Tegu dragging head when walking

[CaseyGiroux]

Hello!

My tegu is a Chacoan black and white her (maybe?) name is Balerion (the black dread). She is a little over 3 years old and without a ruler I’d say she’s close to 3ft or longer. She eats 93% lean ground turkey dusted with calcium powder along with a variety of fruits. She is in a 40
Gallon tank with a Mercury Vapor bulb (hot spot temp. 95 degrees cool side 88 degrees) in the process of building a custom outside enclosure. She gets to roam on our outdoor courtyard in the daytime when we are home for a work out.

I have noticed Balerion does not lift her head/front half off the ground when she walks. Naturally, I am concerned about MBD, though I don’t know how that would happen with calcium dusted food and UVB. She tends to be sort of lazy, but I thought that was sort of normal for the species. I have video of her gait and pics of her standing, any advice, ideas, or suggestions you have would be welcome! View attachment 13865

This is her posture when she walks, head down and back highly sloped.

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Another full picture of her walking.

View attachment 13867

Shes super chill and calm

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What does the community think? Is this MBD? What can I do to help her walk in a normal way?

 

[Walter1]

Not right. She seems crippled. MBD or otherwise.

 

[AlphaAlpha]

Doesn't look well to me either and back legs also look as though they are wasting away (no muscle substance)

 

[Walter1]

If mine, I'd schedule a vet appt. ASAP. I'd HEAVILY DUST whole medium frozen/thawed mice for her. Give her natural sunlight as much as possible.

 

[Mich lady]

I understand this animal has a major health problem. And that is first and foremost, however, nobody even mentions that she is in a 40 gallon tank and she is three feet long!

 

[Walter1]

I understand this animal has a major health problem. And that is first and foremost, however, nobody even mentions that she is in a 40 gallon tank and she is three feet long!

Touche!!!! I have my blind spots. Excellent spotting. That, in some way, could be a mitigating factor in its troubles.

 

[CaseyGiroux]

If mine, I'd schedule a vet appt. ASAP. I'd HEAVILY DUST whole medium frozen/thawed mice for her. Give her natural sunlight as much as possible.

We are giving her outdoor time from around 8-5 and she has never really cared for mice, but we do dust her food. Our vet said to keep doing what we are doing and bring her back in a week if we don’t see improvements.

 

[CaseyGiroux]

Touche!!!! I have my blind spots. Excellent spotting. That, in some way, could be a mitigating factor in its troubles.

We are in the process of building her a new 8ft long outdoor enclosure so in the mean time she gets lots of time to roam outside her tank and gets soaked daily.

 

[Zyn]

The temps are all wrong and she can’t thermoregulate at that size in a 40 gallon I wouldn’t keep a 6 month old in a 40’gallon. She can’t move and can’t regulate.

Looks like MDB or since she can’t move her muscles are wasting away, she may be crippled the rest of her life if she pulls through. You don’t want to hear it but sadly this could of been avoided.

Her dusting shouldn’t have D3 in it by the way if she’s getting UVB from a light source but this source in a 40 gallon probably isn’t doing enough as in it could be to far away, older than 6 months, shining though a screen? Her temps are about 15-20’degrees to low on her hot spot and about 10-15 to high on the cool side. Most likely leading to these issue. If it’s not MDB, might be her bones didn’t develop properly due to poor husbandry.

Its like if you grew up in a box, your legs and arms and neck would be bowed as well.

On to a few good points

Her skin and weight look good, but her back is bowed.

Also I’ve never heard of any Tegu in the history of Tegus refuse rodents lol at three she can easily take down small rats dusted with calcium. But don’t dust every meal this can also be a bad thing.

 

[Merlot]

Oh my. So sorry. Those temps got to go way up for the basking spot and honestly I can’t believe it’s in a 40 gallon. Did you ever replace the UVB bulb? Get some serious nutrients in there and some whole prey food. The ground turkey is basically only protein

 

[Kristi Sanford]

Omg 40 gal for a 3ft tegu is not good i don't want to sound rude but that is definitely not a proper enclosure. Go to home depot and buy supplies to make your own there are tons of diy enclosure instructions if you have never done one before ..temps are definitely way off for sure and i agree with others that its probably due to housing in such a small tank that poor thing will either never recover or take years too. I hope you get a proper enclosure for your GU ..also need to provide a variety of protein and D3

 

[Mamasaurus]

Aww. Poor little love. My first point is that her cool side isn't cool and her basking is nowhere near hot enough. That leads to lack of energy, poor digestion, heat stress, and depleted vitamin absorption as well. Happy to hear she is out most of the time and getting an upgrade but those temps definitely are a huge factor. I have a little rock that he can go up and down from the heat. It ranges 115-135 as he goes, mid is 80 ish, cool is 75 ish but he can still dig in the wet mulch to get cooler. My dude likes it really hot when he wants to be hot but he also LOVES the cool end being nice and cool. That gradient really matters. I think a moist cool hideout, then 75 cool side, 85 mid, and a nice hot basking spot somewhere between 115-125 is gonna do wonders. I also recommend given her state using whole prey. The calcium and nutrients a whole animal offers is unmatched. If you are concerned about it you can order them already ground up into little sausages, with fruits and veggies and quail eggs even, from reptilinks. I haven't had any issues. Cleaner, smaller, less impaction risk. I just offer some fruit and some occassional other treats (bugs) with those just for variety. Don't really have to. Less dusting required and still more nutrients. Good luck!

 

[James Smith]

She need the guts of a prey and some good fat in her diet. Allow her to continually get outside sun light and exercise. Keep giving her fruit but she can't live on that alone. How is her water intake seeing that she laying so low? Can she sit up to drink. She might be dehydrated as well. Some proper TLC will do wonders, however she need to see a Vet. quick, like asap.