Can any Vet say they are a reptile Vet?

[chamlover]

I live in NH and we only have 2 vets within an hour and 1/2 from us and i have been bringing my chams and my torts to 1. But when i brought my melleri he said he had never seen one before and when i brought my egg-bound panther i don't think he had ever seen one before. He was surpirised to find out how long it took the eggs to incubate, which tells me he really doesn't know much, but he is on the list for reptile vets. Do they get any special ed or can any vet have their name put on the list? Just wondering.

 

[dodolah]

well.. a reptile vet does not necessarily mean he knows about chameleon.
You should ask the vet be4 hand to see if he is familiar with chameleon be4 visit.

 

[lonomac]

Ive had this happen a couple times. Just talking to my so called reptile vet for a few minutes convinced me i knew more about chams than they did. They may know a lot about reptiles in general so they're not completely faking it, but Chams are unique compared to most others imo.

 

[chamlover]

So what do you do? I absolutely know more about chams. I think he is familiar with birds, but not reptiles. There is another vet about 1 hour or so int he other direction. Maybe i'll give them a call to see if they know anymore. After that i'm in trouble if my chams get sick. Any suggestions as to what questions to ask. I did ask before i went if he was familiar and if he had worked with chams and the such and they said oh yes he works with them all the time. I like him and all, but i think if any of my chams was to get really sick i would be in trouble without a knowledgeable vet.

 

[LaserGecko]

A veterinarian friend of mine told me that they all have to take a course or two in exotics, but it's like any other kind of medicine with specialties requiring additional courses. IIRC, it's like a semester introductory course that's required of everyone.

For example, they all know that the dosage of antibiotics for reptiles is different than cats, but a reptile vet wouldn't have to look up the dosage.

This guy was actually a large animal vet that was in the play we were rehearsing at the time. The back of his office looked like the stockyards with loading chutes and such. However, when a friend of mine had burmese with URI, he said he'd be happy to help and that he knew just the guy to call for a consultation. A buddy of his from school was a reptile breeder and specialist.

It's entirely possible that one of us would know more about some details like morphs and incubation periods of chameleons than even a reptile specialist vet, but that doesn't mean the vet doesn't know what he or she is doing. We study them as a hobby and a passion and tend to focus pretty narrowly on them.

A veterinarian has to know virtually everything about virtually every animal, but they will either know or have access to more detailed information than an average hobbyist can handle. Some of them won't touch reptiles with a ten foot pole.

Until you know how to draw blood and analyze it, your vet still knows more than you.

 

[bg77]

A veterinarian friend of mine told me that they all have to take a course or two in exotics, but it's like any other kind of medicine with specialties requiring additional courses. IIRC, it's like a semester introductory course that's required of everyone.

For example, they all know that the dosage of antibiotics for reptiles is different than cats, but a reptile vet wouldn't have to look up the dosage.

This guy was actually a large animal vet that was in the play we were rehearsing at the time. The back of his office looked like the stockyards with loading chutes and such. However, when a friend of mine had burmese with URI, he said he'd be happy to help and that he knew just the guy to call for a consultation. A buddy of his from school was a reptile breeder and specialist.

It's entirely possible that one of us would know more about some details like morphs and incubation periods of chameleons than even a reptile specialist vet, but that doesn't mean the vet doesn't know what he or she is doing. We study them as a hobby and a passion and tend to focus pretty narrowly on them.

A veterinarian has to know virtually everything about virtually every animal, but they will either know or have access to more detailed information than an average hobbyist can handle. Some of them won't touch reptiles with a ten foot pole.

Until you know how to draw blood and analyze it, your vet still knows more than you.

Very well said.......

 

[joefarah]

Agreed, that was very well said. I'd just like to add on a side note that one thing that makes any vet a valuable resource is that they are able to prescribe antibiotics and other things that are unavailable to most people. They also have formal training in establishing correct dosage sizes, whereas many novices treat their own animals in imprecise and potentially dangerous ways. I've seen it.

