing needs .... : you and your buddy get lots of gold stars for helping this iggy .... good luck and let us know how it's going ..... : :P + :) : iZ + mom

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