new owner, sick tegu please help

[Guest]

I have had my new tegu for about two months now. He has been eating great untill recently. Now I noticed he was coming out less frequently and not eating much, so I have been decreasing his daylight hours for the last few weeks. I am now at 8 hrs of light a day. Now for the last few weeks I have noticed his legs are working very weak. He also has been looking very puffy. He doesent seem to walk like he has any muscle, he almost slides along on his belly. I have a UVB 10 bulb and a ceramic heat emitter. His temp and humidity are correct. I feed him codliver oil and beef lifer once or twice a week. I also use calcium without D3. Does anyone have any ideas? Should I take him to the vet?
Please somone help me

 

[TheTeguGurl]

First of all how old is ur tegu? what size tank are you using? and does he still walk this way when he is out of his enclosure? But yes if you are worried about him I would have him check out by a vet as soon as possible!

 

[chelvis]

How old is the bulb the UVB on the long florecence long fades before the bulb burns out. If its older than three months you might have to get a new one, depending on the size of the cage it might be best to bump up to a MVB that way you wont need the cermatic heater. Also what are you feeding the guy? The slow down could be getting ready for hibernation but the funny walk and the puffness are not good signs.

 

[Guest]

My tegu is only about 14-16 weeks.
My UVB bulb is brand new, just got it when I the the Tegu.
He is now having twitching in his legs, toes, and even in his chest a little.
I am going to turn the bulbs back to 12 hrs. It sounds like he needs more D3, so the bulbs being on longer should help him. I may get a new screen for the top or the enclusure so that it will accomidate the power sun bulbs you guys suggested.
I have been feeding him fish, eggs, shrimp, ground turkey, and the formula Boby makes with ground turkey, cod liver oil and beef liver.
I am very worried. But I am also worried that even if I find a vet in my area, that he wont be as knowlegable as you guys. I dont want to waste money, but I also dont want my animal to suffer. So If the vote is "take it in", I will do so.
Anything that you guys think I should try, please dont hesitate to tell me.
You guys and girls are life savers, I appreciate all your help

 

[Guest]

Hmmm, IDK... while there are a WEALTH of helpful and informed people here willing to share their advice and experience, I would hazard a guess that very few are actual Veterinarians. That's not a put-down by ANY means, I'm just saying that when it comes to potentially serious medical conditions, a professional Vet is the way to go, IMO.

Please keep up posted!

 

[Orion]

Mine was sliding on his belly for some time also. The vet did a bone density scan but could not find any sign of MBD. The vet put him on liquid calcium for over a month and it only got a tiny bit better. On the suggestion of folks on the board here I started feeding him pinkies, which I was not doing before. He recovered 100% in a month and is now eating full adult mice 3 months later. I had all the calcium supplements and UVB and UVA lights and even with the liquid calcium from the doctor nothing worked until he started eating pinky mice.

 

[chelvis]

how far is the bulb from your tegu? If its ont within 12" he is not getting any/enough UVB, that is how that particular blub is built. That being said it does sound like classic MBD or the start of it, not uncommon in baby tegus. Now im not vet, i was a vet tech for awhile but got board working in an office even if i did get to work with exotics. Taking him into the vet will not hurt and the liquid calicium they have is alot easy to digest and absorb compared to whats on the shelf. Like the last person said trying feeding pinkies if at all fuzzies there is more calcium in them, and add some calcium powder to everything that you feed (calcium without D3 that way there is not too much being absorbed at once). I don't know if this is true but i've read a few times that egg might pervent some calcium absorbtion so i would lay off the egg for a bit, untill his condtion gets better.

 

[Guest]

Took him to the vet and like I thaught, its MBD. The vet said I shouldnt have turned the daylight hrs down to get him into hibernation faster. The vet said that you shouldnt hibernate the tegu their first year of life. He gave my lizard shots of vitamin A/D3 and Calphosan. Then liquid calcium that I have to feed orally twice a day for 6 weeks. Then in two weeks and again in 4 weeks I need to go back and get some sort of hormone injection that will force more calcium into his bones. I am also to turn the bulbs back 2 12 hour cycles.
There went $166.00 + 2 future visits at $70.00 a pice
But he is worth it, I love that little money pit

Thank you all again for all your help.

