# Drinking Problems?



## Macha (Nov 1, 2011)

Ever since I bought my tegu, Coco, he has had problems here and there. (for example he came with a crooked tail)

Another thing that's he's been doing ever since I bought him is drinking oddly. Whenever he drinks, some water comes out of his nostrils. He ends up sneezing it out and since I take my courses online, I'm usually there to rub the water off with a towel too.

But is that normal? He's my first tegu and when I bought him he was only 14 days old. He's been doing that since I had him.

If it's not normal, is it dangerous? If so I need to start saving up for the vet.

As for how he does on a daily basis, he's very healthy. He gets lots of turkey with calcium, leftovers from restaurants (he loves teriyaki chicken) as treats, beef, grapes, snails he finds outside, etc. I also take him on plenty of walks outside and let him sunbath out there too. (he loves the Florida sun) And of course he has his UVA and UVB in the house. He also gets baths almost daily so he sheds very nicely. He's friendly, curious, and active.

^ Which is the reason I haven't taken him to a vet about it yet since he shows no signs of being sick, in pain, or sad. But I still hate seeing him drink like that, it just doesn't look right. 

Help/Advice?

Thank you!


----------



## reptastic (Nov 1, 2011)

I have seen a few of my tegus do this, no big worry, however i would be concerned about him eating things from outside


----------



## Bubblz Calhoun (Nov 1, 2011)

_Water out of the nostrils is normal, they either haven't learned or sometimes forget to close their nostrils when drinking. I've seen it with all of mine after wards they blow to clear the passage. 

Spaz had a minor kink in her tail when she was young and I started sliding my fingers down her tail with a little traction over that area. For a while it popped and cracked the same as if you cracked some ones back or stretched a snake. As she grew it straightened out. I'm not saying it's the same for every kink but it's something you can try.

Most animals usually don't show signs of weakness or being sick until it's serious and or too late. But the only thing you posted that I can see being a possible issue down the line health and obesity wise is the leftovers and snails from the back yard. 

Foods that we eat have cooked meats, preservatives, seasonings and things in it that can be harmful to our pets and they can do with out it. The snails pretty much open your tegu up to parasites, pesticides and what ever else the snails may be exposed to and or carrying. _


----------



## Macha (Nov 1, 2011)

Oh that's good to hear, thanks guys! I was getting worried about it. Hopefully he'll start closing his nose. 

As for being worried about the snails, I was at first too, so I didn't let him eat them. Then I did research online about them and found out he's fine to eat them. I also saw a video of a beautiful red tegu eating them outside, and he looked ridiculously healthy with gleaming scales and all. I don't let him eat frogs, toads, and bugs that he shouldn't. He also eats berries which I also look up before I let him eat. Our lawn does not get pesticides on it. 

He doesn't get leftovers very often at all, only as a treat like once or twice every month. For the most part he is on raw ground turkey with the calcium dusted on it. 

Thank you for the kink tip! Hopefully it works.

The meat he gets only comes from top quality restaurants. He doesn't get fast food ever, nor anything from normal restaurants. I myself eat my food extremely rare (even sometimes raw), so it's not that far off from what he eats. My stomach can't handle spicy foods anyways so they are plain too, and I would never give him anything spicy. 

Once again thank you thank you thank you! : D


----------



## Bubblz Calhoun (Nov 1, 2011)

_Just because you saw a video of a healthy Looking tegu eating snails in someone's back yard doesn't mean that they are okay to eat. Not all illnesses and health issues are obvious,.. until it's a serious issue and or too late. And as far as I know snails are not territorial. It may take them time to get from one place to another but they still get there and keep it moving until they die.

You may not use pesticides or what ever in your yard but what about the people around you. I have snails in my yard as well but I don't let Natsuki eat them and he tries. I don't know what the people before me had or used on the yard.

But,.. it's just something to think about and heads up advice,.. you can take it or leave it._


----------



## saided (Nov 2, 2011)

I'm pretty sure the water coming out the nostrils is perfectly normal. My gu does that, and also, he will hold water in his throat for an extended period of time so when you pick him up, water filled saliva gets spit up all over me. I think he is letting it diffuse into his salivary glands or maybe its just feels good. Letting the water run out the nostrils may also be a way of cleaning stuff like coco/bark particles out of their nostrils that get breathed in while digging.


----------

