They must go to the vet, especially after you first adopt.
Veterinary care is very important for all animals, whether you've adopted a dog, cat, bird, hamster, snake, frog, lizard, etc. It's just as important as medical care for people. Remember, this is an innocent life that you've taken into your hands, and you should treat it as such. They can't tell you when they don't feel well, so you'll have to make periodic visits to the vet to make sure that they're ok.
This is especially true of reptiles and amphibians. Herps are not domesticated animals, like dogs and cats, so they will continue to behave according to their natural instincts that they would have in the wild. In the wild, an animal that shows weakness is a dead animal. So while you may be able to tell more easily if there's something wrong with Fluffy the kitten, Spike the uromastyx is going to make you think that he couldn't be better, even if he is on the verge of death.
Qualified herp vets are not only trained to tell whether something is wrong with animals, they are trained to tell whether something is wrong with reptiles and amphibians.
This brings me to the "when you first adopt" part. I just told you that Spike the uromastyx is going to make you think that he couldn't be better, even if he is on the verge of death, because of his natural instincts as a reptile. The link in the paragraph above is to a website completely devoted to herp vets. All of the vets listed have been recommended by their clients, so even if Spike is your first ever reptile, you can be certain that the vet you're taking him to has seen other reptiles and his clients are satisfied. So that should be reassuring. Now that you've got Spike, keep in mind that he has a life history prior to you. If he was wild caught (rather than captive bred), he probably has parasites, which may or may not be doing harm. A couple of days before you take him to the vet, open up yesterday's newspaper and lay it over the bottom of his terrarium (you can even do this on top of your other substrate) so that you can collect a fecal sample that is not covered in sand. Wrap it up in a damp paper towel and seal it in a Ziplock bag and put it in your refridgerator until you go to see the vet. It should be as fresh as possible, so if your appointment is on Wednesday, put the newspaper down Monday morning. If he goes Monday, collect that. If he goes again Wednesday, throw away what you got on Monday and use what you got on Wednesday instead. Your vet will test for parasites, tell you about any health problems he sees, and give you any medications that Spike might need (along with instructions, and DO ask your vet to give him the first dose in front of you, so that you can see how it's done.) It's best to get any health problems taken care of as soon as possible. Good luck, and don't forget to go back every now and then to maintain good health!
