Reptile & Amphibian Forums

When i bought my mangrove i notived it was missing 2 of her claws.

the guy at the pet store said that she still had her digits so they will probably grow back.

when the animal was put for sale it had all its claws.

but now i noticed a claw that is gone that was there when i bought her which brings me to think this is normal and they lose claws sometimes.

is this true and will it grow back? how long will it take to grow back?

keep in mind the fingers are there and are fine. just 3 fingers missing the claw.

we named her digi (short for double digits)
after noticing she missing 2 claws

should i change her name to tripple diggi? hehe j/k
but i am curious if she will grow them back and be flawless again.

It was kept for a while on different substrates, it was a flighty animal that I gave hides to, only they were small homemade hides, as he wouldnt burrow in the substrate I used for him. He ripped claws out when handled or stressed, he also ripped claws out escaping, or panicing and trying to run up the cage glass, he ripped them out on my gloves, and for a while they bled good, but the next day they appeared to be completley closed up ,in a few weeks he always grew a new claw. When I switched him to dirt, and offered large hides, and stacks, he stopped ripping his claws out completely, its amazing how much difference stress can make, just like breaking tail tips off.
To answer your question if the animal is healthy (physically), with some ability to hide or reduce stress (mentally) they should grow back, but that doesnt solve the root of the problem, sometimes it takes you to keep making changes until the problems stop.
Toes can also be lost to improper sheds on dehydrated animals kept with screen tops, alot of these animals in petstores never grow their toes back, as dehydration destroys the tissues and the gland that allows a claw to grow.

Carpet fibers. Depending on the type of carpet you have and the type of monitor you keep, you should consider the possibility that carpet fibers are getting wrapped around the toe and cutting off circulation to the nail. We saw an animal brought into a pet store once that had several claws missing. The animal looked healthy otherwise. On close inspection, we noticed that their were nylon fibers wrapped around each of the toes that was missing. When we spoke to the owner we found she allowed her Savannah to run around on the carpet and that one of her monitors favorite activities was to claw at the carpet.

That may not say much for that monitor owner (yeah, just let your lizard destroy your carpets. It will add character!) But until then, I had never heard that carpet can actually injure a reptile.

Hey the water bowl in the picture is that a Paellera ?
If it is its made of uncoated aluminum and if your water ph is acidic (have a water softer etc. in your house ) it will leach a lot of aluminum into the drinking water ... this could be toxic over time .

I bet this cage is in South Florida or the monitor is Cuban

Stella St.Pierre
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Stella St.Pierre
www.bluetegu.com

It is inert in the human body, I cant imagine its poisonous to them, as well aluminum has been used for so many years with canned food, it does not produce a poisonous corrosion as many other metals do.
Constriction on the claws..
I saw many of those bosc and nile monitors before with claws missing taken back to petstores, some lived on carpet but all had something in common, they were kept too dry, on the wrong substrate, it had to due with stress and improper shedding around claws. I guess carpet fibers could doom an already falling apart monitor faster but when at least somewhat healthy they can dig carpet all they want and do no damage (although I dont suggest it).

Aluminum toxicity can lead to poor calcium metabolism (it blocks the absobtion of phosphorus ), anemia , gatrointestinal problems , rickets , colic , decreased liver function just to name a few.

Doing a search at JAMA or the New England Jurnal of Medicine might surprise you .

Last I heard soda wasn't good for you ... just because they sell it doesn't mean it's heathy

Oh and those pots are made to cook rice in , so the food is only suppose to be in it what 20-30 minutes .... soda cans /cans are treated so they don't leach
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Stella St.Pierre
www.bluetegu.com

Oh forgot to add that can goods and soda have a shelf life.
Sit a can of soda on your shelf and let it sit past the date and see what happens when it eats through the coating .

It's great for cleaning battery teriminals on your car though
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Stella St.Pierre
www.bluetegu.com

omg i have never seen a mroe intelegent group than this.

you guys are right

my cousin came over and told me when my mom found out out that i used her rice cooking pot for a water bowl she would kill me

i diddent evin know that

but you guys can tell from looking at the picture and i am so amazed

im changing the water bowl asap and i cant believe what im reading.

im verry thankfull with these responces and i will continue to modafy my monitors cage so she can live a good life.

Because it is inert inside of the body. How long is the shelf life on canned food, vegetables, fruit, etc?? Ask the manufacturers why they use aluminum in soda, and food cans. Consider this they say flouride causes muscle weakness, and other disorders, yet Im sure you brush your teeth and drink water. How many years has aluminum been used in food cans etc, 50 plus.

