vet input

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Posted by Joan on January 26, 1999 at 11:45:44:

In Reply to: need some input from EVERYbody ... yes, even newbies! posted by iZ's mom on January 25, 1999 at 21:50:37:

Finding a herp vet is really tough. The first vet we used for our turtle was our regular vet. It was the receptionist that say yes we handle turtles, bring him in. I did, this was just for a check up and nail trimming. Luckily our vet is a honest person. His first comment was he was sure happy to see it was not a snapping turtle. He asked us lots of questions, answered none of ours, trimmed his nails and said there was no charge as he knew nothing about herps and we had taught him. He didn't even know what type of turtle he was, Bailey's a box turtle. So much for the first vet.

I tried calling vet offices and seeing whether they handle herps. This doesn't work over the phone. Every receptionist called said that they would make an appointment and could handle herps. Some did say "They would give it a try", which gave it away that they really didn't normally take in reptiles. The very first thing in finding a vet is to visit the vet's office, don't call. I found by visiting the office your able to get a better feel of what is going on. I used to travel for my job alot and when I was close to home I would stop at vets offices. When my first ig Merlin, may he rest in peace, was shedding around his ear I was worried as I new and hadn't seen this yet. It didn't look right but it didn't look wrong either. I stopped at a vet's office about 45 miles away and they gave the standard bring him in routine. So I just said that I didn't want to bring him in if there was nothing wrong, could they tell me about the shedding. They went back and talked with one of their vets and he
recommended that I see a vet that was another 30 miles away. If you can get the receptionist to actually ask the vet something you can get a better feel and maybe get them to recommend another vet. I was headed in the direction of the other vet they recommended so I stopped at their office. I asked the receptionist the shedding question and she went back to ask the vet. He actually came out and talked with me. Said that his partner was the one who actually handled all the herps. His partner actually had iguanas and had been treating them for quite a while. He said that he could handle the more routine questions and it sounded like from what I described that the shedding was normal. He did mention that he was going from what I was telling him and that they really needed to see the iguana to know for sure. From a five minute conversation I found him to ask good questions, show concern, honest about what he knew. I believe that I could trust them. Problem they are 75 miles away on curving roads, about 2 hours. Still needed someone closer, but it was a start.

Next one is a tough one. You can ask the pet stores, who you trust, who do they use for their herps. Here is nowhere, Idaho, we actually have two pet stores that sell nothing but fish and herps. One is a nice store and they try hard. They gave me the name of a vet that alot of their customers use. I haven't checked him out yet as in the phone book it said his speciality is large animals. This didn't give me any inducement to call him. The other pet store has about 1/3 of its herps not for sell as they have been with them since time began. Their in store pets are a 7' aligator, a 4' ig, a 14 year old boa and many others. I asked them who they use and they gave me the name of my current herp vet, only 14 miles away. She is kind, considerate, and knowledgeable. Guess you have to be when taking care of a 7' aligator named "Nasty Ed". LOL This process took me about 3 months. Only because I didn't even know where to start. The listings on the vet site had the closest herp vets at 140 miles away. Not a big help. I also heard of one person with a very sick lizard and no herp vet calling the zoo in the area and they couldn't recommend any vet but were willing to help themselves. This maybe an option.

Rules to finding a vet: ( Only from a newbie point of view )
1) Visit the vet's office in person.
2) Ask a simple question on shedding, lighting, or calium intake.
3) See if the reception will go ask the vet.
4) Did he/she come out to talk with you?
5) Did you like the way he/she showed compassion and interest?
6) Did he/she have questions and answers?

Also be sure that you take a look around the waiting room. If the vet seems a little hurried it could be because he was a backlog of patients waiting. One place I went I might use as a back up. He did come out and talk with me for maybe one minute. The question was on calium, the answer was correct but hurried. He had four people waiting on him.

I think that this is a great idea. I think that we should all post who our vet is and compile a listing of our own. Maybe someone who was a web page would post it.

