Okay so i need help ASAP, my new baby Red Tegu has a defect or something wrong with her wrist

[Justin_Navarro]

I ordered a baby Red Tegu yesterday, and she arrived today. However it seems as though she has a defect in her wrist, or potentially twisted it somewhere along the transit (though i doubt it due to the superb packaging). I now have a few questions that need answers asap so i can help her because i feel terrible.

1. Does it look to be a defect? Or a twist? Maybe MBD?

2. is it possible to make her a little cast, then maybe give her double the dose of calcium i'm giving my original Chaco? (who's doing great since he woke up about a week ago)

3. Lastly, could she potentially live happily and healthily with this issue, if it's irreversible?

Thanks guys, otherwise she's such a sweet doll.

(quick notes as far as i can tell currently: she's walking on it, as if it doesn't hurt her, but on the opposite side of the hand she should be, so that's worrying. She's basking and fully mobile so i don't think she's affected by it much. Don't know if that's any help)

(2nd update, she's scared of my hand (of course) but she's very fast for a... handicapped Gu, and she has an immediate food response, currently eating ground turkey 15 minutes after being placed in her enclosure)

(Update #3: She loves to bask, and tries to burrow, but obviously it's a difficult task for her. It seems like her elbow joint on her bad arm is fully functional, however the wrist seems to be broken/fractured as she cannot lift it up and down. What do doctors normally do besides pain medication for situations like this?)

 

[Justin_Navarro]

 

[rantology]

That doesn't look good - Did you contact the shipper and notify them of what happened? I think if you want to be safe, try and find her a vet appointment, they should be able to tell you at least if it's MBD or a traumatic injury. Is she favoring the leg or walking with it? That young I wouldn't think it's MBD, especially if there are no other abnormalities. I would guess either birth defect or an injury.

 

[Justin_Navarro]

That doesn't look good - Did you contact the shipper and notify them of what happened? I think if you want to be safe, try and find her a vet appointment, they should be able to tell you at least if it's MBD or a traumatic injury. Is she favoring the leg or walking with it? That young I wouldn't think it's MBD, especially if there are no other abnormalities. I would guess either birth defect or an injury.

I contacted them about 25 minutes ago, hopefully they respond soon. It seems like she's walking on it as if nothing's wrong, which is odd as it looks like it'd hurt. She's sleeping here and there but i'm sure that's just because she's tired from traveling. She does have some slight shake when she lifts the arm but otherwise she's a healthy Gu, eating, drinking, sprinting, active, even managing to lift a water bowl by digging under it and lifting herself out.

It also seems like its her wrist specifically that she walks on, so i'm not ruling out that her wrist could potentially heal with time and treatment. However I don't know if an injured Tegu would refrain from walking on their broken leg or if they wouldn't even realize what's going on outside of the pain.

 

[Walter1]

Justin, It looks to me as either something she was born with or an accident that healed the wrong way. I reckon an x-ray would provide the answer. I say this because you say that she doesn't favor it. Her resting on wrist could be caused by how it healed or that since birth the hand does not work. How does it seem to you?

 

[Justin_Navarro]

Justin, It looks to me as either something she was born with or an accident that healed the wrong way. I reckon an x-ray would provide the answer. I say this because you say that she doesn't favor it. Her resting on wrist could be caused by how it healed or that since birth the hand does not work. How does it seem to you?

It's so strange, she acts just like my other Tegu, very active and seeks to just enjoy herself it seems like. She uses it as if it were just her normal foot, she tries to reach for things to climb on and she also tries to burrow but instead of an outward dig, it's more of an inward shovel. Almost as if she thinks it's functional, and then realizes she can't.

She is currently on her backlegs trying to get out of her enclosure and is using both front feet (obviously she cannot fully raise the foot but she still tries) to scratch the glass (I have her in a glass tank until i can isolate the issue).

I do agree that it could likely be a heal over, or potentially something she has had since birth. But it's also possible somewhere along the transit her shipping box could've been thrown/fell (They didn't get her to me until 6pm). I wish i could upload videos of her behavior but i don't think i can as far as i know.

I want to take a closer look but i know it was such a long ride for her, so i'm just letting her sleep under the UVB/UVA.

