While people are used to getting good veterinary care for their dog or cat, as well as their horse or farm animals, it is also important to have a good relationship with a veterinarian for those animal guardians who own pocket pets such as hamsters, guinea pigs, rabbits, etc as well as more exotic species and reptiles such as snakes and iguanas. While the pet store employee can be a source of information, as well as books, I highly recommend any new guardian of any of these species make at least an initial visit to the veterinarian to learn more about the proper care and husbandry of these animals.
There is a lot of misinformation out there, especially when it comes to nutritional care of these animals. For example so many new reptile owners overfeed these pets animal proteins and/or pet foods, when the bulk of the diet for an iguana for example, should be fresh leguminous veggies. Nutritional imbalances and deficiencies are amongst the leading cause of diseases in these pets, so it is important to learn from the start what the ideal nutritional requirement of each of these species is. However, when choosing a veterinarian to care for these animals, I would screen these vets on their background and training in treating these pets, as not all small animal veterinarians are qualified to take care of such pets.
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2 Comments
help me with my injured lizard thatw was attacked by my dog i already feed it 2 mealworms that were my geekos and i put some neosporin on its bleeding foot
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Dr. Michael Dym, VMD veterinarian Reply:
November 27th, 2011 at 11:53 pm
Need to bring lizard to exotics vet for likely antibiotic script. You can use a homepathic remedy like arnica in 30c potency one pellot twice daily fr 2-3 days, as well as homeopathic remedy ledum 30c potency one pellot twice daily for injurd foot until vet attention.
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goober Reply:
November 28th, 2011 at 5:52 pm
thankyou!!!! i already release it back into the wild
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where can i get revolution for my guinea pig? and how much do i give him?
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Dr. Michael Dym, VMD veterinarian Reply:
January 3rd, 2012 at 5:12 pm
Need script from vet. I would call pfizer to find out exact dose for this species.
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