 

[Guest]

Maybe we can learn by your mistake ...Glad you caught it tho . Since I got mine a week ago he has been coming out more and getting faster and more active .. still not eating yet got my pinkie mice today will give them a try ..

 

[Guest]

how far is the bulb from your tegu? If its ont within 12" he is not getting any/enough UVB, that is how that particular blub is built.
I don't know if this is true but i've read a few times that egg might pervent some calcium absorbtion so i would lay off the egg for a bit, untill his condtion gets better.

Now that I think about the egg thing, I believe I read the same thing somewhere. I will try and lay off the eggs for a while. I went to the exotic animal store in my area a got 2 types of roaches and fuzzy rats. I think these will be a good source of natural calcium.

My basking rock is exactly 12'' from the bulbs so I will file some bedding under the rock to lift it up a bit.

Thank you Chelvis

 

[chelvis]

Ya no problem i was there a year ago with my girl.... funny about the hibernation thing though, if a tegu is going to hibernate then its going to hard to stop it, but ya shorting the day lenght might not have anything really to do with it. A lizard that grows this fast and the bulbs on the market it can be hard even with the proper set-up. Glad to hear that you have everything u need now and hope the little guy gets better.

 

[Guest]

I just want to give you guys a info on how my tegu is doing. Its been 36 hours since I got hime home from the vet. He didnt eat the first night, but he are a whole pinkie rat and a dubi roach last night. I bumped his bulb ours back to 12 hrs and added substrate so that it would bring him closer to the uvb bulb. I also have been adding calcium powder to his food more often and am giving himliquid calcium twice a day.
He has stopped shaking and twitching. He is using his legs more and not dragging his belly.
Thank you guys for all your advice, I didnt think he would bounce back so quickley.

Do you guys and girls think I have to worry about him getting too much calcium with what I am doing now? Should i only put calcium powder on his foor every 3 days or so. I mean he is sick so he probably needs it more often.

If he doesent hibernate this winter that means I will have to hurry and finish his big cage. That will be cutting into my hunting time. O well, he is worth it.

 

[Guest]

We dust every meal with calcium that isn't whole prey (like mice/rats... although with the pinkies, their bones haven't fully calcified yet, so it's recommended to dust them as well too). Every day. We use the calcium+D3 once or twice a week, and the non-D3 calcium every of the other days. In addition to the calcium powder, we also dust a multi-vitamin on their foods once or twice a week.

 

[chelvis]

Dusting every meal with just calcium is fine, you have to watch how much D3 is being use and right now there is no info on how much is too much but if too much is given it can end up hurting the kidneys. So yes you can overdose of Cakcium but D3 regulates how much. Make scense?

 

[VARNYARD]

I would need to differ with the vet's advice on hibernation, what do tegus do in the wild for the first year? It gets very cold with ice and snow in central Argentina where most of our tegus come from. I do not think that tegus at any age would be awake in the cold winter there, regardless if was the first year or the tenth year, they hibernate each winter, including the first year.


If it were me, I would make sure the bulb is good and rodents are fed at least twice a week. I am not big on vitamin A/D3 injections. Both A and D3 can be overdosed very easy. Proper lighting and diet is a much better solution, just my honest opinion.

 

[Guest]

It's been 4 days or so since I took the little guy to the vet. He is walking around normal now. He is no longer twitching and his legs are looking more muscular. He is moving much faster now and eating great. He is eating 1 and a half pinkie rats and a dubai roach each day. I am also sprinkling his rats with calcium without D3 and giving him the liquid calcium like the vet said. He sure hates having that calcium squirted into his mouth though. Thank you all for your help, Its good to have a connection to so many people who know what they are talking about.

 

[White_Lotus]

<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.phoenixworm.com/servlet/the-template/comparison/Page" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.phoenixworm.com/servlet/the- ... rison/Page</a><!-- m --> They work GREAT for either stopping MBD or helping to turn it around,as much as it can be. But i warn you these guys are NOT large enough for "adolescent"-adult tegus only good for early stages of life. I ordered these for my 2 1/2ft tegu and he just looked up at me like "What am I suppose to do with this?"
Also if you gutload your roaches, crix etc with fruits/veggies rich its a good way to get some of that good stuff in your Gu if he/she doesnt want to eat them. Mind you this does NOT replace dusting feeders! Now that i've gotten that across hope your Gu gets a full recovery and lives a long happy life with you!!!!!