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Nursing this Beautiful Girl Back to Health
- Thread starter tresh
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- Las Vegas, NV.
laurarfl said:I bet she can recover pretty well. The jaw is likely a result of poor calcium/D3 rather than an injury. Jaw softening is pretty common since that is one of the first places the body goes to get the calcium it needs to function properly. Of course, I am not a vet, and a vet would be so much more helpful. Here's some suggestions though:
1. Get some fluid in her, whether it be water, pedialyte...orally or in a soak.
2. Give her some soft food to eat at first like chicken baby food, egg, finely chopped ground turkey or beef. Try some chopped fruit, too. It will give her some fluid, fiber, vitamins, and phytonutrients.
3. She badly needs calcium. If you get a small jar of baby food, put a 1/4 teaspoon of powdered calcium w Vit D in it. There is also liquid Calcium Gluconate that you can get at some stores.
4. She needs Vit D to use the calcium. Natural sunshine is best. If she can get outside for 30min daily of unfiltered or min 1/4" mesh screen, that would be best. Next best would be a MVB UVB source. It wouldn't hurt her to have calcium w D in it for a week or so.
5. Of course, proper temps and all.
Ditto,..with an emphasis on getting her outside for some natural sun. Besides the heat and helping process the calcium it will also help stimulate her appetite.
With time and proper care she'll recover.UPDATE AFTER VET VISIT
So I just got home from the vet. The red tegu, now named Ember, is going to survive, given good care and a lot of tlc from me.
She thankfully DOES NOT have MBD, her skeleton is fine, no abnormalities. Her toes were probably lost due to bad shedding, but they are all healed nicely. She's free of infection and irritation.
Her jaw, while she will always have the underbite, is okay. She is missing about 6 of her bottom teeth, but she has all of her back teeth and top jaw teeth, so eventually she'll be able to eat prey foods like mice again.
Right now, she's going ot be on a three-times a day feeding schedule, ranging from baby food mixed with vitamins, to chopped up food I'm ordering now, to things like mice. As long as I keep stuffing her belly, whether she wants to be stuffed or not (thus why I'll be using a feeding syringe...the vet tells me that I'm going to have to force her to eat if she refuses food), she should make a full recovery.
It's going to be slow-going, but Ember should, given good care, make it. I've been told that she cannot be allowed to hibernate, despite her desire to, so I get to wake her up every few hours and pester her to get back under the heat lamp.
I'm just glad that she should be okay, given good care and lots of love.
So I just got home from the vet. The red tegu, now named Ember, is going to survive, given good care and a lot of tlc from me.
She thankfully DOES NOT have MBD, her skeleton is fine, no abnormalities. Her toes were probably lost due to bad shedding, but they are all healed nicely. She's free of infection and irritation.
Her jaw, while she will always have the underbite, is okay. She is missing about 6 of her bottom teeth, but she has all of her back teeth and top jaw teeth, so eventually she'll be able to eat prey foods like mice again.
Right now, she's going ot be on a three-times a day feeding schedule, ranging from baby food mixed with vitamins, to chopped up food I'm ordering now, to things like mice. As long as I keep stuffing her belly, whether she wants to be stuffed or not (thus why I'll be using a feeding syringe...the vet tells me that I'm going to have to force her to eat if she refuses food), she should make a full recovery.
It's going to be slow-going, but Ember should, given good care, make it. I've been told that she cannot be allowed to hibernate, despite her desire to, so I get to wake her up every few hours and pester her to get back under the heat lamp.
I'm just glad that she should be okay, given good care and lots of love.
larissalurid
New Member
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She has a soft jaw right? Try massaging it daily to try to get it back into place. This might work over time. I've never tried it on a lizard but one of my macaws was born with a crooked lower jaw, so every time we would feed him (since young parrots still have soft-ish beaks) we'd massage it and try to get it back into place. After a while it actually did go back to where it should be. With more calcium, food, and all the other care needed, perhaps if you try doing this as well it could help get the jaw a little more where it should be. Just a theory, but it wouldn't hurt to try I bet.
It's not a soft jaw...she's got cage-rub, so her jaw is irritated, but it's not infected. Basically, she's eventually going to be able to eat just fine. Right now, she doesn't even seem to know HOW to eat real food...so liquid/soft diet until she can grab food again.
My original 'bratchild' Ammy, wanted to know what this new creature in her space was! I was having to do some work in the computer room, which is where Ammy is hibernating, so I had to bring Ember with me, so she was laying in Ammy's 'box' (For some reason, Ammy has an attachment to the box, she went as far as dragging it out of the garbage! So now her waterdish is kept in the box, beside her heat lamp).
Ammy just seemed to be like "wtf is this in my space?" and then left her alone. Ember was just enjoying the heat, lol. She seems to favor the red bulb, vs the natural light heat lamp I've been using with her, so I might switch them out.
