Reptile Forum, Reptile Classifieds - CaptiveBred

[Wendy]

I think the thing that strikes me is that this has happened twice and both times you were there, is it coincidence or maybe you were handling her prior to putting her back in her viv and have left some scent on her ? do you have particularly hot hands ? do you wash them before picking her up and handling her? I think I would look along those lines before I thought about euthanasia to be honest. try to find out what is causing it, it may be scent related and as it occurs when you are there you may be the unwitting cause.. just my thoughts

[stargazerlily7]

ok so here's an update... she hasnt bitten herself since yesterday afternoon. she's in her 5 gal travel tank and i hate to leave her in the small space but if its making her not hurt herself then its worth it til tomorrow at least. i've been offering water here and there and shes drinking a fair amount. i started her on baytril today and my vet will hopefully do bloods tomorrow to see if she has elevated wbcs or something along those lines. i took her to work with me today because i didnt want to leave her alone and she pooped 3 or 4 times today, also pooped 4 times yesterday, very mucoid and somewhat bloody. i've collected a sample so my vet can check for parasites, amoebiasis, enteritis and all that fun stuff tomorrow. shes still staring at her tail a lot but for whatever reason shes not biting it now. her tank is being taken down tonite and im going to do a thorough cleaning of everything in it, new bedding and all that, so if theres anything in there thats bugging her it'll be gone. can anyone suggest a different type of bedding that might be good? i've been using yesterday's news for the past 2 years and she loves to bury herself in it but maybe something in it bugs her skin now... she's acting quite normal otherwise.

wendy~ i hadnt handled her in well over a week when she started up this time. i can't say i remember about last time. but i also never ever handle her unless its just after i've showered because i handle a lot of animals at work and such and im afraid of transmitting something to her. maybe one of the soaps that i use irritated her skin or something... but again i hadnt handled her in a while before this happened....

thanks everybody for all the thoughts and support! my spirits are up today because she seems to be doing better and i'm encouraged by the thought that this is, in fact, environmental, because then its something we can fix, as long as we figure out what "it" is. it's so frustrating to have a sick pet and to not have anybody who's heard of that pet's condition before! i'll post tomorrow after we get back from the vet and update you all.

~jess