# Tegu might be developing MBD (update)



## ColdThirst (Mar 16, 2009)

I noticed three days ago two pea sized bumps that she did not like me touching that appear to be full of fluid on her spine where her two back legs are. 

They seemed to appear overnight! Is that what bobby was talking about in his last post on here?! 

I have had this tegu for a year and two months and have never seen this before, I have two Reptisun 10.0 24" bulbs literally 1.5 feet away from the tegu at all times, I am also using Retivite on as much of its food that i can, but the tegu does not like the taste of it very much.

The only thing I have changed recently is I have started feeding it ground turkey mixed with bananas, grapes, mangos, and papayas. Alternating the different fruits with the turkey. 

Before I would feed it nothing but mice dusted with the Reptivite. 

What can I do to keep this from getting worse and what do you think the problem is. 

The only thing that isn't perfect for the tegu right now is that he only gets up to about 85 degrees in his enclosure (ambient tempiture) and the humidity isnt where reccomended either but its not low. 

Thank you


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## DaveDragon (Mar 17, 2009)

*Re: Tegu might be developing MBD or gout!*

1.5 feet away is too far for a florescent bulb. Try to get him a few inches closer. But, it's said adult Tegu's don't need much UVB, so you might be OK. To many vitamins can be as bad as too little. 85 ambient is OK, what is the surface basking temp?? That is more important for digestion.

You might want to get him to a good herp vet and get the bumps checked out.


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## ColdThirst (Mar 17, 2009)

*Re: Tegu might be developing MBD or gout!*

Here are some pictures of them. The third one has the color enhanced so you can see the bumps better. Also the basking temp is pretty hot, I have just recently replaced both the UV bulbs and got a much hotter halogen basking bulb than the one I had. But these did appear litteraly overnight. 











Thank you

Also I have maybee one herp vet whithin 100miles of me and I don't know how good they are, but I guess anythings better than nothing, maybee these pics will help you guys out.


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## ashesc212 (Mar 17, 2009)

*Re: Tegu might be developing MBD or gout!*

The first beardie I had had fluid bumps just like that and they were the first thing to show up. Turns out he had Yellow Fungus Disease but I don't know if tegus can get that. Anyway, while I was at the vet that time, the vet told me that sometimes they get those fluid bumps when they have an infection. 

As for the UVB, lizards need to be able to get between 8-12 inches away, especially with a tube light. You should get a ProExotics temp gun (they are about $25) to check the basking spot temp. It really should be more like 100.

Do you have a temperature gradient in your enclosure? Is he able to escape from the heat when he needs to?

Anyway - when bumps like that show up the best plan of attack is probably to take the drive out the the herp vet.


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## ColdThirst (Mar 17, 2009)

*Re: Tegu might be developing MBD or gout!*

I have moved his basking rock and light closer to the florescent bulbs and he does have a tempiture gradient and the heat at the basking spot might even be too hot as far as that goes. 

So yeah... Im going to be calling my vet today or tomorrow, but I wanted to be able to give her somewhere to start if i knew what it was, or is there is a simple fix that I can do here and not have to take him to the vet. 

Thanks


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## MMRR - jif (Mar 17, 2009)

*Re: Tegu might be developing MBD or gout!*

I'd suggest that you get an accurate temperature reading at your basking spots. That is a common place for basking lizards to get burned by extreme temperatures. I'd also cut the banana out of the diet. It's very high in phosphorus and sugars and will throw your Ca/Ph balance off quite a bit.


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## VARNYARD (Mar 17, 2009)

*Re: Tegu might be developing MBD or gout!*

Everyone is giving you great advice; I would also limit the supplements to once a week. Feeding it every meal is doing more harm than good, latest studies are showing kidney damage and liver damage in lizards due to over supplementation of these products. It is very hard for reptiles to process this stuff; proper diet with at least one rodent once or twice a week is a lot better option. Feeding items that have natural sources of vitamins and minerals is hands down the best for your tegu. Myself, I put very little faith in any supplements, feeding a good proper diet is what I use.

As for the bumps on your tegu, I too was thinking a burn, or abscesses, this is not a case that I see being MBD judging by the pictures. When in doubt it is always best to see a good herp vet.


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## ColdThirst (Mar 17, 2009)

*Re: Tegu might be developing MBD or gout!*

Allright i didn't think about it being a burn. and I will cut back on the vitamins. 

Is there any other signs of MBD that I can be looking out for though? Also what is the max tempiture that it can be at his basking spot?


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## ColdThirst (Mar 29, 2009)

*Re: Tegu might be developing MBD or gout!*

Allright an update on my boy. Its been about a week now and mo poor symptoms. I am assuming that they were burns from the now basking light I got for him. The blisters went down and he shed again also, there are differnt places on his back that look like stuck shed. 

he has never had this before, but they look the same as the skin where the blisters were so I am assuming they are burn spots as well, just not as bad. 

He has never had shed problems before. If these are indeed burn spots, will they scar permanently or do you think they will go away after a few sheds?

Are there an pics on here of stuck sheds on a tegu. I do not know what it looks like and I cannot seem to find any pics online of it on a tegu. 

thanks


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## fleco_brown (Apr 9, 2009)

Yikes, that seems a bit far to have the uv lights, for me. I don't know how this goes for the rest of the bulbs, but for the r-zilla desert lights my tegu (and beardie) is on, the lighting is 12" away or so. I've never had these problems with my new tegu or my beardie. I did that because the box has this little chart UV index thing that says how many microwatts of uvb will be attained at certain distances. But like they say, you might want to move it a bit closer if the lighting were the problem. 
And you recently changed the bulbs right? So that can't be the problem...


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