Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I've acquired a new tegu. He or she (?) is a red suffering from severe metabolic bone disease. It's front paws are curled completely under. Its snout to vent length is under 5 inches; it's total length is about 11 inches. Here's the really sad part: It's at least a year old! Its previous owner had nearly starved it to death, and it had had neither UV light nor supplementation to it's diet. God knows what the guy fed it when he did feed it. I have no idea if the animal is CB or WC. I acquired it through the pet store to which the guy had sold it sight unseen. All he told the store was that it was hatched last summer, and he bought it at a reptile show last year. Luckily, this is a decent store that realized the tegu needed a lot of TLC, so they kept it instead of sending it back to die or trying to pass it off to the unsuspecting public as a healthy animal. Anyway, the little animal does have a healthy appetite, so I'm going to give it a try and see if I can give the poor little thing a second chance at life. Any advice will be greatly appreciated!

Hey congrats!

I'm so glad your helping the poor thing. As far as MBD, everyone seems to agree, proper lighting and diet is your answer. Supplements and powersuns (or proper distanced tubes)..
..oh and lotz of love
-----
Yours,

NiCoLE

"Trying to save someone from their own stupidity is like trying to teach a pig how to dance: it wastes your time, and annoys the pig."

- Robert
Heinlein

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I've got good lighting and supplements for him. I'm also cleaning up his diet. The pet shop appeared to have been feeding him crickets and pinkies every other day and veggies on the days between. I personally think he needs to be eating crickets daily right now. It also doesn't look as if he got any fruit, and I strongly suspect that he didn't catch as many crickets as he needed, either, since he can't move very well with his lame front paws. I'm watching his feeding behavior closely, too. When he does catch a cricket, he tries to eat it, but many times he gives up and drops it. I can't tell if he's having trouble positioning the cricket in his mouth or if something else is going on, so I'm keeping an eye on that. I fed him some pinkies (cut in half because a full-size pinkie is bigger than his head) and crickets today. Tomorrow, I'm going to add a little turkey to his diet (since he won't have to expend energy chasing it down like he does with crix) and some strawberries. For all he's been through, he's an energetic little thing.

You sound like your doing a great job! How old is he? Have you tried eggs? Have you come up with a name?
When you get a chance post some photos.
-----
Yours,

NiCoLE

"Trying to save someone from their own stupidity is like trying to teach a pig how to dance: it wastes your time, and annoys the pig."

- Robert
Heinlein

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

He was hatched last spring/summer, so he's a year old, give or take a few weeks. He's so much smaller than the B&W juvie I have that was hatched this year, that it breaks my heart to look at him. His poor little tail is lumpy and misshapen, and his head looks too big for his body. I took some pictures yesterday. As soon as I get them downloaded from the camera, I'll post them. I haven't come up with a name yet (wish I knew if I have a he or she!). Right now, I'm officially calling him/her Chance, but I seem to be calling him/her Baby more often, and I have a feeling that might stick! His feeding behavior is very weird. He seems to have trouble getting the food into his mouth and swallowing it. He grabs the pinky, tosses it around extensively, tries to mouth it, tosses it some more, then gives up. I've been cutting his pinkies in half, so that they're quite small (half the size of his head). I have a feeling that his original owner might have been feeding him live pinkies and crickets that were too large for him. With crickets, he can't seem to get them positioned to get in his mouth. He catches them, then they escape while he's trying to get them in his mouth. He's on cypress shred right now, but I think I'm going to move him to dirt. His strike precision with crickets isn't good because of his awkwardly deformed front paws, and he seems to be getting more wood in his mouth than cricket with each strike. Right now, he's got a bowl of pinkie halves, ground turkey, and diced strawberries. Can we say "spoiled!"

Oh yeah, and I'm going to get him to the vet for a checkup and to see if he needs calcium injections at the end of the week. He's kind of high strung, and I want to give him a chance to settle down a little.

There was a time when the thought of a bowl of dead mice would not be a very pleasant thing....now I think of nutrition
Keep up the good work with baby...that's a great name, sounds perfect :-D
-----
Yours,

NiCoLE

"Trying to save someone from their own stupidity is like trying to teach a pig how to dance: it wastes your time, and annoys the pig."

- Robert
Heinlein

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Seeing that you suspect one of the types of MBD, he could be suffering from a malformation of his jaw, making it difficult for him to properly chew his food. I hope your vet can give you more definitive answers. Bless you for taking in this little guy and giving him a chance. Best of luck.

Pam