# PLEASE HELP!!!!



## corruptphantasm (Aug 30, 2011)

so i left to go to the pet store to get some crickets to feed zeus he wasnt up yet and i didnt think nothing of it cause he sleeps in sometimes and i came home and hes up now but hes all like idk shaky and its scaring me im worried it MBD what should i do his cage is kept all right cypress substrate humidity averages 60-70 during the day basking spot is about 110 cool side is about 85 please help


----------



## Strange_Evil (Aug 30, 2011)

Details? What's his diet like? Is it being supplemented? What are you using for uvb and how close is it?


----------



## Bubblz Calhoun (Aug 30, 2011)

_Drop the cool side temps, what and how often are you feeding? 
How big is Zeus and his enclosure?_


----------



## corruptphantasm (Aug 30, 2011)

his diet is between mealworms crickets(dusted) and ground turky thats all i got rate now i gotta order some rates Zeus is about 17-18 inches and the cage is 4x8x3 hes drinking alot of water i just realized and the uvb is a repti sun 10.0 48in about 17 inches from where he bask at he eats every day he eats a good amount too and i think that covers all the questions 

he seems to be whiping his tail around alot too


----------



## jerobi2k (Aug 30, 2011)

If temps and supps are good, may also be shed. a while back when one of mine was younger he started walking funny but it ended up being that he was having trouble with back leg shed, with a few warm soaks and some assistance it worked out. I was in a deep panic and wondering what I did wrong.


----------



## corruptphantasm (Aug 30, 2011)

jerobi2k said:


> If temps and supps are good, may also be shed. a while back when one of mine was younger he started walking funny but it ended up being that he was having trouble with back leg shed, with a few warm soaks and some assistance it worked out. I was in a deep panic and wondering what I did wrong.



its like his whole body tho and he just started a shed yesterday its at almost the base of his tail now


----------



## jerobi2k (Aug 30, 2011)

if hes in the middle of a shed, maybe give him a nice warm soak now and maybe give him a hand on the loose areas. sounds like you might have found the issue. might be walking funny trying to break free from the shed. I know exactly how you feel and if you are using proper calcuim and have your light positioned how you have stated you are most likely in the same boat I was. give him a little TLC now with that shed, and lets see what happens then.


----------



## Bubblz Calhoun (Aug 30, 2011)

_Are you dusting the turkey as well? and if so how much are you using? Because it doesn't sound like he's getting enough Calcium. Calcium affects and is needed for more than just bone development. He's just a little guy and still growing so they require and use up quite a bit. 

Is it little tremors in his toes like a nervous twitch or is he actually shaking like minor convulsions?_


----------



## corruptphantasm (Aug 30, 2011)

Bubblz Calhoun said:


> _Are you dusting the turkey as well? and if so how much are you using? Because it doesn't sound like he's getting enough Calcium. Calcium affects and is needed for more than just bone development. He's just a little guy and still growing so they require and use up quite a bit. _



no i dont dust the ground turky i didnt know should i cause i mean ground turky and crickets are most of his diet rate now he dosnt like worms that much and i ran out of rats he barely likes anything


----------



## Bubblz Calhoun (Aug 30, 2011)

_When you use supplements you should dust anything that doesn't have much calcium or bones in it. Raw meats, insects, pinkies and things like that. You can also add real bones to his diet with things like chicken necks or backs. Just cut them into small enough pieces for him to swallow and start adding more variety to his diet. 

If he doesn't eat something one day,.. that's fine but continue to offer it some other time. They change their minds just like we do. Also he may not be hungry enough to be willing to try different things. He may also need to learn how to be more opportunistic since food can be hard to come by. That's not something that captive tegus learn that often. Sometimes we give in too quick and only offer what they are willing to eat. But a healthy tegu will not starve itself. _


----------



## Tikikitty95 (Aug 30, 2011)

I just went through that with my red. She was growing at such an insane rate that I think it was putting a strain on her calcium stores. Once I started giving her some high calcium yogurt and super high cal meatballs it cleared right up.


----------



## jerobi2k (Aug 30, 2011)

If you question the amount of Calcium you have been using, I would def. boost up the next few meals, and even give the gU some natural peak time UVB outdoors.


----------



## corruptphantasm (Aug 30, 2011)

well i just fed him some ground turkey cause he didnt seem to want crickets today now hes not shaking now i am guna up the calcium tho cause ive only been doing it 1-2 times a week (i keep forgetting lol)

and also he dosnt let me pick him up just yet were just to the stage were he lets me touch him barely


----------



## jerobi2k (Aug 30, 2011)

yeah, keep that Calcium comming, boost it for the next few days. get some outside UVB if possible. if you see that continuing to happen, due to lack of Calcium you will hate yourself for it. these guys need lots of love! maybe do some research tonight to refresh yourself on proper care.


