I have a savannah moniyor (scout) that is four months old. She is acting strange falling down, flipping over, and she is very disoriented she can't even catch her own food anymore so I am feeding her chicken baby food from a syringe. I have been told that it is due to a calcium deficiency and that it would be easier and less expensive to youthinize her but I am not willing to give her up so easy. I love her very much and don't want to lose her if anyone can give me any advice on how to treat her let me know Please. Thanx Crystrena
what does her set up look like? do you have a uv light? are you using calcium/vitamin supplements? what is her feeding schedual? also, do you have a pest strip around? these are known to cause loss of coordination if not used properly.......
More info about her cage would be helpful. Have you taken her to a vet? I've seen lizards in very bad condition from MBD and they have recovered with plenty of TLC, UV light, and calcium supplements. So it may not be too late and except for the possible costs of liquid calcium from the vet (which may not be that much) there shouldn't be very much expense. Most of the work involves aiding her in feeding, giving her the supplements and supplementing the food, etc. She'll need a lot of babying, but besides an initial vet fee, it may be possible to treat her fairly inexpensively.
I am using a 5.0 repti-sun UVB light about 8 to 10 hours a day and I keep the temp around 95 at night but it gets alittle higher in the day around 103 The closest reptile vet is about 120 miles away from me so I have been consulting with him over the phone. He has pretty much told me she should be youthinized. I got a calcium supplement called miner-all (powder) that I am mixing with chicken baby food and feeding through a syringe. she isnt flipping over anymore but she is still having some trouble walking without falling down. What is MBD? Crystrena
MBD is Metabolic Bone Disease. It's essentially caused by a calcium deficiency. The bones become brittle and easily broken, animals become paralyzed, have seizures, muscle spasms, their jaws become softer, there can be curvature of the spine, and a ton of other issues. I'd turn the UV up to 12 hours a day. If her condition is improving in any way, then I'd hold off on any plans of euthanizing her. It is possible for them to recover from MBD with very few ill effects. A liquid calcium supplement would work better. You may be able to get one from a health foods store...I don't know. Your calcium supplement powder should be a calcium/D3 powder. The D3 is what helps them utilize the calcium properly. Check the label of Miner-All and see if it has vitamin D3 in it.
She is imporoving alot since I started feeding her the baby food and I wouldnt dream of youthinizing her unless it was absolutely nessecary to do so. The miner-all says Vitamin D3 4,400.00 I.U Her top and bottom jaws have both become very soft and her legs are kinda swollen but not as bad as they were the first week. She is actually starting to come out of her hide during the day and walking around I noticed her swimming this morning also. I was told that I should put some of the calcium supplement into pedialyte to keep her hydrated, Is this a good idea? I know this one is long but When I bought her I also bought her set up and was told by the pet store owner that the glass top was best for her enviroment and the UV lighting but I bought her a screen top yesterday on the advice of a friend. Could the glass top have been a factor? Thanx again soo much. Crystrena
Glass filters out UV light so she hasn't been getting anything from the light at all. Keeping her hydrated is very important. Pedialyte is fine, but since you are feeding her baby food, it's very moist so it's not crucial you provide it. But it wouldn't hurt. We always keep Pedialyte and Pediasure in our reptile first aid kit for occasions like this. sounds like she's doing much better. Have you tried offering her anything from her normal diet? The soft jaw is a definite sign of MBD. And the miner-all should be fine if it has D3. It's a shame that the vet suggested euthanasia so quickly. Sounds like maybe he doesn't have much experience with MBD. While it can cause irrepairable damage, and is a leading cause of death in many lizards, it is easily treated if caught soon enough. Sounds like you're doing everything you can to help and it seems to be working. Please keep us updated!