Thanks,

Joe

 

[Kent67]

My next door neighbor is a vet. He let me in on a couple of things. First is that they do only have to take a couple courses in exotics. He wouldn't call himself a herp vet, but i saw the White's tree frog that he had reattached severed fingers to. In this day and age, the vets have forums like these for asking each other questions. Most clinics also belong to an online resource with an UNBELIEVEABLE amount of case histories (even lots about chameleons) written by vets. He told me he was gonna come over, log onto the site, and let me just download away....

Also, a couple weeks ago I went to see the "Reptile Specialist" at one of the San Diego pet specialty hospitals and was honestly very impressed with his knowledge and diagnosis of what happened to our cham. I think we're very fortunate in the SD area to have a number of vets in the county who are very experienced with chameleons now. It wasn't always like that though.

Here's the important part: If you know ahead of time that you don't have access to a herp vet, you need to become prepared to start making diagnoses. Scower the web, buy all the books with medical info, do all the research you can....I have found that if you have a good relationship with your dog/cat vet and you can present your chameleon in an intelligent way that shows you know what the problem is and what is needed, they will help you. URI's, minor infections (mouth infections), parasites, etc are all things that your neighborhood vet should be able to help you treat if you know what's going on when you walk in.

 

[bg77]

Almost all Vets in my area will refer anyone with Reptiles and/or Exotics to my Vet. He has many, many years of experience with exotics. Does he know everything that I know about Veiled Chameleons???? No. But he knows the important medical stuff that I dont. Shoot my Vet has done surgery on a Giant goldfish years ago. Go figure, was all over the news.

 

[LaserGecko]

That's really cool, bg77. I can see having it done, too. Miranda, my enormous Oranda that I raised from a baby was precious to me. Damned columnaris took her and everything in the tank. Her tail fin was almost a foot long tip to tip.

One of my customers is a vet student. I'm going to ask if he's seen this thread yet since he could provide some valuable insight.

My reptile vet (Dr. Kolmstetter) came highly recommended by a friend of mine who was Gildah's (the elephant from Siegfried & Roy's show) trainer and all around exotic animal guy: "If she can give a rattlesnake an enema, she can handle your uros."

 

[LaserGecko]

Here's the reply from one of my customers who is a currently enrolled vet student:

I agree that it can often be frustrating, as an experienced reptile
owner, to take an animal into the veterinarian and not have them know much
about the species in question. The fact of the matter is that even for an
exotics "specialist" to know everything about the husbandry requirements of
reptiles would be virtually impossible. Combine that with rabbits, ferrets,
pocket pets, amphibians, and birds, and one can see how it becomes
extremely difficult to know even a small amount about the requirements and
medicine of all of these animals. It is the job of the herpetoculturist to
know and understand the husbandry requirements of the animals he/she keeps,
but in the event that an animal becomes ill, one can expect their
veterinarian to have a variety of references at their disposal, including
the Veterinary Information Network (VIN) site mentioned in another post,
veterinary literature, etc. These resources can be helpful in interpreting
difficult cases. In terms of what to expect from a "specialist", a
knowledgeable reptile veterinarian should feel comfortable with phlebotomy,
should be familiar with reptile parasites, should have some surgical
experience, and should be comfortable in interpreting results obtained from
common diagnostic procedures. With these resources, veterinarians are
usually able to make an appropriate diagnosis, and to treat an animal in
accordance with the standards set forth by modern medicine. That being
said, chameleons are a difficult group to treat, and are not that common
among the general population (Veileds being the exception). In 5 years as a
technician, working almost exclusively with exotics, I have seen just one
Panther Chameleon in practice. To be honest, I don't think the
veterinarians I worked for at the time would know the incubation period of
chameleon eggs off-hand. However, the animal was successfully treated for a
bacterial infection, and signs resolved.

In conclusion, most veterinarians are eager to learn more about
reptiles and view knowledgeable reptile owners as a valuable resource in
developing husbandry recommendations. In response to the original post, I
suggest working with the veterinarian in question. Annual bloodwork and a
physical exam can help to nip health problems in the bud, and avoid
emergencies and expensive critical therapy (often unrewarding in the case
of chameleons). Also, I am just a veterinary student, and by no means an
expert on reptile medicine.

Good luck with the Meller's; they are awesome beasts!