Tegu behaving funny

[solisoli]

Hey,

I bought a 5 - 8 mth old tegu about 3 days ago, and I'm not sure that it's all that okay. For one thing, she walks different from the tegus I've seen on youtube, sort of dragging herself on the belly.

She's also very sluggish when she moves, and not active at all. She just lies in her tank all day, not moving at all if she can help it. I got her off a friend's friend, and he says the tegu gets Rep Cal calcium + d3 dusted meals everyday, plus RepCal Multi Vit.

It just doesn't add up!

I'm a new tegu owner with zero experience with lizards, so would be extremely grateful if I could get some help.

 

[Sway]

What size enclosure is he/she in? What are you feeding your tegu? What type of lighting are you using? What are the ambient, hot side, and cool side temps? What is the humidity temp? Are you using a uvb light? What is the basking temp?

Also, what are you using to measure your temps?

 

[solisoli]

For the 7 days I've owned her:

- Currently housed in a 4ft tank.
- Feeding raw chicken meat and gizzards dusted with calcium powder +d3 and multi-vits. Grapes & oranges on occasion.
- 160w basking light with full daylight spectrum and UVB, placed about 50cm above the tank
- Ambient temp about 30 - 32 deg celsius, cool side about 30 - 32 deg celsius, warm side about 38 - 40 deg celsius
- Humidity is at 55%, but i mist her everyday.


But she came to us the way she was. I don't know about her previous living conditions.

 

[asher3096]

I thought d3 in large amounts was fatal... If she was being fed meals dusted in that everyday then that might be it. See if she starts feeling better if you give her less of that. Like once or twice a week instead of everyday

 

[solisoli]

Noted on that point. Thanks for that! But it still doesn't answer the question of why she's so sluggish (like literally! crawling on her belly and all) because she came to us like that.. I'm afraid it might be MBD. I'm seeing a vet the coming Monday though. They don't have any earlier appointments

 

[asher3096]

If she's getting enough UVB that can reverse MBD. Do you know if she was getting enough of it with the person you bought her from? And i hope the vet visit goes great

 

[solisoli]

i hope so too. will update once i get her diagnosed.

 

[solisoli]

Okay, the results are in and it's MBD. The legs are all splayed out because she was affected since young, and had no strength to lift her body off the ground. That's why the joints developed the way it did. The vet recommended that I prop the rear up by attaching a small platform to her underbelly using bandages and tape so her legs will fall into the correct position. Couple this with the right diet and at least half hour of natural sunlight everyday and she would hopefully be fine in a few months. Not a 100% guaranteed remedy, but at least it's better than nothing.

 

[Rebecca Stout]

Thank you for helping her! Awe!

 

[Aardbark]

Welcome to the site.

Sorry to hear your gu is haveing troubles, but at least it sounds like she is in loveing hands. Good luck and I hope to hear good news of her recovery.