Hi all - I am new the forums and am looking for advice for a new rescue we took in recently. The history is that it is a sub-adult, likely wild caught Meller's, unknown sex (for the time being, we refer to it as a him since all unknown sexes here are called males). He came to us about 3 weeks ago from a raid on a pet store where over 100 animals were pulled in varying conditions of emaciation/starvation, dehydration, URIs/pneumonia and, in general, very serious cases of neglect and inhumane treatment.
He was in to the emergency vet the night of pickup to get a fluid dose to start him on and then also to the regular vet the day after intake. The intake weight was 178 grams, and the outcome of the vet visit was being told he was obviously underweight, extremely dehydrated, had an abrasion on the rostrum that was through to the SQ layer of the skin and had a ruptured and infected right eye. We started him on warmed SQ fluids daily, Fortaz injections, Silvadene topical cream for the abrasion and obviously working on getting him to eat.
On the first recheck (7 days later), we found that the infection in the right eye was resolving, however the globe is obliterated. His hydration status was moved to normal, his weight was at 190 grams but still underweight. We continued with the Fortaz and Silvadene, but discontinued the fluids.
The problem we are running into with this guy is that he cannot hit his targets. He misses everything he aims at by several inches. We've been working on tong feeding, but it usually takes 3-5 attempts (or more) per prey item and he generally gets frustrated and then refuses to try any more. He also will ONLY take crickets at this point - we've been working on trying to vary the diet, but to no avail. If we offer anything except crickets, he will make it obvious he isn't interested and will then refuse any food item offered for the next 24 hours or so. We gutload all of our insects for a minimum of a week prior to feeding out - lots of assorted fresh leafy greens, fruits, and grains (usually ground granola, baby rice cereal, oatmeal etc). Supplements are being given as recommended by the vet due to medical conditions - NeoCal liquid twice a week, vitamin/mineral supplement three times a week. We will alter supplementation as needed during recovery.
He also cannot figure out how to drink on his own. We've been working on offering water via syringe and he's been tolerating it to an extent, but actually has figured out how to drink from the glass of water used to refill the syringe. He is very uncoordinated and needs to be assisted. He cannot figure out how to drink from the foliage at all - he misses every single time he tries. I would like to try to leave a small water dish for him in the cage, but he's not very good with his movements at this point yet either - he's very clumsy and really cannot maneuver well at all thus I am hesitant for fear he will injure himself with it.
Housing wise, he is in a screen cage that I know is too small for him (it was the starter cage we used for a adolescent veiled a few years back), but we wanted a small enclosure to help making capture for all the medications and fluids a little easier and less stressful. We also wanted to be able to watch more closely the potential of him eating/drinking on his own. Once we no longer need to routinely catch him, he'll be moving into a 48" tall X 36" wide X 24" deep setup with medium grade wire mesh sides (retired custom iguana cage). We've been keeping as best as possible to alternating ambient humidity for him - usually ranging 20 to 75 or 80% with a minimum of 3 solid misting sessions a day, plus running a drip system while we are not home. My automatic mister died on me (we're waiting on the replacement part -should be here any day now) just after he got here, so I am having to do it all by hand right now. Temperatures range nicely for him - basking spot has consistently been in the high 80s to low 90s (checked via temp gun), ambient temperature grades in cage to the coolest of areas being in the low to mid 70s during the day. At night, the entire enclosure ranges upper 60s to mid 70s depending on the house. He has a ReptiSun 5.0 bulb as well. Lights are on a timer - 12 hours on/12 off right now.
Essentially, I am looking for any advice that can be offered for this guy. He's still fairly laid back personality wise - although I still consider him to be ill and trying to adjust to only having one eye. I'd like to get him eating a better diet and also get more weight on him, but do it with as little stress as possible. We've been working hard to save this guy and I am honestly willing to go to any extent to do what is best for him. We will be into the vet the beginning of this week for another recheck, we will also be taking in a fecal sample this week so we can get him dewormed as I'm willing to bet he has parasites. His weight did break 200 grams this week (201 as of last night), so I am hopeful that he'll keep going in the right direction. The pictures here are his intake photos.
