Exotic Animal Formulary5

• Lack of UVA and UVB light spectrum
• Renal disease
• Other: low ambient temperature, protein deficiency, small intestinal disease, parathyroid
disease, etc.
Clinical Signs
• Lethargy, reluctance to move
• Poor appetite or anorexia
• Weight loss or poor weight gain
• Softening of the mandible; shortened/rounded mandible and maxilla; symmetrical
swelling of the mandible (fibrous osteodystrophy)
• Fibrous osteodystrophy of the long bones of the legs
• Difficulty in lifting body off ground when walking
• Pathologic fractures
• Ataxia, paresis, or paralysis of the rear legs due to collapsed vertebrae or vertebral
luxation
• Osteoporosis
• Hypocalcemic muscle fasciculations and seizures
• Soft shell in chelonians
• Constipation
• Inability to evert/replace hemipenes
Diagnosis
• Dietary and environmental history
• Clinical signs
• Physical examination
• Radiography
• Serum Ca:P ratio; usually inverse (1:2+) with renal etiology
• Uric acid levels
• Ionized calcium levels
• Calcidiol (25-hydroxyvitamin D) levels (Michigan State University)
• UV meter readings of enclosure
• Dual energy x-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) scan
• Determination of glomerular filtration rate
• Renal nuclear medicine
• Renal biopsy
Treatment
• Provide species-correct environmental temperature ranges for day and night
• Correct diet as needed; usually changing to improve calcium:phosphorus ratio
• Use species-appropriate UVA/UVB lighting arrangement
• Use fluorescent or mercury vapor bulbs, or light emitting plasma lamps
• Provide areas to hide, as corneal and skin burns can occur
• In general:
• Desert-dwelling diurnal lizards/chelonians, high UVB levels (10% or full
unfiltered sun, 6 hr)
• Diurnal arboreal lizards/semiaquatic basking chelonians, moderate levels of UVB
(5%, 4 hr)
• Diurnal terrestrial lizards/chelonians from forested environment, low levels of
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