----------



## chr0nus (Sep 10, 2011)

so are you guys saying its a calcium thing? i was about to post somthing similar before i saw this. mine is twitching in his toes and this is the first ive seen it. its not his whole body just his legs and toes. hes still active and walking around but when he sits on his rock its definitly noticable. his diet is 4 days out of the week ground turkey, 1 day crickets dusted, 1 day eggs, and the last day a small pinky. ive been usuing zoo meds reptivite with D3 twice a week once on the crickets and another mixed in with the turkey one of the days. should i be using more or a different one without D3 the other days of the week? hes been growing crazy fast so i hope its just a calcium thing and not somthing neurological : /


----------



## james.w (Sep 10, 2011)

Crickets, turkey, eggs and pinkies should be dusted every time they are fed. I would only offer eggs once a month. I would also switch to a calcium w/o D3. 

What is your enclosure setup? Substrate, temps, humidity? What are you using for UVB?


----------



## chr0nus (Sep 10, 2011)

james.w said:


> Crickets, turkey, eggs and pinkies should be dusted every time they are fed. I would only offer eggs once a month. I would also switch to a calcium w/o D3.
> 
> What is your enclosure setup? Substrate, temps, humidity? What are you using for UVB?



hes in a 40g breeder right now, just picked up his adult enclosure 2 days ago so hell be moving into a much bigger home tomorrow. i use 100% cypress mulch not a blend or mix. he has a large water dish in their and i mist his enclosure every morning. i got him a little over a month ago from bobby and hes shed 3 times i believe and have never seen a problem. but this was kind of a shock cause hes been doing awesome. and i i will admit im very lost when it comes to the vitamins and calcium dust. theirs so many reptive, reptite, herpetive, and so on. and i was just doing the twice a week dusting because i read not to over due the d3. so which brand do you recomend?


----------



## james.w (Sep 10, 2011)

I use ZooMed repti-calcium w/o D3. It is the one Bobby recommends as well. 

What are your temps and humidity? What are you using for UVB?


----------



## spidersandmonsters (Sep 10, 2011)

^^This. You can't overdo calcium without d3, and once it becomes a habit, you won't forget haha


----------



## chr0nus (Sep 10, 2011)

on his basking rock it gets to around 108 and on his cool side by the water dish its low 80s, he has one of the long exo terra uvb bulbs that stretches the length of his cage and then his basking bulb for heat.


----------



## james.w (Sep 10, 2011)

just make sure the UVB is within the distance recommended.


----------



## Logie_Bear (Sep 10, 2011)

Reading all these comments about calcium suplimentation and D3 is very informative. I understand that the D3 is not 'necessicary' per sey, but is it actually detrimental to tegu health? All of the calcium suppliments sold around town at our petstores has D3 in it. They dont carry any of the calcium powder w/o D3. Is this going to be a problem in the long-run? And if so, is there a webpage you would reccomend purchasing a non-d3 supliment?


----------



## james.w (Sep 10, 2011)

I don't know for sure, but I would guess calcium w/D3 won't have any negative effects.

http://www.petmountain.com/product/reptile-food-supplements/11442-513260/zoo-med-repti-calcium-without-d3.html?utm_source=gcs&utm_term=11442-513260


----------



## Logie_Bear (Sep 10, 2011)

Ok, what I use currently is Jurassical w D3. But when I was at the shop the other day I was looking around at other suppliments aaaaaalll their cal supliments had D3 so I wanted to be sure that wouldnt wind up being a problem. :3


----------



## jdpFL (Sep 10, 2011)

UV light causes vitamin D3 to be produced in the tegus body, which is necessary for metabolizing calcium. Without the D3, the calcium doesn't get used effectively in the body, and can result in MBD. However, some sources say that D3 in large amounts can be toxic to tegus. I've yet to find anything concrete on this, just a lot of advice to make sure your tegu gets UV for D3 production, and not to rely on supplements. IMO, natural is probably always best, calcium from the bones of whole prey, UV from the sun, etc. But unless your full time job is tegu care, and you can successfully duplicate exactly what life would be like in the wild for them...obviously supplements have to be used. We dust everything, sometimes with D3, sometimes without, depending on what we have on hand. Have no problems so far and have actually reversed some existing MBD that was going on when we got him.


----------