[attachment=5198]
My original 'bratchild' Ammy, wanted to know what this new creature in her space was! I was having to do some work in the computer room, which is where Ammy is hibernating, so I had to bring Ember with me, so she was laying in Ammy's 'box' (For some reason, Ammy has an attachment to the box, she went as far as dragging it out of the garbage! So now her waterdish is kept in the box, beside her heat lamp).
Ammy just seemed to be like "wtf is this in my space?" and then left her alone. Ember was just enjoying the heat, lol. She seems to favor the red bulb, vs the natural light heat lamp I've been using with her, so I might switch them out.
[attachment=5198]
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- Las Vegas, NV.
And another one, in case you missed the other posts on another thread, plus the one I'll post. Quarantine new pets, there should be no contact with pets you already have especially of the same species.
You don't know what she could be carrying that can be passed on to the other tegu. I'm sure the Vet visit was just a basic exam, no labs or fecals. Even with fecals it takes at least 3 negative fecals, over a period of time to rule out parasites.
It's just safer to keep them separated especially in her condition. If Ammy decided she didn't want to be bothered and or wanted her own space and went after Ember, she (Ember) wouldn't be able to properly defend herself in that condition. Why risk it?
http://www.tegutalk.com/showthread.php?tid=10322
You don't know what she could be carrying that can be passed on to the other tegu. I'm sure the Vet visit was just a basic exam, no labs or fecals. Even with fecals it takes at least 3 negative fecals, over a period of time to rule out parasites.
It's just safer to keep them separated especially in her condition. If Ammy decided she didn't want to be bothered and or wanted her own space and went after Ember, she (Ember) wouldn't be able to properly defend herself in that condition. Why risk it?
http://www.tegutalk.com/showthread.php?tid=10322
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- 725
I thought red lights were a no-no? Can't it cause blindness?
I asked the vet about quarantine, and she's the one that told me that it was probably safe for minimal contact. I didn't expect for Ammy to decide to wake up and want to get some water, so it wasn't long exposure, a couple minutes at best. I wouldn't house them together at this point, and as soon as Ammy decided that she actually wanted to lay there, I moved Ember back to her enclosure. It wasn't prolonged exposure, and like I said, the vet said that it would probably be fine for the two of them to meet under very very guarded circumstances, though of course she also said that Ember shouldn't be allowed to roam at all until she's much much healthier.
Edited: And I haven't heard about red heat lamps being bad for tegus...never had anyone say that before. And it's never seemed to affect Ammy at all, she's always loved this one much more than the nicer one that I used when she was in the enclosure.
Edited: And I haven't heard about red heat lamps being bad for tegus...never had anyone say that before. And it's never seemed to affect Ammy at all, she's always loved this one much more than the nicer one that I used when she was in the enclosure.
- Messages
- 2,402
- Location
- Las Vegas, NV.
tresh said:
Is it a Herp Vet and did you do labs or even a fecal? Any vet can do a basic exam, fecal or even lab work. But for reptiles that actually have issues they should see a Herp Vet. For a Vet to suggest any type of contact especially without those two things, in the condition Ember's in,.... I would find another Vet. URI's, parasites and some skin conditions are most commonly passed from one pet (not just reptiles) to another. All of which can show few signs until it's a serious issue and don't require long periods of contact to be passed on just close proximity.
It's just safer to keep them separated. In time when she's doing better, healthy, has put on weight and no other issues pop up then you should have introduced them.
I'm not planning on putting them together again at any point. Ammy has always been the curious nosy lizard, to the point where she gets herself in trouble to discover what something is. Ember is safe and happy in her enclosure, with no desire to get out, and Ammy can't get to the enclosure.
The vet I see is an exotics vet, doesn't specialize in reptiles, but I've taken Ammy to this vet numerous times, so she does know what she's doing.
And Ember quite obligingly gave the vet a sample while we were there. According to the vet, a good healthy proper colored sample.
Regardless of all this, Ember is safe, she's actually taking to being fed with a baby medicine syringe fairly well. She's been eating baby food while I wait for a shipment of ground meat to get here, as well as the disgusting smelling concoction I made for her on sunday, which i froze into little lizard-bites. She currently has decided to be a lap-lizard whenever I get her out of the enclosure, which at the moment is every 4 or 5 hours, because she keeps wanting to burrow down in the cold side of the tank and she refuses to get warm. She likes to cuddle up against me, which is fine, when she's wrapped in a towel and kept warm.
She's already starting to show a bit more spirit, which is wonderful. The weather outside has been miserable the last few days, so I haven't been able to take her on the porch for some natural sunlight, but the enclosure is near a window, so she's getting at least some coming in, if she would only quit being stubborn and actually bask.
The vet I see is an exotics vet, doesn't specialize in reptiles, but I've taken Ammy to this vet numerous times, so she does know what she's doing.
And Ember quite obligingly gave the vet a sample while we were there. According to the vet, a good healthy proper colored sample.
