Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey everybody, first of all i want to thank you all for helping me with all the questions I've had in the past with my black throat monitor.
Now I kind of have another question . Two days ago after I fed him I noticed he was limping when he walked. His left front leg is the one with the problem. The leg looks fine to me. Its not swollen or anything, but he still limps while he walks. He is alone in his cage so I don't know how he got hurt if that's the problem.
He is a growing baby about three months old. the temperature in the enclosure is 85 in cool side and 130 in the basking spot. Humidity is 60%. He eats really good, he's appetite hasn't decreased at all and he doesn't seem depressed or stressed. He does everything fine but with a limp leg.
I am very worried about this he's been like this for two days now, an hasn't gotten any better. If u have any tips or guidelines how to take care of this problem please help. By the way I live in Florida I dont know any good reptiles vets around here. So a veterinarian does not seem like an option to me If you know what I can do in this case please help.
Thank you.

Hello,
You probably need to share a few pictures of your albig and it's enclosure. And also what you have been feeding it.
If you just feed it chicken pieces and not whole prey items, it will not process calcium properly which may have led to a broken bone. If not, have you physically examined the limb to see if there was any injury or abrasion?
I just rescued 2 albigs and they both have muscle wasting and MBD.
I don't anyone can address your concern without more information.
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WWW.LIZARDRC.COM

Currently I don't have a way to post pictures. So i will try to describe as best as possible.
The little guy is currently a little over a foot long. He is in a 40gal breeder. I use Eco earth for bedding and it has 4" in depth. It has a big water bowl for him to soak in. Some branches for him to climb on n hide in.
He eats about 15 crikets daily, I dust them once a week with repti cal n repti vita. I feed him a pinkie once a week and some boiled gizzards once a week. And I give him boiled eggs every other week. He is nice n fat not overweight though.
As far as checking for a broken limb, I haven't done so. I wouldn't know how to check it. He does walk with it though, he also climbs up the branches for basking And from time to time he climbs up my hand for food. He uses the leg but you notice the limp when he walks.
I read online that lowering the humidity and raising the temperature might help.
What do you think?

Stick with dusted crix and pinkies, forget the other stuff.
It sounds like an injury. post some video/pictures.
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WWW.LIZARDRC.COM

I mean no offense here - honesty comes first...

This is a common problem with new keepers. It stems from lackluster caging/enclosures/husbandry, and a lackluster diet.

When you don't offer a proper diet and instead feed things like meat, eggs and gizzards - the monitor can't calcify bones properly which leads to weak bones that break easily. That is just the beginning, eventually leads to death.

STOP feeding gizzards, meat and hard boiled eggs. They don't need any of that junk. ESPECIALLY if he's being kept in a fish tank (worst monitor cage ever).

These animals need WHOLE PREY items and proper caging/husbandry.

Why buy a potential 7ft lizard without knowing what's coming?

Seems like common sense to do your homework for a long while before purchasing a 7ft carnivorous lizard.

You can save him but you need to get to work before it's too late.

- Build him a proper enclosure. Yes, build, as that is the only way to properly house a monitor. Buying fish tanks/vision cages don't come close to cutting it.

- Throw away that fish tank.

- Get a temp gun. Measure your surface temps. Basking hottest spot should be around 130f.

- Feed a proper diet. Never feed plain meat, gizzards, eggs. Whole prey only meaning EVERYTHING - feathers, fur, eyeballs, organs, bones etc = the WHOLE animal. For your Albig you should offer baby quail, chick, fresh crustaceans (crawfish, crabs, etc), and roaches.

- Ditch the crickets. Their phosphorous/calcium ratio isn't optimal even if gutloaded. Not to mention - if you are buying crickets from the pet store - the crickets are most probably on the cheapest/worst diet the pet store can think of probably feeding them potatoes only.

- Breed your own roaches! Get yourself a Tupperware container and throw some egg cartons inside. Buy about 500-1000 lobster roaches (lobster roaches have a high meat/shell ratio) and throw them in. Set the container on top of your newly built enclosure where it's warm from the light inside and there is your heat source for the roach container.

Lobster roaches breed very fast if kept properly and they make great feeders.

Don't feed them crap. Feed them fruits and veggies (don't even need to give them water as they get it from the fruits/veggies) every day and you'll have yourself a very healthy (and free) roach colony going in no time to feed your black throat.

Get started...

Good luck!

Good advice.
Hissers are great too and you can really fill their gut with protein diet.
If all you have are crix and rodents, ditch everything else but think about a varied diet of whole prey items as mentioned.

WRC,
It is a problem with so many baby BTs being sold, online, and expos.
The information is out there, yet the problem continues.
And repetition responses of the same information over and over on the forums. See above post about the ornate.

In theory, I think if the table had a large 6' healthy and upset BT or Nile next to the babies, people would really get the idea and think better of impulse buying that cute baby in the deli cup.

So is there a seller online who comes online and spends the time to address problems and provide help. There are a few and those should be supported before any others. Again, see post above.
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WWW.LIZARDRC.COM

Really good help guys. Thank you.
I actually have a 6×4×4 enclosure already built. I had my 3 year old savannah monitor in there until I tranfered him to his permanent enclosure. Which is something a little bigger than the last.
Now as far as my BT. I have had him in the 40gal breeder because I thought he will be too small for the other enclosure. I know fish tanks are monitors worst cage but I fixed it a little. I made a wood top for it so the moisture stays inside n covered the back n sides for privacy. I only planned to keep him in there till he got a bit bigger.
Now you say that I haven't done my homework. that's not completly true. Because I knew the kind of monitor I had bought n it wasnt much of an impulse purchase because I had to drive three hours just to get him. I actually did some hw on them but probably not enough. I spent two months to find the right monitor for me thou.
But I will tell you something. Its not always thee persons fault, the thing is that there are so many people out there who post so many articles and caresheets and just information alone that is wrong about the keeping and raising of monitors. I mean there are at least hundreds of different websites who just post wrong information about them. And then there are very few where you can actually find the right information. It takes time and dedication to find the right info about them.

Now back to the issue. So if I was to change his diet do u think his leg will get better. N how long will it take. That is my main concern right now. I already started making the roach cage and preparing stuff for when they get here.