Baskden a warm den for reptile folk

🩺 Your free vet-prep sheet

Your Caiman Lizard Vet-Prep Sheet

Reptile vets are rare, and it is easy to freeze in a crisis. This is the one page to have ready — how to find a vet, what to bring, what to tell them, and the questions to ask. This helps you prepare for a visit — it is not a way to treat at home. Print it and keep it with your care notes.

Black & white saves ink and prints cleanly on any printer.

Not sure it’s a vet trip yet? Try the Is this normal? triage first — many worries turn out to be a husbandry fix.

Baskden a warm den for reptile folk · baskden.com
Caiman Lizard — Vet-Prep Sheet

🔍 Find a reptile / exotics vet — before you need one

  • Search the ARAV Find-a-Vet directory (the Association of Reptilian & Amphibian Veterinarians), or in the UK the RCVS Find-a-Vet — or search "reptile / exotics vet near me".
  • Call ahead and ask the key question: "Do you see reptiles?" Not every practice does.
  • Ask the exam fee when you call. Knowing the cost up front removes the money-panic in a crisis.
  • Find and save one now, while things are calm — not in the middle of an emergency.

📇 Fill this in now — before the crisis

Two minutes now saves ten in a panic. Print it and keep it with your care notes.

My reptile vet
My caiman lizard
What I'm seeing

🚨 Is this an emergency now?

See a reptile vet promptly if you notice any of these:

  • Not eating, lethargy, or noticeable weight loss for more than a week or two - see an exotics vet.
  • Swollen or soft jaw/limbs, tremors, or reluctance to move (possible metabolic bone disease from poor UVB/calcium).
  • Wheezing, open-mouth breathing, bubbles or mucus around the nose/mouth (possible respiratory infection).
  • Retained shed, especially around toes, tail or eyes, or cloudy/swollen eyes.
  • Runny stool, worms in feces, or a new import that seems unwell (parasites are common - get a fecal check).
  • Any wound, skin infection, or scale rot from dirty water - clean water problems show up on the skin fast.

When in doubt, a vet call is never wrong — most issues are reversible if caught early.

🚗 On the way / while you wait

✅ Do

  • Keep it warm at a safe transport temperature — a cold reptile crashes fast (a warm car or a covered container with a warm, not hot, pack helps).
  • Keep it calm, dark and quiet in a secure, ventilated container — stress makes almost everything worse.
  • Bring it in its own container so the vet sees it as it lives.

⛔ Don't

  • Don’t offer food, or any OTC, aquarium-shop or online-forum remedy — many are useless or harmful and can mask the signs.
  • Don’t let it get cold on the way in.
  • Don’t handle it more than you must.

🎒 What to bring

  • A short video and a couple of clear photos of the behaviour or sign — it may not show it in the clinic.
  • A note of your setup (basking, cool-side and night temperatures, UVB, humidity, substrate) and exactly what — and how often — you feed.
  • Your reptile, transported safely in its own secure, ventilated container — kept warm (see below), not in a cold car.

🗣️ What to tell the vet

A general vet may not know this species. Come ready to explain its correct care:

Temperature
Hot basking spot on the land/branch side. Aim for an air basking zone around 100-105 F; keepers who measure the actual basking SURFACE with an IR temp gun target roughly 120-130 F on the perch under the lamp. Verify with a thermometer/IR gun, never guesswork. Cool end / ambient roughly 70-80 F, with the warm side sitting 80-90 F, giving a clear thermal gradient across the enclosure. A mild night drop is fine, but do not let temperatures fall below about 75 F.
UVB & lighting
Yes, real UVB is required for calcium metabolism and to prevent metabolic bone disease. Use a high-output linear T5 HO tube such as an Arcadia Desert 12% or Zoo Med ReptiSun T5 HO 10.0 (46 in), mounted over the basking branch and replaced on the manufacturer's schedule. Pair it with bright 6500K daytime lighting and run an 11-13 hour photoperiod (shorter in winter, longer in summer).
Humidity
High: target 70-80%, and do not let it sit below 60%. The large heated pool does a lot of the work; supplement with misting or a fogger/humidifier and good ventilation to avoid stagnant, mold-prone air.
Enclosure
Think room-sized, not tank-sized. Modern best-practice minimum for one adult is about 8 ft L x 4 ft W x 6 ft H; some older care sheets list 6 x 3 x 4 ft as the floor, but bigger is genuinely better for a swimming, climbing animal. The single most important feature is a large WATER area: a pool taking up roughly one-third to one-half of the floor, at least 12 in deep for adults (20 in is even better) so the lizard can fully submerge and swim, held at about 78 F (range 75-85 F) with a submersible aquarium heater. Water fouls FAST with this messy shellfish-eater: run a large, high-quality external/aquarium filter AND still do full water changes at least weekly, often 2-3x weekly, scrubbing the basin before refilling. On the LAND side, provide sturdy climbing branches under the basking lamp, since wild caiman lizards perch on limbs over water and dive in to escape.
Substrate
On the land side, a moisture-holding mix such as cypress mulch blended with organic topsoil (and a little sand) works well, kept several inches deep (about 6 in) and fully replaced roughly every 3-4 months. Avoid dusty or dry substrates that fight the humidity you are trying to hold.
Diet
A shellfish specialist. In the wild they crush freshwater snails, clams, crayfish and crabs with molar-like rear teeth, plus some fish, amphibians and invertebrates. In captivity feed canned/whole snails (a staple), crayfish/crawfish, shrimp, whole fish, plus superworms, dubia roaches, hornworms and earthworms, with occasional egg or small rodent and small amounts of non-citrus fruit. Prey should be no larger than the lizard's skull. Feed juveniles daily; adults about 2-3x per week.
Supplements
Lightly dust feeder items (except whole prey like rodents/fish) with a quality calcium-plus-vitamin-D3 supplement such as Repashy Calcium Plus LoD; some keepers add a multivitamin weekly and calcium a couple of times weekly. UVB does much of the D3 work, so avoid stacking heavy D3 dosing on top of strong UVB.

⚕️ Reptiles are ectotherms kept at species-specific temperatures — a cold reptile can’t metabolise medicines properly, so tell the vet your exact temperatures and keep it warm for transport. Reptiles are prey animals and hide illness until it is advanced, so early changes matter. Mention your UVB/lighting and any supplements or remedies you’ve already used, and ask for reptile-safe products and doses.

Then note which of the warning signs (above) you are seeing, when they started, and whether they are getting worse.

❓ Questions to ask

  • Do you routinely see reptiles? If not, can you refer me to a vet who does?
  • What are the likely causes — and could my setup or diet be contributing?
  • What is the treatment plan, the likely cost, and what should I watch for at home?
  • How do I prevent this from happening again?