MBD Metastatic Calcification?

[Lizardqueen]

Can either of these be reversed if caught soon enough :?:
I have a 6 month old Red who seemed very healthy untill about a month ago. He started twitching his front arm. I brought him to a vet who apparently deals with reptiles. He got an x-ray and a pretty extensive check-up. Everything turned out alright. Brought him home and increased his cal and vit intake. Feeds on mainly mice with as many fruits as I can convince him to eat. Then it started to look worse. When he went to take a step it looked as if his rib cage on the one side was collapsing or caving in. around the same time he was starting to have trouble shedding. I took him to a second vet who was much more helpful altough no serious problems turned up. Got a fecal done and ended up getting some de-wormer which he is in the middle of taking. His shedding has not gotten better about 3 weeks now without it coming off. I am also noticing scab like clusters on his ribcage and around his leg joints. Some suggestions would be greatly appreciated as I can't seem to find a good vet here - Thanks

 

[Lizardqueen]

Also his environment info:
4 foot square x 3 feet high
100f basking spot with 80f cooler end
between 50 and 80% humidity
125W exoterra solar glo UVA/B daylight bulb
100W gro light for live plants all of witch are non-toxic
100W red heat light for night
built in fans and fogger
approx 4" potting soil covered with approx 2-3"repti-bark
big water dish lots of burrows and a nice rock hideaway

 

[VARNYARD]

This information should help you:
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.tegutalk.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=541">http://www.tegutalk.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=541</a><!-- m -->

Also welcome to the site!!

 

[Lexi]

Is the potting soil all natrual?

 

[Lizardqueen]

It is plain black soil I believe. No fertilizer or miracle gro type stuff in it. The soil is also a more recent addition. He was displaying some of this activity before the soil was added.

 

[tupinambis]

It would appear that you are possibly not giving your tegu proper UVB.

If your lights are at the same height as your enclosure size indicates (3') a fluorescent bulb is not going to do the job. That exoterra bulb is fairly good, but a 125W is fairly low wattage for cutting through 3' of air.

If that doesn't help correct it, your tegu may have other health issues. The UVB/VitD3/calcium metabolic pathway involves 3 main body organs - the skin, the kidneys, and the liver. If any of these are suffering malfunction, then it won't matter how much UVB or calcium you give or even whether your diet is the most nutritious possible, it will impact the calcium metabolism and lead to symptoms like you are seeing.

 

[Lizardqueen]

The bulb is a mercury vapour?? i think. It is mounted inside the enclosure to the ceiling. The tank is just below 3 feet high so with the light and the substrate the bulb surface is actually about 2 feet from the ground. Would that be close enough to rule that part out??

 

[Lexi]

The bulb is a mercury vapour?? i think. It is mounted inside the enclosure to the ceiling. The tank is just below 3 feet high so with the light and the substrate the bulb surface is actually about 2 feet from the ground. Would that be close enough to rule that part out??

You have him in a tank? You should also start thinking about building an enclosure

 

[Lizardqueen]

Sorry, I just say tank out of habit, it is a custom built enclosure. We have a blue tongued skink in a rather large 90 gallon "tank". I'll not make that mistake again. :doh

 

[Lexi]

Oh lol i do that sometimes too.. no worries. best of luck with your tegu tho! I hope everything turns out ok.

 

[Lizardqueen]

Tanks, me too :cheers

 

[PuffDragon]

I believe the minimum safe distance for your bulb is about 12 inches. I am not to familiar with that brand but I would think it is similar to other brands. Depending on the decay rate and how old the bulb is, it is possible that it is not projecting enough UVB rays to your desired spot. You can check here to see if they have readings and to give you a feel on the longevity of the bulb your using: <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.uvguide.co.uk/index.htm">http://www.uvguide.co.uk/index.htm</a><!-- m -->

When you figure out the safe basking dsitance, try moving it closer.

How old is the bulb? Be careful, sometimes people switch out UVB bulbs with regular bulbs and return them to the petstore.

 

[tupinambis]

I have an Exo terra 125W sun glo in one of my Corucia zebrata enclosures, it is a relatively new bulb and at a distance of 33" my 295nm solarmeter measures an intensity of 7 uW/cm^2. That's REALLY low, especially for a tegu. If your bulb has any age then its UVB intensity is likely even lower. You should think about either getting a much higher strength bulb if you are going to maintain that kind of distance, or reduce the distance somehow by lowering the height of the buld. If that's the route you take, you will need to protect it somehow so that the tegu can't touch it.

 

[Lizardqueen]

Would retained shed prevent a reptile from absorbing UVB through the skin, or maybe decrease the ability to do so? Like i mentioned earlier that he has had shedding problems. I spent the entire day yesterday at home soaking and helping him shed. What came off by the end of the day was amazing. I'm embarassed by this because I try to do everything possible to take proper care of him and I can't understand how I didn't notice this shed building up. This morning he seemed like a completely different tegu. More active and none of the "strange walking" so far. Is it possible that the retained shed made him that uncomfortable? I guess I know the answer to that. Now to figure out why the shedding issues. :cheers

 

[Lizardqueen]

Also, I keep calling Ragu a him, but I don't actually know. Is there any way to tell by coloring or markings at the size he/she is now? about 33" and 1.6 kg?
The UV bulb is only about 2 weeks old, I just recently replaced the smaller older one I had from his first smaller enclosure.

 

[tupinambis]

Yes, retained shed skin will cut some UVB, as will dirt or other stuff. However, usually MBD doesn't just kick in like this after a month. The twitching was an initial sign of something going wrong. You've got a husbandry issue that needs to be addressed, possibly food or lighting. If shed skin were to cause this much problems alone, then there would be a lot more sick tegus in the world.

You can tell a male by the presence of cloacal burr scales to either side of the vent. On a smaller tegu it is harder to notice, but larger ones you can feel them.

 

[PuffDragon]

This thread will help in sexing your tegu: <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.tegutalk.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=279">http://www.tegutalk.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=279</a><!-- m -->

 

[shiftylarry]

You do not want to use potting soil. That has some potentially harmful ingredients in it. Top soil mixed with some sand is what you want.