Lockjaw after hand-feeding live worms and crickets for the first time

I just wanted to let you know that my boy "Yoshi" has passed away. I was with him at the vet's twice and he said I should keep trying because he had a good weight and shape, but he just wouldn't open his mouth any more, so I had to force-feed him with a syringe and also give him water with a syringe (not into his air tube, but into the far back of his mouth). The second time when I went to the vet I actually asked him to put Yoshi down, but the vet insisted that I should keep trying and if I didn't want to force-feed him any more myself I should give him to a reptile rescue group rather than getting him killed. I asked the vet whether he was a buddhist and he said "yes". I asked twice and he said yes twice. I then went to the RSPCA reptile rescue centre in Brighton and showed Yoshi to them and they said that they couldn't believe that the vet wouldn't put him down, as he was obviously beyond any help and already dying. They gave me the details of another vet and I wanted to go there the next day, but Yoshi died naturally over night, wrapped in a cloth lying in the warmth on my desk. Although the vet did not give us a clear diagnosis (he said he would need to do tests costing hundreds of pounds) I think the reason was that Yoshi hasn't had any UV light since he got picked up from the pet shop by his previous owner, i.e. two years without a UV lamp. Instead his owner has bought a lamp which emitted some sort of light that would improve plant growth. Obviously the wrong advice from the pet shop staff. Yoshi did not show any bone deformations but he was losing control of his muscles, one after the other. When I got him he was very thin and his previous owner said, he could not understand why, as he had a dozen of locusts jumping around in his vivarium. After a few days I realised that Yoshi could not shoot his tongue - and that was the reason why he could only chew on leaves, but was unable to catch live insects. So I hand-fed him for five months and, although he gained body weight, I saw him getting weaker and losing control of one muscle after the other. At the end he could not even stand up any more. I find it sad that the vet was obviously not able or willing to shorten his suffering.
 

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I just wanted to let you know that my boy "Yoshi" has passed away. I was with him at the vet's twice and he said I should keep trying because he had a good weight and shape, but he just wouldn't open his mouth any more, so I had to force-feed him with a syringe and also give him water with a syringe (not into his air tube, but into the far back of his mouth). The second time when I went to the vet I actually asked him to put Yoshi down, but the vet insisted that I should keep trying and if I didn't want to force-feed him any more myself I should give him to a reptile rescue group rather than getting him killed. I asked the vet whether he was a buddhist and he said "yes". I asked twice and he said yes twice. I then went to the RSPCA reptile rescue centre in Brighton and showed Yoshi to them and they said that they couldn't believe that the vet wouldn't put him down, as he was obviously beyond any help and already dying. They gave me the details of another vet and I wanted to go there the next day, but Yoshi died naturally over night, wrapped in a cloth lying in the warmth on my desk. Although the vet did not give us a clear diagnosis (he said he would need to do tests costing hundreds of pounds) I think the reason was that Yoshi hasn't had any UV light since he got picked up from the pet shop by his previous owner, i.e. two years without a UV lamp. Instead his owner has bought a lamp which emitted some sort of light that would improve plant growth. Obviously the wrong advice from the pet shop staff. Yoshi did not show any bone deformations but he was losing control of his muscles, one after the other. When I got him he was very thin and his previous owner said, he could not understand why, as he had a dozen of locusts jumping around in his vivarium. After a few days I realised that Yoshi could not shoot his tongue - and that was the reason why he could only chew on leaves, but was unable to catch live insects. So I hand-fed him for five months and, although he gained body weight, I saw him getting weaker and losing control of one muscle after the other. At the end he could not even stand up any more. I find it sad that the vet was obviously not able or willing to shorten his suffering.
So sorry to hear that, heartbreaking.
 
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