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The tegu that i have aqquired is a rescue. He has had very little handling, and is very weak. He probably hasnt had anything to eat in a pretty long time. The lady that i go to to have all my reptiles checked out by (very knowledgable and trustworthy when it comes to reptiles) said he might have a bit of a respiratory infection judging from the excess amount of saliva in his mouth. Now, all of these things in consideration, is it ok if i try to give him some food, and let him soak in the bathtub?? he now is in a 55 gallon aquarium, w/ a 100 watt heat lamp and UVB, right now i am just using paper towells for bedding until he gets better. So, now with all of that in mind, is it ok to offer him some food(boiled chicken) and let him soak in some warm water in the bath tub??

thanx

PLEASE

If the animal is that weak, I'd be very hesitant to let it bathe at all as you would have a great chance of drowning it.
I think offering it food is ok, but I wouldn't recommend cooked meat at all. I usually raise my juveniles on ground meats (including the bone) with vitamins, minerals and amino acids added, as well as some chopped vegetables and fruit. However, beings as it seems very lethargic, just some ground meat with vitamins would be good enough until it gets a little better.

Does it wheeze when it's breathing? Is there a foamy discharge from the nares or mouth? If placed upon it's back can it readily correct itself? Does it seem dehydrated at all?

I dont notice any wheezing, no discharges from the nostrils or mouth that i have noticed. He is not very skinny, so i dont know if he is dehydrated, And the thing about the cooked meat, when i had him before(i had given him to a friend to use him in educational programs) he loved boiled chicken, and i fed that too him w/ a calcium supplement and he did fine, if not the cooked meat would a boiled egg be ok??

I really only refrain from the cooked menu as their digestive system is not particularly adapted to it. Down here, they eat lots of raw eggs (each others if not another species) and everything else raw. I just am not sure if a sickly animal would handle the toughened protein that well.

If it isn't wheezing and there's no nasal discharge, it may not have a respiratory infection. It doesn't need to be skinny to be dehydrated. One simple "exam" you can do is to basically pinch some skin up between your fingers and let go. If the skin retracts quickly and regains its natural disposition, the animal is likely hydrated. If the skin doesn't, if it retains the peak or takes a long time to retract, then the animal is dehydrated.

I have never owned a B&W but for what it's worth here ya go.

A URI needs medication, probably batril administered by a vet. It used to be given sub Q but I think they are now administering it IM. Feeding him would be a good place to start after his cage temps are brought to a good temperature. I would try FK whole rodents, sized a bit smaller than usual. Rodents contain calcium and their liver has D3 so it is a complete meal. Soaking is also good to get him hydrated and warmed up. water temp should be about 100. soak for about 20 minutes. keep the water warm. You probably want more than 100W in a 55G tank. it will take more than that to produce a good basking spot and warm the tank up. I recomend a flood light that will get the basking spot to 110-120F. make sure you use a digital thermometer or even better a temp gun. chicken can be fatty and may upset his tummy. If rodents dont work, try roaches or silkies. You can also try 93% fat free ground turkey.

good luck

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Bennett

beardiedragon.com
Home of the Florida Orange

I'll keep an eye on him while i soak him, and i dont have any rodents, or silkies, or roaches at the moment. I have some crickets, would those b ok??

it depends on his size. if he is 2 foot long, it is going to take a lot of crix to fill him up. he could easily eat 100 adult crix and that many is tough to digest. if he is lethargic he wont feel like chasing them either. ground turkey or eggs should be ok for now but get him some fuzzies or small mice asap. does he twitch at all? if so MBD may also be a problem.

good luck
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Bennett

beardiedragon.com
Home of the Florida Orange

??

Though a boiled egg will not make your tegu sick, it should not be used as a regular food source in your tegus diet.

