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HELP! What's wrong with this picture?

Beasty

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5 Year Member
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584
Besides it being blurry.
fem-4-4-09.jpg


She's got a pronounced hump in her back! It's not soft, but hard and almost like her spine is kinked! The temps are good. On cypress. Fed out of the enclosure. She hardly eats anything and her belly is all caved in. Her boyfriend is doing fine in the same enclosure. (eats well and all) They both hibernated and they have had a MVB from day one.
The first thing that comes to mind is MBD but I simply do NOT see how!
Ideas?
 

dragonqueen4

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283
I had an adult mali uromastyx once, that had the exact same thing, a huge lump on the middle of his spine. it wasnt mbd, i have no idea what it was though.
 

VARNYARD

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Looks like a broken back to me, is there anything in there she could have hurt it on?
 

Beasty

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584
Just cypress and large plastic light weight water bowl. I recently put a half log in there after I had noticed her back. She moves just fine and everything. All appendages working, all that. Just won't eat much. She'd bask all day and night if I left the light on. (left lights on late at night a couple times, he was crashed she was still basking) When I get her out she's warm to the touch. Umm.. I can't think of anything I could do wrong.
The boy is fine though.

Bobby,
Do you think it could possibly have happened in transit to here in the box somehow? She never has eaten right but they went down almost immediately. I guess you pulled them from hibernation to ship to me didn't you? So they got here, ate very little (him more than her) and crashed right away.(not to say you did anything wrong, I'm just trying to figure things out) And that probably would have healed over during hibernation. Which is likely best case scenario as she'd be immobile for months, it just healed crooked. Her back seems to be fairly straight -side to side at least.

I have no idea but she ain't right and I dunno how to fix her and my monetary situation has gone to crap just recently so...unless the vet will work for free movie tickets I'm kinda out of luck I guess.
What would the vet do for a broken back anyway? Probably put her down hunh?

:hifit :rant :bawl
 

VARNYARD

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Beasty said:
Just cypress and large plastic light weight water bowl. I recently put a half log in there after I had noticed her back. She moves just fine and everything. All appendages working, all that. Just won't eat much. She'd bask all day and night if I left the light on. (left lights on late at night a couple times, he was crashed she was still basking) When I get her out she's warm to the touch. Umm.. I can't think of anything I could do wrong.
The boy is fine though.

Bobby,
Do you think it could possibly have happened in transit to here in the box somehow? She never has eaten right but they went down almost immediately. I guess you pulled them from hibernation to ship to me didn't you? So they got here, ate very little (him more than her) and crashed right away.(not to say you did anything wrong, I'm just trying to figure things out) And that probably would have healed over during hibernation. Which is likely best case scenario as she'd be immobile for months, it just healed crooked. Her back seems to be fairly straight -side to side at least.

I have no idea but she ain't right and I dunno how to fix her and my monetary situation has gone to crap just recently so...unless the vet will work for free movie tickets I'm kinda out of luck I guess.
What would the vet do for a broken back anyway? Probably put her down hunh?

:hifit :rant :bawl

I don't think it was done in shipping, her back looks normal in these pictues you took right after you got her:


girl2.jpg

girl3.jpg

girl1.jpg


There is something that happen after, the back is not normal looking like it is in the first three pictures above:

fem-4-4-09.jpg


You also said she ate a mouse hopper the day you got her, I don't think she would have ate if she just broke her back.
 

Beasty

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5 Year Member
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584
Well I paid entirely too much to just kill her off because she's been injured.
I'd bet IF her back has been broken and healed while in hibernation she's still in a lot of pain. That would explain the lack of appetite. Hopefully I can get her to eat more. She's only had a few roach legs and a couple bites of turkey and a roach yesterday I think(didn't see her eat it but it wasn't in there after so...) in the past couple days. Her back has been more pronounced today though that's why I posted.

Yeah, I guess you're right, Bobby. So, what to do now?

Obviously something happened but I can't imagine what or when. It would have to have been fairly serious to break her back. Maybe my roommate got in after them but he won't cop to it if he did. She eats and moves fine. Chased some roaches around and picked the legs off so she can't be THAT bad, right? Though she chomped on 'em but acted like it was hard to crunch them up and take 'em down. Tiny ackie finished one off and it was bigger than his head!
 

alewis0890

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5 Year Member
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143
no, I really don't think its a broke back bro...

02-15-09_1200.jpg


Shes growing out of hers. and shes eating like MAD! To be honest... I wouldnt do anything, Sadies has gone down, shes eating like a pig, and shes doing everything just fine. give it some time. she will be an amazing pet though. No clue why its there though... for no reason, and it feels like bone. my vets around here just want to kill hurt reptiles so thats a big no to them. anyway... if i find something out on sadies (tho its almost completley gone) I will let you know.
 