 

[Walter1]

Not likely to heal so quickly if accident in transit. Expect she'd favor it.
Her hyper-activity could be associated with being hungry, too hot, or both.

 

[AlphaAlpha]

I also lean towards an injury or birth defect...... and agree Xrays would probably be a great advantage.

I also think that she could lead an almost normal life considering if the worst comes to the worst and its never going to heal.

But fingers crossed its just been a knock and will soon be on the mend.

 

[Justin_Navarro]

I also lean towards an injury or birth defect...... and agree Xrays would probably be a great advantage.

I also think that she could lead an almost normal life considering if the worst comes to the worst and its never going to heal.

But fingers crossed its just been a knock and will soon be on the mend.

I called a couple of vet places in my area, and apparently none of them "currently" specialize in "Exotic Reptiles" which is odd considering they're veterinarians, but i digress. So it looks like we're on our own with this one, the shipper said they could ship a replacement, but i'd have to return her, which wouldn't happen until next week due to the weekend. (I originally thought i'd be able to hold onto her in addition to a replacement, as i'm nervous to know what breeders do with defective lizards)

Morally i feel like it'd be messed up to return her after 5 days of making herself at home, just because she's different, but at the same time, ethically, if the shipper has vets out there who could help her with a potential fracture more than i can currently, i feel like it'd be in her best interest.

I was also planning on maybe getting these 2 tegus to potentially have babies down the line, and if this is a genetic thing, i'd be worried for the hatchlings.

I'm hoping her potential fracture could mend itself by Monday, or show signs of recovery, but i do not know if lizards can recover from something like that fully.

(This is a close up of her arm, the blue line is where her elbow is, it's fully functional, which is why i think the wrist itself is fractured)

 

[Justin_Navarro]

Upon closer inspection, her entire forearm/(shin?) looks like it was dented inwards and feels "empty" where the bone is supposed to be, which is what that lump on her inner leg is. It's why she can't move her "wrist" but can move her toes and elbow, i'd be very disappointed/frustrated in knowing that someone grabbed her and chucked her in a bag by her arm. It's not something i can fix right now however, so i do think she'd be healthier if she was sent back. That is, if this place isn't one that euthanizes injured baby reptiles.

 

[Walter1]

You mean forearm- elbow to hand? Shin is the long bone between the knee and foot.

A tough call without a vet X-ray.

Once upon a time, practically no herp or exotic vets existed, certainly far far fewer than we have today. Their expertise is much different than that of a general small animal vet, whose expertise is also impressive.

 

[Justin_Navarro]

You mean forearm- elbow to hand? Shin is the long bone between the knee and foot.

A tough call without a vet X-ray.

Once upon a time, practically no herp or exotic vets existed, certainly far far fewer than we have today. Their expertise is much different than that of a general small animal vet, whose expertise is also impressive.

Ah yes, her forearm, it's confusing since they're 4 "legged" lol.

I wish modern vets could train in the groups of animals not often kept by people. But i understand that's a ton of training and reptile keeping is still considered an exotic hobby.

 

[Walter1]

I think that lots of people are surprised to hear about how specialized veterinary medicine has become and necessarily so. Can be a difficult problem.

 

[Guman]

Do you have any veterinary schools within a few hours drive from you? The way you are explaining that it feels empty makes me think it is a birth defect, maybe from wrong incubation temps. If it is a defect, what else could be wrong, and how long would the gu live?

 

[Godzilla Earth]

It dosn't look life threatning but does it impair his walking?

 

[howiebrou]

Definitely get it X-rayed. It might not cause a problem now since he's so lightweight but it could get progressively worse as he grows.

 

[Godzilla Earth]

That’s true. Better fix it now while you still can

 

[Debita]

I agree on the xray - best to know what you're dealing with - and it looks like it's not been used for a long time. It appears withered to me.

 

[Justin_Navarro]

Hey everyone, so i wasn't able to come by anywhere willing to do an x-ray, and due to Covid concerns i couldn't go too far out.

I sent the shipper a detailed description of her issue, and they said they'd take care of her, so hopefully things go well. I went ahead and shipped her back 2 days ago. I ended up ordering from somewhere else and had a much better experience with an absolutely gorgeous (and huge for her age) Red Tegu that arrived today.

I'll make a separate post on that tonight/tomorrow.

 

[Walter1]

Were you refunded?