Just rescued a tegu - help!

[ArachnoAngel]

Hi Everyone!

I'm brand new on the forum and am hoping you all can help! I just adopted a "rescued" Argentine red tegu from a local reptile shop. She's not been well cared for - her feet are in especially bad shape (see pics). I was told this is the result of stuck shed that cut off circulation and necessitated the amputation of multiple toes. See attached pics. Some of the toes still look bad; they are almost green. Any ideas on what I'm dealing with here and how to fix the problem? :huh: I am dedicated to getting this girl 100% happy and healthy. I cared for a Columbian tegu in the past and am familiar with tegu needs.

I've had her less than a day. She is not very active. Luckily she is eating and drinking.

Thank you!!

 

[Scott_k]

You can soak her everyday for about an hr. after the bath put some a&d ointment on the bad areas. It dosent have to be a&d, but something to help moisturize the bad shed. I've used a&d, snake oils, vitamin e was recommended to me by my vet. I had a issue with a bad shed around my guys tail. I was gone on a deployment and his humidity got low, and what happened was he was growing faster than he could shed, he had multiple layers of dead skin on the last few inches of his tail. A good soak didn't cut it, the skin was so hard that's where the oils and lotions came into play. They softened it up then I picked it off by hand.

 

[Bubblz Calhoun]

Welcome to the site.
Besides her toes she looks fine and a trip to the vet for a skin scrap to make sure it's not a bacterial infection that's also causing the issues would help. I would do that before putting her in a permanent setup to make sure you don't have to replace things and to keep her from catching it again later if it is an infection.

Most of what I see is just stuck shed, giving her a bath in warm water and rubbing her toes should help with removing that.
I'm not a vet but it's mainly the second pic that's making me think possible infection or something that keeps reoccuring because she has some scraring on her toes. Not just on that foot, I see it on others as well. Her nail on one of the scabby toes is still pink so it has a blood supply.

After a soak I would rub some plain neosporin on her toes to relieve some of the dryness and cracking a little longer. Maybe even give her a warm damp towel to root around and dig in instead of substrate for now. Which will also help remove some of the shed especially if she doesn't want you messing with her toes.

Other than that for now I would just go with a basic set up with very little if any substrate and a disposable hide just in case.

 

[ArachnoAngel]

Thank you Scott K and Bubblz!! I really appreciate the insight.

 

[Raicardoso]

That poor BEAUTIFUL animal :/. I really do hope you get he/she ( didn't see if you mentioned sex or not) healthy and doing well. Beautiful looking tegu.

 

[Bagnara16]

How much did you rescue her for? She's gorgeous!

 

[ArachnoAngel]

We appreciate the compliments Raicardoso and Bagnara16 I adore her, I've been wanting an Argentine for a LONG time and never expected to find a red. I'm told she's a female but I'm not an expert at confirming this. I paid $165 (pre-tax). Even with her unknown history and toe issues, I figured that was fair and worth the risk.

Update: soaked her for half and hour yesterday and got some crud off one foot. Applied Neosporin to all toes after her bath. She ate some strawberries this morning and ignored her turkey ... punk. She spends most of her time in the hottest part (90 C) of her enclosure.

 

[BatGirl1]

Yes.neosporin or other antibiotic can do wonders. My cuban knights anole that I rescued got a spider bite that basically ate a hole in his back. I had to gut and clean the wound and then 'fill ' the hole w antibotic ointment. Needless to say it worked! But the flesh there is yellow instead of green like the rest of his body. Also, on bad sheds i too use oil to soften up. Works on snake eyecaps etc that may be stubborn.

 

[ArachnoAngel]

Wow BatGirl1! Your anole is a lucky and tough critter. I'm beginning to realize the value of Neosporin and Vitamin E + other oils for reptiles. Thank you everyone for the support! :heart:

 

[BatGirl1]

Yes I thought he was a goner. The bite looked disgusting...and he was all wobbly and not looking too well. But he pulled through! He was already old when I got him.the pet store had moved him up to a top shelf. Lowered his price a zillion times. Didn't even have a light on him anymore. i gave them 15 bucks for him. He still has his 'skinny spells '. He's a weird one. But when he's looking scrawny i just give him babyfood with vitamins/calcium. I use a glove to hold him and feed him with either a spoon or a syringe. He usually licks it up pretty well but on occasion he's stubborn. Oh...and silkworms are his FAVORITE