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Posted by Dragoon on May 02, 2003 at 18:29:34:

In Reply to: See a good herp vet... posted by Ivan-Netherlands on May 02, 2003 at 04:04:07:

Hey, if I were you, I'd rethink your choice of vets!
This person might be an educated and qualified vet, but that does not automatically mean they are knowledgeable with reptiles. Reptiles are not a core pet species, they are more of an extra-study animal. Not too many vets specialize or do extra research into herps. This does not mean they cannot treat your animal, but try to get one who has the animal's best interests in mind.
The vet I take my monitors to now, has not seen many reptiles, as they are very uncommon in this area. BUT, I do trust this man, because he is very conservative with dispensing medications to my guys. He goes and looks the info. up and made a phone call to make sure. He did not give me medicine without checking samples first, and telling me exactly what he was doing, and why.
What I am saying is, your vet won't tell you what's wrong (he doesn't know?), yet he is suggesting deworming and vitamin shots without any proof your lizard needs it. Vitamin shots?? I think lizards live just fine without those, but correct me if I'm wrong. Is the pain and stress of him sticking a big needle into your animal worth the few vitamins injected? There are vitamin powders on the market. You could dust a mouse and feed it just for peace of mind.
He also suggested deworming for animals he hasn't seen or examined samples from? And he wants you to do it twice a year? That's a lot of poison to pump into your animals, where's the proof that is necessary?
The thing with the lizards is, they live fine with the parasites in the wild. If their cage provides for all their needs, they live fine in captivity with them too. If the cage is cleaned often, the parasites lessen in number and may disappear on their own(I am skeptical of this one, but ..many people claim this). The old train of thought was to automatically deworm all imports, and if it died, then it died of the parasites, -they were really bad. But it could have been the medicine itself that pushed the sick animal over the edge! The newer thought is, treat the animal if you have proof the parasites are actually making it sick, because the meds themselves, can make the reptile sick.
Please remember, you are the keeper, and you call the shots. If it dies, you are responsible, no one else.
Good luck. D.

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