Reptiles: is this an emergency?

A reptile's metabolism runs at roughly a tenth to a third of a similar-sized mammal's, so illness develops slowly and gets hidden for longer. That leads people to assume reptile problems are never urgent. Slow to develop is not the same as safe to ignore — once the signs below are visible, the clock is running.

Go now

Do not wait for morning. Drive, or call ahead and drive.

Tissue protruding from the vent

A prolapse. Exposed internal tissue dries out and dies quickly. Keep it moist with a water-based lubricant and go. Do not try to push it back in.

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Open-mouth breathing, bubbles at the nose or mouth, neck extended

Respiratory infection. Keep the animal at the top end of its correct temperature range on the way — warmth supports the immune system and thins the secretions.

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Seizures, a fracture from nothing, or a rubbery jaw

Metabolic bone disease has tipped from chronic into crisis. The disease itself builds over months from poor UVB or calcium; these signs are the point where it becomes an emergency.

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Retained shed forming a tight ring on a toe or the tail tip

Dried shed shrinks and acts as a tourniquet. If circulation is cut off long enough the tissue dies and the toe or tail tip has to come off.

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No droppings plus a lump and dragging back legs

Impaction, usually from swallowed substrate or food that was too big. A long warm soak sometimes shifts a mild one; back legs that are not working properly means go.

Be seen today

Call your vet for an appointment today, not next week.

Not eating, in a species that normally does

Corn snakes go off food for shed cycles and in winter and that is normal. A bearded dragon that stops eating is not.

A soft shell in a tortoise over six months old

Should be firm. Pliable means the calcium and UVB set-up is wrong.

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Sitting under the heat lamp constantly, or never going near it

Thermoregulation behavior is the earliest thing to change when a reptile feels unwell — or when the gradient is wrong.

Weight dropping

Weigh monthly. It is the most reliable single number you have.

Watch and write it down

Not an emergency. Note when it started and how often, and raise it at the next appointment.

Going off food before a shed

Normal in most species. Cloudy eyes and dull color tell you it is coming.

Brumation in winter

Reduced appetite and activity in the colder months is normal in several species. Weight should stay roughly stable — losing weight while brumating is not normal.

What normal looks like

Reptiles have no fixed vital signs — everything tracks the temperature they are kept at. The useful question is what the correct temperature range is for your species, and whether your enclosure actually provides it. Ask your vet for your species rather than trusting a general figure.

On the way

• Call aheadSo they can be ready when you arrive rather than starting from scratch. Say the species, the age, what you have seen and when it started.
• Take the packagingIf a substance is involved. Treatment for rat poison depends entirely on which of the five types it is, and you cannot tell from the color of the bait.
• Write down the timeWhen it started, how long a seizure lasted, when they last ate, when they last passed anything. You will not remember accurately once you are there.
• Keep the carrier dark and quietEspecially for birds, rabbits and cats. Stress alone makes a breathing problem worse, and in a bird in real distress the handling itself can kill.

What not to do

• Do not make them vomitNot unless a vet or a poison line has told you to. Salt can poison them, oil can go into the lungs, and for caustic substances it does more damage coming back up than it did going down.
• Do not give human painkillersOne regular acetaminophen tablet can kill an average cat. Ibuprofen ulcerates the stomach and damages the kidneys in both dogs and cats.
• Do not pull anythingNot string from a cat, not a stuck feather, not prolapsed tissue. Cut string if there is slack, keep tissue moist, and let a vet do the rest.
• Do not put your hands near the mouth during a seizureThey cannot control biting. Time it instead, and move furniture out of the way.
• Do not wait to see if it improves overnightThat sentence is on this page because it is the most common thing owners say afterwards.

Last reviewed October 2026. Written and maintained by Petdeals.io. General care information, not veterinary advice — for a sick animal, call a vet.