Regardless of all this, Ember is safe, she's actually taking to being fed with a baby medicine syringe fairly well. She's been eating baby food while I wait for a shipment of ground meat to get here, as well as the disgusting smelling concoction I made for her on sunday, which i froze into little lizard-bites. She currently has decided to be a lap-lizard whenever I get her out of the enclosure, which at the moment is every 4 or 5 hours, because she keeps wanting to burrow down in the cold side of the tank and she refuses to get warm. She likes to cuddle up against me, which is fine, when she's wrapped in a towel and kept warm.
She's already starting to show a bit more spirit, which is wonderful. The weather outside has been miserable the last few days, so I haven't been able to take her on the porch for some natural sunlight, but the enclosure is near a window, so she's getting at least some coming in, if she would only quit being stubborn and actually bask.
Today Ember voluntarily ate for the first time! Two days ago, she drank water for the first time, but today, I tested her with some ground up meat I got from Hare Today Gone Tommorrow, and she was ravenous!
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=355284324559052
So now I get the fun of making lizard meatballs, lol.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=355284324559052
So now I get the fun of making lizard meatballs, lol.
Logie_Bear
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What sorta meats Didja buy for her?
I bought a BIG order from Hare Today Gone Tommorrow, to keep testing to see what she likes. Today, I tried the ground up chicken organs. This is a complete list of what I bought though, I"m pretty much going to try one thing after another to find out what she likes:
1 x Ground Turkey/Bones/Organs, 1 lb
1 x Whole Carcass Ground Quail, 1 lb
1 x Ground Rabbit, Whole Carcass- Fur and All, 1 lb
1 x Ground Sardines, 1 lb
2 x Ground Beef/Organs/Tripe and Bone, 1 lb
1 x Ground Chicken Organs, 1 lb
1 x Pureed Chicken Eggs -Free Range
1 x Ground Atlantic Herring, 1 lb
1 x Ground Green Tripe with Spleen (BEEF) 1 lb
1 x Ground Chicken/Bones/Organs, 1 lb
1 x Boneless Ground Chicken Breasts, 1 lb
1 x Ground White Fish/Bone, 1 lb
1 x Ground Turkey/Bones/Organs, 1 lb
1 x Whole Carcass Ground Quail, 1 lb
1 x Ground Rabbit, Whole Carcass- Fur and All, 1 lb
1 x Ground Sardines, 1 lb
2 x Ground Beef/Organs/Tripe and Bone, 1 lb
1 x Ground Chicken Organs, 1 lb
1 x Pureed Chicken Eggs -Free Range
1 x Ground Atlantic Herring, 1 lb
1 x Ground Green Tripe with Spleen (BEEF) 1 lb
1 x Ground Chicken/Bones/Organs, 1 lb
1 x Boneless Ground Chicken Breasts, 1 lb
1 x Ground White Fish/Bone, 1 lb
New pictures today! Looks like I am going to have to buy some rats for her...she's definitely got her appetite back! She ate a fourth of a lb of meat today! So proud of her, she's eating so well already.
[attachment=5277][attachment=5278][attachment=5279][attachment=5280][attachment=5281]
[attachment=5277][attachment=5278][attachment=5279][attachment=5280][attachment=5281]
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Have fun with those sardines as well as the tripe, it REAKS! and their poops smells like it too and if they poop in the cage, even after you clean it, i swear it stains the walls of the cage.... never again will I feel sardines hahaha
What was your total including shipping for that order? Just curious
What was your total including shipping for that order? Just curious
My big tegu, Ammy, likes rotten things...so I am very very used to the stink of tegu poop. Doesn't help that she won't go in her cage, and wont' go in the bathtub, and with her having free range of hte apartment...yeah....nothing quite like stepping in disgusting staining fresh tegu crap, lol. The smell of tegu poop after she's eaten something she hid for a week under the couch....so foul. So incredibly foul.
Well, I guess I know she's getting healthy now! She decided, since I was gone all day yesturday, to pull a tegu escape on me. Imagine my frantic scrambling trying to find where my lizard was.
She found Ammy's old hiding spot, a spot almost behind a bookcase.
Apparently she took offense to me attempting to feed her ground fish, and so now I have learned that if she does not get her massive intake of actual meat, she will go looking for it herself. I got her back in her enclosure, filled her food dish with ground beef, vitamins and two mice, and left her alone.
I guess it is because she was starved for so long that she's got this extreme food aggression to her. It's crazy how aggressive she is about food! I'm not afraid of her, and I won't tolerate her striking at me, but yeah, it's definitely something I"m going to have to try to train out of her.
She found Ammy's old hiding spot, a spot almost behind a bookcase.
Apparently she took offense to me attempting to feed her ground fish, and so now I have learned that if she does not get her massive intake of actual meat, she will go looking for it herself. I got her back in her enclosure, filled her food dish with ground beef, vitamins and two mice, and left her alone.
I guess it is because she was starved for so long that she's got this extreme food aggression to her. It's crazy how aggressive she is about food! I'm not afraid of her, and I won't tolerate her striking at me, but yeah, it's definitely something I"m going to have to try to train out of her.
