Reptile & Amphibian Forums

About a month ago I woke up to my 10month old tegu scratching like crazy ontop of his hide box. Well when I came out to say hello he stopped and crawled onto my hand as usual. So I thought no big deal. When I came home after work he had clawed so much that some of his front toe nails had actually came off. Now some of them are bent and just look weird. I gave him 1 or 2 sheds hoping that the nails would just grow back. The toes seem to get better with each shed but I still havent seen any nail growth. He is in cypress mulch so he had places to burrow I just dont know why he went psycho that day. I was just wondering what I could/should do about it.
Also whats a good low-fat dog food brand?

yikes! how large is his enclosure? IME, tegus who don't have enough space to roam claw at everything!

My personal favorite dog food is Nutro: Natural Choice...its great FOR DOGS. In all seriousness, don't make dog or cat food a regular part of your tegus diet.

Its 5feet long 4 wide 3 high. He's about 27" in length now.
As for the dogfood I was just gonna give him something different is all. Normaly feed him mice, turkey and pork.

I would ONLY give dog food if he has stopped eating. If you want to mix up his diet try things like insects, fruits, egg, anything that you know isnt bad for them. Purina and Science Diet are among the highest quality brands of dog food. Once a toenail has been ripped off and the nail bed damaged, it is very likely it will never grow back. Especially if you have not seen any signs of it growing back yet. Good luck.
-Beth

FOR DOGS (and a once-in-a-while treat for other animals)

I am not trying to be mean, but just to let ya know , science diet and purina, eukanuba/iams, even those "prescription" diets are NO GOOD! they will take years off your dogs life and give them cancer. ever wonder why everyones dog seems to get tumors/die of cancer? huh?

Well the best dog foods are:

Artemis, Wellness (nicole richie & other animal lovers use wellness!), and solid gold.

OK dog foods are Evolve, innova/california natural, and canidae/felidae.

homemade diets, like the breeders do, are best. raw diets have a following too.

anything you buy in petco or the supermarket is crapola & can hurt your dog!

just letting u know!!
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Zsa-Zsu and Corny the Corn Snake
and Monaco the Argentine B&W Tegu
and Meanie the Black Throat Monitor

Hi,

Growing a nail back from scratch can take up to a year. (at least for people) But after hearing your other information, I think if you could do 2 things to make it grow faster & more sucessfully and prevent it from happening again.

First, dont feed you animal dog food. he won't be getting all the nutrients he needs, or in the right amount. feed him pre killed mice (go to reptile convention & buy in bulk - its so cheap!) and things like roaches and fruit (mine love banana!). This will ensure that he is getting a steady, natural diet that will give him the nutrients he needs to grow that nail back.

Second, go to home depot and buy ORGANIC dirt, and replace your cypress mulch. cypress mulch is bad because if you have a boy, it can get stuck to his private parts when they emerge when he goes to the bathroom. also, its pokey & itchy. your tegu may have been digging instinctually to find softer, more decomposed dirt, and hurt his toes when there wasn't any.

Believe me, you think cypress mulch looks nice, Dirt actually looks really hot, especially under good UV lighting. its very clean looking, also easy to spot clean! Its the only thing I would ever use. (some people like to mix dirts, sands, clays, thats up to you!) It also may hold moisture better so you're not always spraying the enclosure!

Try those two things, and give it time, and he will probably grow his nail back!
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Zsa-Zsu and Corny the Corn Snake
and Monaco the Argentine B&W Tegu
and Meanie the Black Throat Monitor