When to get your reptile to a veterinarian
Triage
Triage is the art of assigning priority to emergency patients and their problems based on rapid assessment of historical and physical parameters. The triage should take about 5 minutes. The goal is to quickly identify there is a problem so that they can be treated immediately. Perform a rapid, whole body exam looking for abnormalities.
Signs Requiring Veterinary Attention
Trauma including:
- – A broken shell, bone, or a cut that exposes a bone
- – Bleeding that cannot be stopped
- – An eye injury, the eye is out of the socket, or appears enlarged or protruding – A fight, especially if it was with a cat or a wild, or unvaccinated animal
- – Being hit by a moving object
- – Puncture or bite wounds
- – Any trauma to the head
- – A severe laceration, or an incision that has opened and the skin is gaping
- – Falling or jumping from a height of over 2 feet
- – Mishandling (e.g., squeezed by a child)
- – Broken or torn claws, digits, or tails
Has had heat or cold related injuries including:
- – Biting on an electrical cord and receiving a shock or burn
- – Burns or inhaled smoke
- – Heat stroke
- – Hypothermia
Has signs of gastrointestinal, urinary, or reproductive distress including:
- – Straining continually, but unable to produce feces or urates
- – Choking
- – Bloat (abdomen is enlarged and sounds hollow)
- – Swallowing a foreign body (e.g., cage decoration)
- – Feces or urine with an unusual color, consistency, or a foul smell
- – A prolapse or eversion at the cloaca or bleeding from the cloaca
- – Difficulty giving birth or producing an egg
- – An overdose of medication or suspected poisoning
Has signs of nervous system or muscular disease including:
- – Extreme lethargy or depression, unconsciousness, collapse, or coma
- – Seizures
- – A head tilt, nystagmus (eyes move rapidly from side to side), staggering, walking in circles, difficulty rising or righting itself, unable to use hind limbs, lying upside down, or other problems moving
- – Severe or continuous pain
- – Sudden inability to bear weight on one or more limbs
Has signs of heart or respiratory disease including:
- – Some difficulty breathing, shallow breathing at a faster rate (unassociated with physical exercise or mental temperature)
- – Discharge from nose or eyes
Has signs related to digestion or food and water consumption including:
- – Not eating a meal and acting depressed
- – Drinking water excessively
- – Changes in the frequency of passing feces or urine
- – Sudden weight loss or gain
- – An increase in the frequency of gaping
- – Changes in saliva, crusts around the mouth, or change in color of the inside of the mouth
Has changes in behavior, or signs of nervous system or muscular disease including:
- – Sudden change in behavior e.g., not coming out of hide box, or active at unusual times
- – Lethargy, depression, sleeping more than usual, unwillingness to move
- – Basking more or less often
- – Soaking more or less often
- – Tongue-flicking more or less often
- – Flinching when touched or picked up
- – Cloudy eyes, squinting, or appears to be unable to see
- – Lameness for over 24 hours
- – Loss of muscle tone
- – Swollen joints or jaw
Has signs associated with the skin including:
- – Abnormal shedding, retained eye spectacles, rubbing or scratching areas on the body, or head-banging
- – Abnormal lumps, bumps, or red areas
- – Scabs or abrasions
- – Ticks or mites
- – Abnormal color to skin or darkening of toes or tail