Ate Tomato Leaves

My 5-month-old dragon accidentally ate a few of my cherry tomato leaves and I'm very worried. I didn't know they were toxic.

I don't have any activated charcoal on hand unfortunately. I searched through old posts on here and fed him a slurry of parsley and cilantro (as it seems like that has some de-toxifying effects?). He ate around 3 small tomato leaves and I gave him about half a tablespoon of the parsley/cilantro slurry.

He is acting mostly normal right now and he ate the leaves about 30 minutes ago. His color is normal and he is actively walking around. He has pooped and eaten since then as well. However, he is gaping his mouth a little bit.

Our local exotic vet is closed right now and doesn't open till Monday morning, so it's not an option.

I have a CVS Pharmacy nearby and they have some activated charcoal products, but I have no idea what to buy. Would this work? https://www.cvs.com/shop/cvs-activate-charcoal-capsules-36ct-prodid-1660002

I know I made two big mistakes here, one by letting him eat the leaves and two by not having any activated charcoal on hand already. Is there anything else I can possibly give him right now? He isn't drinking much water. I'm thinking about force-feeding some water but I don't want to stress him out or choke him.

Yes those capsules will work. Just open them up to get the AC in them.

Do you have the weight of your dragon for dosing purposes?

Oral hydration is important too.

-Brandon

Hi Brandon,

I weighed him today and he's 214g.

Not sure what to do for oral hydration. I tried a water spray and soaking him for a few minutes, but he wasn't interested in drinking at all. He loves his greens, so I sprayed his salad with water for more moisture. He ate a bunch of crickets and small mealworms as well. Should I take a syringe and force-feed him some water?

Hello,

For now, if you don't have the charcoal yet, you can get some basil, oregano, mint, parsley
& blend it together & give a little in a slurry to help detoxify him.
I can help with dosing on the charcoal, if needed.

Tracie

Thank you Drache.

I saw you suggest this in some older posts, so I made him a slurry of parsley and cilantro yesterday.

I've been watching him carefully and he appears to be fine. It's the next morning now and there were no problems overnight. He is still gaping his mouth a bit, so maybe he is feeling some pain or indigestion. Otherwise he seems fine.

Please let me know how to dose the charcoal for future reference. His current weight is 214g, I'd really appreciate a dosing chart if you have one.

Sorry I didn't get back to you last night.

General dosing is 1-3mg of AC per gram of bodyweight. So for your guy at 214g, you'd be looking at 214mg-642mg of AC.
I'd probably just go with 1 of those caps you linked to.

I tend to suggest middle-low range if the toxin isn't too bad. Mix it with water to create a slurry and syringe feed it into the mouth. You can syringe water into the mouth too for oral hydration, just make sure you don't aim it straight back, but more towards the side of the mouth to help prevent aspiration.

But, at this point I don't think the AC is necessary. It's usually best to use it within a couple hours if you are going to. As long as he is eating and getting some hydration, any toxins should clear his system

-Brandon