 Recent Herp Discussion | | | | | | | |  | | 
02-Feb-07, 08:10 PM
|  | Regular Member | Join Date: Jan-07 Location: sydney | | |
Has anyone had thier lizards or monitors sexed by x-ray. My freind is a vet and x-rayed our pair of sub-adult bearies, He reckons he looks for eggs but I know this is not the case. He's not a reptile vet, but hey, it's a free x-ray so I thought what the heck. Is it expensive to get the right vet to do it? Any info would be greatly appreciated. |
02-Feb-07, 08:17 PM
|  | Has Happy Herps.... Sponsor | Join Date: Aug-03 Location: SYDNEY | | | | You shouldn't X-ray gravid animals. It is not good for the eggs. You should ultrasound them, much easier and harmless. I have had a spencers x-rayed for hemipenal bones, but weren't visible, it was 3 ft long, so maybe not yet developed?? It was a male as he popped his hemipenes when we were x-raying him.
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02-Feb-07, 09:04 PM
|  | IrRegular Member Subscriber | Join Date: Oct-06 Location: Melbourne Age/Gender: 17  | | | | i had a blue tongue ultra sounded. |
03-Feb-07, 08:18 PM
|  | Regular Member | Join Date: Sep-06 Location: Melbourne, Australia | | | | Ultrasound is good, but xrays are often used to detect the presence of eggs. |
03-Feb-07, 08:27 PM
| | Suspended | Join Date: Jul-04 Location: Not on APS Gender: | | | Quote:
Originally Posted by timthevet  Ultrasound is good, but xrays are often used to detect the presence of eggs. | Everytime we had our gravid turtles X-rayed the eggs were sterilised. Each time we used a turtle that consistently laid fertile eggs. The year after, each animal was not x-rayed and the eggs were fertile and hatched! The results speak for themselves!
Cheers,
Craig
ps the x-rays were taken for a book I am writing! |
03-Feb-07, 08:33 PM
| | Suspended | Join Date: Jul-04 Location: Not on APS Gender: | | | | Forgot to mention- This year we went on a number of training camps with the Qld EPA staff of the Queensland Turtle Research team and were shown how to do ultrasound and Laparoscopies. With the Laparoscopy you can tell what sex the turtle is even if it is a juvenile, whether it has bred at any time in it's life before, whether it has bred that season, how many clutches it has laid that season and if the male has produced sperm that season!
Cheers,
Craig |
04-Feb-07, 01:56 AM
|  | Regular Member | Join Date: Sep-06 Location: BLUE MOUNTAINS Age: 32 | | | | Would Laparoscopies. work on all reptiles or is it solely for turtles ? |
04-Feb-07, 10:43 PM
| | Regular Member | Join Date: Sep-06 Location: Melbourne, Australia | | | Quote:
Originally Posted by expansa1 Everytime we had our gravid turtles X-rayed the eggs were sterilised. Each time we used a turtle that consistently laid fertile eggs. The year after, each animal was not x-rayed and the eggs were fertile and hatched! The results speak for themselves!
Cheers,
Craig
ps the x-rays were taken for a book I am writing! | So because one animal had xrays - it must have been them that caused the eggs to be sterile? I think you need to collect a bit more data - no statistical significance with that. I have heard of many turtle eggs that have been xrayed and were fine. |
04-Feb-07, 11:03 PM
| | Has Happy Herps.... Sponsor | Join Date: Aug-03 Location: SYDNEY | | | Quote:
Originally Posted by timthevet So because one animal had xrays - it must have been them that caused the eggs to be sterile? I think you need to collect a bit more data - no statistical significance with that. I have heard of many turtle eggs that have been xrayed and were fine. | Like anything, there will always be exceptions to the rule. I have also heard of animals loosing eggs due to x-rays. So which is the exception to the rule.......X-rays will cause infertile eggs or they won't cause fetile eggs??? Either way, is it worth losing a clutch of eggs at the chance they x-ray 'may not' cause damage. I would rather try an ultrasound any day. JMO
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04-Feb-07, 11:06 PM
| | Regular Member | Join Date: Sep-06 Location: BLUE MOUNTAINS Age: 32 | | | | I dont think pregnant women are allowed xrays only ultrasounds |
04-Feb-07, 11:16 PM
| | Regular Member | Join Date: Sep-06 Location: Melbourne, Australia | | | | In my experience and from numerous other vets, books and resources, the risk is minimal. As with any x-ray though, benefits should be weighted against risks ie. the benefit of diagnosing certain problems regularly outweighs any risks. |
04-Feb-07, 11:27 PM
|  | Subscriber | Join Date: Nov-06 Location: North Shore, Sydney Age/Gender: 55 | | | Quote: |
With the Laparoscopy you can tell what sex the turtle is even if it is a juvenile, whether it has bred at any time in it's life before, whether it has bred that season, how many clutches it has laid that season
| Do you have to make an incision under anaesthetic for that?
Allan http://turtletownsydney.tripod.com |
04-Feb-07, 11:50 PM
|  | Regular Member | Join Date: Dec-06 Location: Mornington Peninsula Gender:  | | | | I have had my large monitors x-rayed to determine sex, I doubt that I would x-ray a gravid animal when ultrasound is available.
Attached are the photos. The first is of the male showing the ossified hemipenes. The second is a closeup.
Cheers |
05-Feb-07, 11:07 AM
| | Regular Member | Join Date: Sep-06 Location: Melbourne, Australia | | | | Xrays would be indicated even in gravid animals in numerous cases ie. bone and lung conditions where xrays are superior to ultrasound. Pretty much all veterinary literature would also mention xrays as a form of pregnancy diagnosis. |
05-Feb-07, 05:37 PM
| | Regular Member | Join Date: Jan-07 Location: sydney | | | | thanks inkslinger, what were the monitors and how old were they when you had them x-rayed?, was it expensive? | | |
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