wow. how long have you had the glass top for her? my guess is that this would be the leading cause of this problem. because there has been no uv getting to her, the mineral supplement you have been using most likely hasent been benificial. like biochic said, the uv is needed for the D3 to be used. good luck, hope she does better soon! let us know how she progresses
reptile uv bulbs are junk, save your money. Your ambients are too high, you are cooking that poor thing, you need 120 F or so in one spot, the basking spot this can be achieved through common flood lights. Your ambients should stay around 80-85 and going down to the 70's at night, they can handle it. As far as food goes, feeding it baby food will only dehydrate it as it will cause loose stools. Feed it crickets, dust them with calcium powder of some sort, make sure its a D3 supplement, Minerall is great, as well as others. If you are using a screen lid, ditch it, you need to conserve the animals moisture as well, put in about 10 or so inches of yard dirt in the tank, plenty of hides, big water bowl, and a good hot spot. you will be good to go. Never let teh dirt dry out and if you have the proper cage set up it wont. good luck scott
she hasnt been able to catch the crickets because of the twitches in she has been having and when she was able to catch them she wasnt digesting them there were alot of whole pieces in her stool of the crickets. she seems to be diong alot better walking and she actually ate a pinkie today which she couldnt do before but now the end of her tail is dry and brittle with pink spots above it as if she has an infection or something I am really worried about what it might be. Thanx again everyone. Crystrena
I have an ackie that had a cage accident. In this accident he broke his neck, and apparently cause some nerve damage where he cant control alot of his movements, especially with his head. There for he cant catch crix roaches etc. So i now feed him chopped mice, i chop (frozen) mice into thin peices, then thaw them out, put in a dish and he can get them that way. Its gross, but in extreme circumstances its the best way as this way he can have a good balanced diet that will help his recovery better than crickets. This would be a good option for you, as feeding mice you wouldnt even need supplements, this ackie is about 11" tl its very small and can eat a whole chopped mouse in a sitting, it would be better than pinkies. give it a try, also focus on keeping your humidity up, from what you say it sounds like a bad case of dehydration as well. good luck scott moser
Thanx I will try the mice and see if she will take them. she is about 9 inches and can eat around 4 to 5 pinkies when she is well but I was told to keep them to a minimum. Should I still give her the miner-all? If so, how often? For the dehydration I have been giving her pedialyte should I add the miner-all to that? Crystrena
the miner-all supplement should be dusted on the crix, or live foods. in your situation, you should probably be doing this every feeding. how are they junk? they are needed! especially in this case with a monitor with some problems, i think it would be better to have one. if the substrate is any kind of dirt or soil, etc., she will have to water it so it will stay moist. this should be plenty enough humidity for a savannah. remember, too high humidity can lead to repiratory infections.
too much can cause issues yes, im saying if her cage is bone dry maybe she should try to trap some of that in for awhile until the animal is rehydrated, sight unseen its a guess to a problem that may or may not even be present that is up to her to decide. As for UV, no monitor anywhere has ever needed it in captivity, people have raised baby monitors in complete darkness with heat pads and shown normal growth and behavior to prove this. I have raised all my whitethroats, blackthroats, ackies, argus with only floodlights with no p roblem whatsoever. Given my animals werent compromised as apparently her savannah is, even so calcium supplement with a proper diet (not baby food) usually does the trick, the UV lighting is insignificant at this point. IF anything she should see a vet to get the proper stronger calcium supplement they have. There is also a liquid form of calcium supplemnt with D3 in it that you can dump down the monitors throat or add to the water if they are drinking regularly. UV lights are for bearded dragons and iguanas, animals that dont get the nessacary vitamin requirements out of thier regular diets. Monitors dont have that problem, especially rodent eating monitors. Check out the archives on other monitor forums, varanus.net kingsnake varanus.nl etc etc etc, its been debated too many times to start it again. happy hunting ASM
I think you've missed the point about the baby food. She was only feeding it the baby food because the lizard couldn't walk or eat on it's own and was having seizures. It's fairly obvious that this animal has MBD....a calcium deficiency. The UV light can only help her in this case, to utilize the calcium/D3 more effectively. She wasn't saying she only fed her baby food. It's all she could use to hand feed the calcium supplement and get SOMETHING into her stomach. As for everything else, I've already been over that with her regarding the calcium supplements and the vet. You don't have to add a supplement to the pedialyte as long as she's getting enough food with it (the supplement that is). Is she taking the pedialyte on her own or are you using a syringe? The sores on her tail could be infected...hard to say without seeing it. I did find this however on Melissa Kaplan's site (anapsid.org)...it could be a symptom of the MBD : I don't know for sure...like I said, I haven't seen it. But it just might be the case since MBD can lead to all kinds of systemic problems.
thanx guys I am not sure if she needs the UVB light or not I have heard alot of different opinions about it since she has gotten sick but from what I have heard I have come to the conclusion that it couldnt hurt and I am not worried about the money issue when it comes to getting her healthy again. I was worried about the drive to the vet since it is a very long drive and I live in Nevada so she would be in excessive heat and outside of the enviroment that she is used to but I have made her an appointment just to make sure that she is getting better nad not just looking as though she is. The babyfood was recommended by the vet to keep her from starving since she didnt eat for two weeks and he said it would keep her hydrated sine there is water added and at the time she wasnt drinking on her own. She is taking the pedialyte on her own now if I put a little water in it. I will keep everyone post on what the vet says but if he brings up putting her down I will just bring her home and keep treating her myself. Thanx again everyone.I knwo some people think it is silly but I am in love with scout and I really appreciate that you guys tried to help so much. It means alot. Crystrena
Good luck! Keep us posted. I'm glad you've decided to take her to the vet. The trip may be a little stressful, but she should be fine. Let us know what the vet says...we'll be thinking about you!!
I am getting scout ready for her long trip to the vet and hoping that she will forgive me for the stress it may cause when all is aid and done ( she does not like to be talken out of her cage and put into a new one) but I am sure it will be for the best. her tail hasnt gotten any worse but it doesnt seem to have gotten any better either. I dont want to take any chances. It means alot that you guys tried to help so much I love her alot so thank you much. I will keep everyone posted on what happens at the vet. Crystrena