Thanks in advance for any advice - I want to give this guy the best chances we can to have a happy, healthy life!
He was in to the emergency vet the night of pickup to get a fluid dose to start him on and then also to the regular vet the day after intake. The intake weight was 178 grams, and the outcome of the vet visit was being told he was obviously underweight, extremely dehydrated, had an abrasion on the rostrum that was through to the SQ layer of the skin and had a ruptured and infected right eye. We started him on warmed SQ fluids daily, Fortaz injections, Silvadene topical cream for the abrasion and obviously working on getting him to eat.
On the first recheck (7 days later), we found that the infection in the right eye was resolving, however the globe is obliterated. His hydration status was moved to normal, his weight was at 190 grams but still underweight. We continued with the Fortaz and Silvadene, but discontinued the fluids.
The problem we are running into with this guy is that he cannot hit his targets. He misses everything he aims at by several inches. We've been working on tong feeding, but it usually takes 3-5 attempts (or more) per prey item and he generally gets frustrated and then refuses to try any more. He also will ONLY take crickets at this point - we've been working on trying to vary the diet, but to no avail. If we offer anything except crickets, he will make it obvious he isn't interested and will then refuse any food item offered for the next 24 hours or so. We gutload all of our insects for a minimum of a week prior to feeding out - lots of assorted fresh leafy greens, fruits, and grains (usually ground granola, baby rice cereal, oatmeal etc). Supplements are being given as recommended by the vet due to medical conditions - NeoCal liquid twice a week, vitamin/mineral supplement three times a week. We will alter supplementation as needed during recovery.
He also cannot figure out how to drink on his own. We've been working on offering water via syringe and he's been tolerating it to an extent, but actually has figured out how to drink from the glass of water used to refill the syringe. He is very uncoordinated and needs to be assisted. He cannot figure out how to drink from the foliage at all - he misses every single time he tries. I would like to try to leave a small water dish for him in the cage, but he's not very good with his movements at this point yet either - he's very clumsy and really cannot maneuver well at all thus I am hesitant for fear he will injure himself with it.
Housing wise, he is in a screen cage that I know is too small for him (it was the starter cage we used for a adolescent veiled a few years back), but we wanted a small enclosure to help making capture for all the medications and fluids a little easier and less stressful. We also wanted to be able to watch more closely the potential of him eating/drinking on his own. Once we no longer need to routinely catch him, he'll be moving into a 48" tall X 36" wide X 24" deep setup with medium grade wire mesh sides (retired custom iguana cage). We've been keeping as best as possible to alternating ambient humidity for him - usually ranging 20 to 75 or 80% with a minimum of 3 solid misting sessions a day, plus running a drip system while we are not home. My automatic mister died on me (we're waiting on the replacement part -should be here any day now) just after he got here, so I am having to do it all by hand right now. Temperatures range nicely for him - basking spot has consistently been in the high 80s to low 90s (checked via temp gun), ambient temperature grades in cage to the coolest of areas being in the low to mid 70s during the day. At night, the entire enclosure ranges upper 60s to mid 70s depending on the house. He has a ReptiSun 5.0 bulb as well. Lights are on a timer - 12 hours on/12 off right now.
Essentially, I am looking for any advice that can be offered for this guy. He's still fairly laid back personality wise - although I still consider him to be ill and trying to adjust to only having one eye. I'd like to get him eating a better diet and also get more weight on him, but do it with as little stress as possible. We've been working hard to save this guy and I am honestly willing to go to any extent to do what is best for him. We will be into the vet the beginning of this week for another recheck, we will also be taking in a fecal sample this week so we can get him dewormed as I'm willing to bet he has parasites. His weight did break 200 grams this week (201 as of last night), so I am hopeful that he'll keep going in the right direction. The pictures here are his intake photos.
Thanks in advance for any advice - I want to give this guy the best chances we can to have a happy, healthy life!