The rambling and out of breath, Joan

Follow Ups:

Re: vet input cirsisue 1/26/99 (0)
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: Finding a herp vet is really tough. The first vet we used for our turtle was our regular vet. It was the receptionist that say yes we handle turtles, bring him in. I did, this was just for a check up and nail trimming. Luckily our vet is a honest person. His first comment was he was sure happy to see it was not a snapping turtle. He asked us lots of questions, answered none of ours, trimmed his nails and said there was no charge as he knew nothing about herps and we had taught him. He didn't even know what type of turtle he was, Bailey's a box turtle. So much for the first vet. : I tried calling vet offices and seeing whether they handle herps. This doesn't work over the phone. Every receptionist called said that they would make an appointment and could handle herps. Some did say "They would give it a try", which gave it away that they really didn't normally take in reptiles. The very first thing in finding a vet is to visit the vet's office, don't call. I found by visiting the office your able to get a better feel of what is going on. I used to travel for my job alot and when I was close to home I would stop at vets offices. When my first ig Merlin, may he rest in peace, was shedding around his ear I was worried as I new and hadn't seen this yet. It didn't look right but it didn't look wrong either. I stopped at a vet's office about 45 miles away and they gave the standard bring him in routine. So I just said that I didn't want to bring him in if there was nothing wrong, could they tell me about the shedding. They went back and talked with one of their vets and he : recommended that I see a vet that was another 30 miles away. If you can get the receptionist to actually ask the vet something you can get a better feel and maybe get them to recommend another vet. I was headed in the direction of the other vet they recommended so I stopped at their office. I asked the receptionist the shedding question and she went back to ask the vet. He actually came out and talked with me. Said that his partner was the one who actually handled all the herps. His partner actually had iguanas and had been treating them for quite a while. He said that he could handle the more routine questions and it sounded like from what I described that the shedding was normal. He did mention that he was going from what I was telling him and that they really needed to see the iguana to know for sure. From a five minute conversation I found him to ask good questions, show concern, honest about what he knew. I believe that I could trust them. Problem they are 75 miles away on curving roads, about 2 hours. Still needed someone closer, but it was a start. : Next one is a tough one. You can ask the pet stores, who you trust, who do they use for their herps. Here is nowhere, Idaho, we actually have two pet stores that sell nothing but fish and herps. One is a nice store and they try hard. They gave me the name of a vet that alot of their customers use. I haven't checked him out yet as in the phone book it said his speciality is large animals. This didn't give me any inducement to call him. The other pet store has about 1/3 of its herps not for sell as they have been with them since time began. Their in store pets are a 7' aligator, a 4' ig, a 14 year old boa and many others. I asked them who they use and they gave me the name of my current herp vet, only 14 miles away. She is kind, considerate, and knowledgeable. Guess you have to be when taking care of a 7' aligator named "Nasty Ed". LOL This process took me about 3 months. Only because I didn't even know where to start. The listings on the vet site had the closest herp vets at 140 miles away. Not a big help. I also heard of one person with a very sick lizard and no herp vet calling the zoo in the area and they couldn't recommend any vet but were willing to help themselves. This maybe an option. : Rules to finding a vet: ( Only from a newbie point of view ) : 1) Visit the vet's office in person. : 2) Ask a simple question on shedding, lighting, or calium intake. : 3) See if the reception will go ask the vet. : 4) Did he/she come out to talk with you? : 5) Did you like the way he/she showed compassion and interest? : 6) Did he/she have questions and answers? : Also be sure that you take a look around the waiting room. If the vet seems a little hurried it could be because he was a backlog of patients waiting. One place I went I might use as a back up. He did come out and talk with me for maybe one minute. The question was on calium, the answer was correct but hurried. He had four people waiting on him. : I think that this is a great idea. I think that we should all post who our vet is and compile a listing of our own. Maybe someone who was a web page would post it. : The rambling and out of breath, Joan

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