help, my cwd fell....

[chineseh2o]

new to this whole lizard thing, and our lizard had an accident, and i don't know what to do....he climbed to the top of the glass cage, held himself upside down on the upper mesh top, and then fell down to the bottom. it's maybe 15 inches high. i found him all rigored, on his back, legs in the air. after some prodding with a finger, he flipped over, but has been lethargic. he seems to move ok, and nothing seems to be broken, but he's definately not the same lizard as the day before. oh, we've only had him for about 3 days. should i take him back, or will he get better? any comments would be appreciated

[stephanbakir]

I'd take him to a vet just in case.
Alternatively you can wait and see if he gets discolored, bloated or any other signs of injury but your probably fine.
If they get scared its normal for them to act differently for a while.

[Lankyrob]

I would want it checked out by a vet if it was mine, also make sure that he cant do the same thing again (animals can be stupid at times!!)

[chineseh2o]

Tanks to those who answered. Poor thing didn't make it thru the morning. We did the warm bath, which seemed to perk him up, but after putting him back in the cage....well, we spent the morning explaining to our son he wasn't bad luck and these things can happen. We're trying one more time, and opting for a slightly larger one and were also going to outfit the habitat with the terri-fogger. Any other suggestions?

[Jenn_06]

Awww sorry for you loss, What kind of lizard was it?

[Gungirl]

Tanks to those who answered. Poor thing didn't make it thru the morning. We did the warm bath, which seemed to perk him up, but after putting him back in the cage....well, we spent the morning explaining to our son he wasn't bad luck and these things can happen. We're trying one more time, and opting for a slightly larger one and were also going to outfit the habitat with the terri-fogger. Any other suggestions?

The only thing I would suggest is to make sure that the next one has no way of getting itself attached to the top of the cage ( screen lid I'm guessing) I'm not sure how but Maybe someone else will chime in with a great idea... Sorry for you and your sons loss :(

[Jenn_06]

if you can post a pic of the cage and tell us what type of lizard i think we can help so this will not happen again.

[Coffee Black]

I'm sorry that happened. Pet losses are always hard. Make sure there is a lot of stuff that reaches high. We've had a few harrowing moments with our water dragon. If something like that happens again and you find him/her on their back IMMEDIATELY flip them over. If they get knocked out silly they won't be able to right themselves. Same thing goes for never flipping them on their back. People seem to think " aww...when i flip him on his back he falls to sleep." We definitely thought that in the beginning until we found out otherwise. In all reality that compresses the lungs and they are diverting all energy on trying to breath. Get your new dragon. Let it chill for a week to get somewhat relaxed. Then get it checked out by a vet. Herp vet prices are usually pretty good for simple look overs. Take the first poop you find for a fecal check at the vet too. The brown poop, not the white. They are usually pretty cheap exams. Most water dragons are wild caught so internal parasites are common but can be cleared up pretty easily. Hope all goes well! I'm not an authority but we had chaos with our CWD and I learned a lot during that time.

[Gungirl]

if you can post a pic of the cage and tell us what type of lizard i think we can help so this will not happen again.

I'm pretty sure it's a Chinese Water Dragon (CWD)

[Jenn_06]

I'm pretty sure it's a Chinese Water Dragon (CWD)
Oh thanks did not see the CWD