I have used boiled egg to scent better food items (crickets, mice, etc) but boiled or cooked food is not generally a great nutritional source for your tegu.
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as tupinambis pointed out, only bathe him under supervision and make sure he can keep his head out of the water. Eggs are OK but some tegus get spoiled after eating eggs and it is hard to get them back on other foods so use it sparingly. If he is not foaming or wheezing it is probably not an URI but he should be checked by a vet anyway. Bring a fresh stool sample (less than 4 hours old) to check for coccidi, giardia, hooks, roundworm, piworm... and get a gram stain to check for bacteria. Most vets can run a fecal and gram stain for about $25. A vet may want to do blood work too. Look in his mouth. are his gums pale? he may have become anemic as well.
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Bennett

beardiedragon.com
Home of the Florida Orange

His gums look pink, but his nostrils on the inside are a bit too red, the person i took him to to get checked out said that indicates some sort of problem, but no i dont hear any wheezing. Honestly, if it were my guess, i think he is just drained of everything because of the way he was being kept before i got him yesterday, He was in a 10 gallon tank(he is 2 feet long) w/ hay as his substrate, no heat source, no way he could exercise. So i believe that is the cause of his current condition. Now for the last question, if you were in my situation w/this animal what would you do? Foodwise i have eggs that i can boil, and some crickets. So with what i have what would you do?

you have to work with what you have. Give him a hard boiled egg cut up or scramble it for him in a fry pan with no oil or butter. If he eats the crix, great but not more than a couple dozen to start. I would work on getting him some rodents asap however. I would also be concerned about the hay. Read a few postsa down about the spagnam moss issue with fungus. that can also apply to hay and if the dust is inhaled can cause resperatory problems especially in a weakened state. If you can get him outside for some sunlight and exercise too.
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Bennett

beardiedragon.com
Home of the Florida Orange

thank you very much, i'm going to hold off on soaking him because he is really weak right now and i dont want him inhaling any water or n e thing like that. I have seen your tegus on your website, they are beautiful, mine has great color, i just have to get him healthy. I'm guessing i should hold off on handling him until he gets better right?

unlike things warm and fuzzy, most reptiles feel most secure in a small dark confined space. They know that way they are safe from preditors. Keep handling to a minimum and keep a close eye on him. Feel free to call me if I am not on line and you feel like you need a question answered right away.

best of luck
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Bennett

beardiedragon.com
Home of the Florida Orange

i decided to let him soak. I peeled off all the skin that he couldnt shed because he had nothing to rub against, after peeling off some skin around his head (including the skin over the ear) i looked at his "ear" and on the inside it looked real pink, i guess that is the ear. is it normal for it to have a pink color to it?

some pink is normal in blues and reds. I guess it would be in B&W too. Scroll down to some recent posts to see some pics of my blues and see if their ears look like your B&W
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Bennett

beardiedragon.com
Home of the Florida Orange

I wanted to add something to that which beardiedragon said. Getting him out into direct sunlight is a great idea, I wholeheartedly support it. However, considering his condition, like water, you need to keep a very good eye on him if you do put him outside. It would not take long for a weak lizard to overheat and die. If you have the means to monitor body temperature on it, they usually self-regulate their temperature in the 35-37 degrees Celsius range.
Baytril is a good drug, but it's also the general all-purpose medication most vets prescribe for reptiles as they don't have the experience to go with much more in reptiles. Considering that there appears to be an upper respiratory tract involvement here, although the lungs appear fine, I might recommend Amikacin instead.
All this being said, lets hope we're just jumping the gun here and the little guy is just in bad shape due to the condition he was kept in, and not something like an infection.

I'm leaning towards him just being in bad shape. He is beginning to hold his head up for longer periods of time, he used to move a step, then have to rest his head, but now he can walk around fairly normal, he is able to climb onto his half log to bask easier, and is just generally looking better, I believe that the redness of the nostrils is from being on the hay and having to inhale those particles. His breaths seem to be normal, he is not struggling really to breath, and it seems they are not short breaths nor long drug out breaths. I dont really think the ear reddness is anything to worry about. He wont eat anything yet, i figure once he gets back into his normal kind of cycle w/ the heat and everything he will begin to try and eat.

Glad to hear it. I strongly recommend taking beardiedragon's advice and also letting him get some direct sunlight, just keep in mind his body temperature (unfortunately, I've had some direct experience with this myself and would hate to see it happen to yours). Sunlight has an almost magical quality in making reptiles feel better, and perking up their appetite.

I would take him outside but its way too cold here.

Whoops! Sorry, my bad. With my content hopping I get mixed up as to what season is where.

Where do you live??

Where ever I hang my hat. I'm currently in Brazil (where I'm wrestling with more tegus than you can imagine) but will be going to Canada later in the month.

I wish i could come to brazil and play soccer. I really hope that my tegu gets better, I'm doin all i can, i guess thats all u can do, i really dont think its a respiratory infection. Maybe its just gonna take time.