VARNYARD

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Guys this is a new one on me, I have never had a tegu show anything like this.
 

alewis0890

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143
I have no clue Bobby, it was a new one to me too, I thought it might of been a broken back when I recieved it, but she has too much gitty-up to her i would think for a broken back. then I thought maybe mbd tested her and she's fine, everything on her checks out clear but the hump that was on her... bu tas you can see in the new pics and vid, like nothing its almost vanished.... its weird lol
 

PuffDragon

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The hump on yours and the hump on Beasty's are in too different spots. Making them too very different problems IMO. Both seem very alarming and proper vet care should be sought after.
 

alewis0890

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143
yes puff I would have to agree but, Sadie's is gone. and it could just be the angles of the pictures as well. I do not know for a 100% fact that Beasty's prtoblem is the same as mine was... but the similarities are extremely close, so naturally I gave him the advice as I took... I did nothing but give Sadie proper care, and in time, it is gone or almost gone, you can't notice it unless you know its there now and it is not affecting her in anyway.
 

Beasty

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584
Called 2. One listed as a reptile vet online turns out they're not. The other did not return my call. I posted on the other tegu site and the resident "know-it-all" says it actually could be MBD. I don't see it but maybe. It popped up out of nowhere. I have shots 3-27 where she looks just fine, then all the sudden BAM! big lump. She seems fine still but while she chews on roaches won't swallow them I don't get it. She's not interested in anything else really either short of turkey.

So...
she drinks
chases roaches
moves perfectly fine
basks under a NEW MVB
eats the stray roach or bite or two of turkey
her skin seems to be outgrowing her now... or she's just losing weight from not eating enough.

got NO funds now - personal.. but I'll say an extra $500 a month HAS to be invented or I'll have more problems than with one lizard!

I do have liquid D3 I can give her if it'd make a difference.
 

omgtaylorg

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5 Year Member
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477
I have personally seen and held alewis' tegus many times, they are perfectly healthy and Sadie is deff a very very quick tegu, almost hard to hang on to sometimes, she is in no way being affected by the lump which I first saw when he got her a few months ago...its going down alot and im 100% its not a broken back because shes just way to alert and agile to be in pain from a broken back, its impossible. So not saying I know what it is, but from my experience with holding Sadie and seeing her 2-3 times a week, I dont see it as a problem at the time since she eats, basks, and has proper care daily. With time I think they will outgrow it as their backs stretch out from growing.
 

alewis0890

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5 Year Member
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143
you can compare that pic I posted, with the new ones, or check their vids out on youtube and see how far it went down so far also.
 

Beasty

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5 Year Member
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584
Well, today she got dosed with a drop of liquid D3 and I put her in the bin which had 1 adult Dubia and 4 nymphs of various size just to be sure she'd find one she was comfortable with. My lil girly picked out the adult male and went to town on him! She ripped off his wings and half his legs and chomped on him and finally did actually swallow him!! Then she went on to grab the smaller of the roaches left and ate it much easier. She then followed suit, like all the other 3 tegus before her, after she got her fill she took a big dump.
She's also shedding now! Hopefully this was just some form of MBD brought on by being a picky eater. If she keeps this up she'll be gaining weight in no time.
After being presented with the idea that she may possibly actually have MBD, even though I have good husbandry, I thought that it might actually make sense.
She never ate much so she was small. She went into hibernation early so never got the chance to eat much. Now out of hibernation, the warmth, humidity and UV available, she was still being quite picky. She didn't eat enough to fuel her growth and caused the hump? Eh...it's a theory. I'm just glad she's hungry and hope she keeps it up! Tomorrow we'll see if she wants an ASF pinkie! :-D
 

All_American

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Beasty said:
Called 2. One listed as a reptile vet online turns out they're not. The other did not return my call. I posted on the other tegu site and the resident "know-it-all" says it actually could be MBD. I don't see it but maybe. It popped up out of nowhere. I have shots 3-27 where she looks just fine, then all the sudden BAM! big lump. She seems fine still but while she chews on roaches won't swallow them I don't get it. She's not interested in anything else really either short of turkey.

So...
she drinks
chases roaches
moves perfectly fine
basks under a NEW MVB
eats the stray roach or bite or two of turkey
her skin seems to be outgrowing her now... or she's just losing weight from not eating enough.

got NO funds now - personal.. but I'll say an extra $500 a month HAS to be invented or I'll have more problems than with one lizard!

I do have liquid D3 I can give her if it'd make a difference.


I would have an Xray done and diagnosis off that first hand.
 

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