Cans that you buy food in are usually made of steel or steel with a combination of other metals . Cans that you buy soda and beer in are usually nade of aluminum . You can tell the difference by taking a magnet to them , the magnet won't stick to the aluminum can .

You can also tell if the aluminum has been treated by pouring tomatoe sauce on it and letting it sit . Don't belive it's true take some aluminum foil and line a bowl with in and pour a jar of spagetti sauce in it put it in your fridge for a week then check to see what happeded to the tin foil .

Most pots you would by at the store now that are made of aluminum are coated and treated . The pot he was usuing has been around for a long time and probably isn't ... my parents had them and I know I ruined my mothers by making spagetti sauce in it and putting it in the fridge ... it pitted.

If you want to leave your lizards only source of water in a pot that may pit and leave traces of aluminum that's up to you .But why take a chance when plastic bowls are so cheap and won't leach something that may be harmfull to your animal over time .
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Stella St.Pierre
www.bluetegu.com

A better choice, for durability, cleaning, etc etc, but I dont believe it is a health problem for his monitor from the aluminum. The health problem it could get from the pan that is more immediate from pitted aluminum could be bacteria build up, and cleaning problems. Either way it is better to use an inexpensive plastic dish.
This started with a claw loss problem, I still believe basic husbandry problems such as a screen top, lack of substrate, and lack of good hides can combine to cause toe/claw loss, as well it causes the ends of tails to fall off easily. Ive seen badly kept monitors returned to pet stores with these problems, they were kept in aquariums with screen tops, and reptariums, and rabbit cages.
As Ive seen wrong substrate can do it to with stress.

Hes Loseing them from the wire top
the cage is all wood accept for the top.

I see him hanging upside down all the time.

substrate is ok all is good but i need to find an alternative top.

but what i want in the end is the front glass to be slideing doors and the roof wooden with holes for the lights.

i just want his nails to grow back

we will see what happens. if they dont it is just less scratches for my arm i guess.

Aluminum is not "inert" in the human body. Normal levels of aluminum are typically filtered out by the kidneys.
One thing consumers should realize is decisions to use a product or material are based on acceptable risk.
Dialysis patients typical suffer dementia from high concentrations of aluminum in the brain. They are medicated to remove this aluminum as part of the dialysis treatment.
Soda cans and such are typically anodized or otherwise treated to prevent aluminum from leaching.

I have no idea if a monitor drinking from an aluminum bowl will get sick though.

Excatlly .
That's why I mentioned if the water was acidic or if it is treated with a softner . They use salt to treat hard water to soften it . Anything acidic or salty will leach alluminum much faster (almost 2x as fast so it will build up faster )
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Stella St.Pierre
www.bluetegu.com

his monitor will probly be dead before that has time to play a roll in its death

im not disargeeing with you but i want to mention that he said "over time"

i wouldent say drinking pool water make you sick instantly but i had a cat die from drinking it in a 5 year period.

once again thanks for the positive posts.

I read several (10-15)articles and all of those claiming its proven are some wild sources such as those who claim nazi war criminals actually run our government and the world, as well own all of the gold.
Yet I did find one good article on it that says the jury is still out, it hasnt been proven yet as its not a heavy metal. Note where the sources mentioned of poisoning, food products, medicines, antipersperants, etc not cooking pans, utencils etc.

http://www.healthy.net/asp/templates/article.asp?pageType=article&Id=1958

It is proven medical fact that patients undergoing dialysis need to have aluminum removed from their systems otherwise they develop dementia. This is today's medicine, not theory.
The jury is still out on whether aluminum leads to alzheimers.

Alumina or aluminum is used in many consumer products from hip replacements, deodorants, antacids, and yes aluminum cans.

The amount of aluminum normally ingested on our everyday lives is filtered out by our kidneys and lungs as are many other toxic substances such as arsenic.

About 7 years ago I tried to launch a medical device with an extruded aluminum shaft. The only way the FDA would allow it is if the aluminum were anodized or coated in some other way.
Link

I understand about the aluminum poisoning, the idea that a water dish doesnt make that much of a threat to a monitor though. I noticed its antacids, medicines, whitened flour, and other products that have high concentrations. Its been found in high concentrations in many unsuspecting places and sources that are used by people daily without a second thought, Im sure it can be found in some toothpastes also.

The type of aluminum that has a proven history of human health side effects is aluminum hydroxide. The element alluminum is transformed during industrial applications into a diverse family of metals. Aluminum hydroxide is (I’m 90% sure) not the same alluminum used for cooking utensils.

correct
and i am in south florida
hehe
im changing the water bowl asap