New baby tegu...Lethargic? Sleeping a lot? Sick?

[DevonRay16]

I am new to owning tegus but I am not new to them. I have cared for them and nursed a couple sickly W.C. tegus in the past. I always liked them and knew I wanted one eventually so when I went to the reptile expo to look for another BP and saw the tegus, I was pretty sure I would leave with one. While I LOVED the blue, I couldn't justify the 400$ price tag and wanted to start with one that was younger and not an adult already.

So, I ended up with a golden tegu and of the three, this one seemed the most active, bright eyed, and healthy.

I got him home and gave him some crickets and he ate a dozen no problem. But the this morning he was laying sprawled out, kind of awkward. I nudged him, afraid he was dead, and he lifted his head, but then laid back down. His eye was tearing up pretty bad this morning and now he won't open it except maybe a crack and he keeps scratching at it and rubbing the side of his face against things. There wasn't anything but newspaper, a hide, and water dish in the tank for him to hurt it on.

Also, he sounded kind of wheezy so I am worried about an oncoming RI

So, I called my fiance's uncle who is a vet and he recommended a vicks treatment and if that doesnt work he will put him on baytril. but he'd perfer to avoid medicating him if possible.

I contacted the seller and he told me to just soak him then put him on dry newspaper under the heat lights, but I dont feel as though that will do anything to help me since it isnt really a dehydration issue like that would help. He also said I could bring him in and they could look at him, but they are about an hour away and I would hate to stress him out and have them just tell me I can exchange him for another that may or may not have the same issues.



Thanks so much in advance

 

[Skeep]

He sounds pretty sick, I would try to get him to a vet, or if you want to return him then go that route. Otherwise the advice you have sounds decent enough to try but I wouldn't really know, my girl hasn't had any illnesses yet. Make sure he has fresh air and the temperatures are good for him. It wouldn't hurt to try a soak. Maybe he had a stuck scale on his head he was trying to scratch off and got his eye by accident?

 

[Skeep]

Pictures of the enclosure and/or tegu might be helpful for people to answer to =)

 

[DevonRay16]

I have a 40g setup for him, but put him in a 20g long for now.

High temp of 105 in basking area. mid temp of 89. low temp of 76. humidity is 72% atm

 

[Walter1]

Devonray16- In my opinion, you were sold a sick animal. It is too skinny and in the wrong places. Perhaps not fed well, got skinny, and became sick or is skinny because it got sick from some other cause. I wonder if the dozen crickets, which should have been perfectly fine, were overload on a poorly-fed tegu. If he rallies, try smaller amounts.

 

[Walter1]

Less chitinous food, like a smashed f/t pink.

 

[DevonRay16]

I was afraid that was the case. He wont eat the superworms, roaches, or red wigglers. I will have to pick up a pink at the store and try that since I dont have any litters, atm.

Would it be too much on his system to try and add some GSE into the soaking water?

 

[Walter1]

What's GSE?.

 

[DevonRay16]

Grapefruit seed extract. It's used as a natural suppliment for people and some herpers recomend it for use against internal parasites.

 

[Walter1]

No experience with it.

 

[Danya]

It sounds like he has something stuck in his eye. I would not jump to conclusions and assume he has an RI. Get him in to the vet to have them check out his eye and listen to his breathing before you possibly unnecessarily medicate him.

 

[DevonRay16]

We are going today to see my fiances vet, but he said with the now gasping and rough breathing sounds, its most likely an RI and eye infection and probably parasites. He said at the point I got him, it was probably too late because heavy treatment like he needs on an already sick baby would probably just kill him. He told me to prepare to make a decision to have him PTS, but in the meantime soak him in warm water/pedilyte mix.

So...either way...I will be contacting the vendor again who recommended soaking, then drying out, and soaking in tetracycline fish meds which my vet quickly told me not to bc i cant properly dose it because of the uneven amounts of medicine in each tablet if broken up. Honestly, I just want my money back and not a replacement from him but if he can't do that then I want nothing to do with the place, again.

 

[Walter1]

Sounds like you have a good vet. Best of luck with this. Please let us know how things go.

 

[DevonRay16]

His uncle is actually a horse vet that specializes in sports horses, horse acupuncture and massage therapy, and working with top race horses; so is directing us to a vet friend of his who is a lot closer thankfully. He isn't a herp speciality vet, but has connections to help us further if he can't.



I do want to say, I am extremely upset with how the vendor/pet store is handling this situation. Manhatten Reptile World is the place and I will never recommend them or respect them at this point. I called earlier to explain the situation and ask what my options are if he does pass. I asked for no compensation for cost of treatment so far or what I may pay and honestly didn't expect a return of my money, but just simply asked what my options at this point are. At this point, I was hung up on midsentence. I thought maybe it was a mistake and expected a call back. None.

So, I returned the call and basically, I was told that the lizards are either wild caught or farm raised in Florida and so internal parasites are to be expected. He also said because it is a wild animal, he makes no health guarantees. My options are to bring him in and trade him out for another and they will do what they can to help him.

I informed them of the RI, which he didn't comment on. He just continued to focus on pointing out they are farm-raised or wild caught.

There is a lot to be said about a business like this. I realize that I bought him at an expo and the vendor's employee made no mention of health guarantees. But when you ask about his slowness and told that it is just the cold building and stress, it is a very plausible explanation. I am not saying they were or were not aware they were selling a sick lizard, but to explain away his health problems as something they expected in regards to parasites and ignore my mention of the RI is extremely bad practice on their part.

I have zero desire to give him to them in his current condition. At least with me, I can assure I am doing everything possible to help him and I am not trading in a sick lizard 1.5 hours away for another that probably is sick, too.




What makes this all harder is when I set him in the shallow water/pedialyte mix and he climbs out, but always where my hand is to lay in my hand. When I had him out to do a vicks treatment, he got out of dish and crawled, dragged himself over to collapse by my leg. Then when I moved, he tried to get to where I was. I don't think he actually wants me or anything, but the thought is nice that he at least recognizes I am trying to help.

 

[Walter1]

Sorry to hear this. Superb vendors like tegusonly are out there. In the meantime, here's to hoping things work out with your tegu.

 

[Doug]

What is the temp?

 

[Danya]

DevonRay16, how's your buddy doing this week?

 

[DevonRay16]

Sorry to be so slow to update. We had to put him to sleep, he was just too far gone.

The pet store in question refused to return my money or give me product that equaled to same amount and was only willing to give me another Tegu. Which I refused.

I am hoping to soon be getting one from Hector's Habitat, but am just letting my roach colony take off...which is hindered by my rat who has figured out how much she likes them, and letting the plants root deep in the 40 gallon breeder than would have been his temp enclosure until he grew up a bit.

 

[Walter1]

A tough lesson. The very best to you with your next tegu.

 

[Danya]

Poor buddy! Did he rapidly get worse?