Reptile & Amphibian Forums

About Two Weeks Ago A Purchased An Argentine Black And White Tegu
Around 1 1/2 Months of Age.Upon Receival He Was taken to the vet just to get checked out and the vet said he was healthy.In The past 4 days He has gone from being a spunky energetic little guy to being quite listless and is spending alot more time in comparison undeground,and has stopped eating as much.At First I Thought This Could just be due to the cold atmosphere.What I Saw two days Really Disturbed me though.He Was Out Basking And His Legs Were Twiching Non-Stop,Since Then He Is Slithering More or less, and his legs are under him when he walks.He More or uses his legs and arms to drag him.It Seems Like Some signs Of MBD.
But His Diet Is Not Lacking In Calcium.He Eats Raw lean Ground turkey,And Dusted Crickets with the occasional worm of some sort.
Does Anybody Have An Idea Of What Im Dealing With. I Would Really Appreciate Any Suggestions From Experienced Owners as This is only my first tegu and I would hate for anything to happen.

It could easily be MBD, depending on what dust u are using on the circkets. Most of the time MBD is not cuased by a lack of calcium in the diet but rather a lack of vit. D and a bad ratio of phosporus to calcium. In order for reptiles to absorb calcium they need vit D which is produced in the body when reptiles are exposed to UVB/UVA rays. My first suggestion would be take him back to the vet and have them look at it. I can't say for sure that it is MBD because i can't touch and examin your tegu. Home remadies included getting liquid calcium which most on the market have a complete calcium meaning it has the vit D and everything already in it. For long term benifits get a UVB/UVA bulb. If you have one and its a floecant check to see what type it is. if its a 2.0 then it should be at the max 10" away from your tegu to be affective, if its a 5.0 the distance is 12" for a 8.0 again 12" and you can get a 10.0 but even then its only good for up to 15". Also remember that screen tops do filter out some of the UV.

Good luck with your tegu and i hope he gets better.
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Leo Gex
1.0 Giants
0.1 Red strip/hypo
1.0 Patternless
0.2 Normals
Others:
1.0 Giant plated lizard
1.0 Blue Tegu
1.1 dogs
2:0 chinchillas

Also, a rapid remedy for beginning stages of MBD or low calcium levels is natural sunlight. Nothing beats the sun for natural levels of UVA/UVB. At least 1 hour a day should do it, between the hours of 10-2. Just watch the temps and don't let them get too hot or cold, depending on where you live. Diurnal lizards (awake during the day) require a light for heat and a separate light for UV. The UV light needs to be a long fluorescent strip, no coils, unless you choose to get a mercury vapor bulb. The best way to use them is to get a kitchen fixture from home depot, twist some wire hanger into the screw holes, and hang the light in the cage so the screen doesn't filter out the UV. Position it at one of the proper heights in the previous post over the tegu's basking spot and you should be good to go! Feeding mice will help get some needed minerals, as will dusting will a high quality supplement 2-3 times a week. If the twitching is an ongoing problem, it does require veterinary care before it develops into full fledged MBD.

Thanks,I Gave him some time outside after I checked In With The vet and changed his diet.Everything together really helped alot.I had never had first hand experience with MBD before so i was a bit worried but it turned out fine.Although Im Considering Looking for a more knowledgable vet.

Thanks For The Suggestion.I Took Him To The Vet Again A Day Or So Later And The Vet Said It Seemed Like MBD but there was "nothing wrong with him" I really dont get that.But Instead Of Blindly Doing nothing I Changed the diet in case it was the problem to a mix of raw eggs with raw lean turkey a new calcium and vitamin A Supplement and some sweet fruit and he has changed dramatically.Once Again Thank You Very Much For Suggestions

I'm glad he's doing better. There is talk that too much unfertilized egg can lead to biotin deficiency, so I hold off and give it as a treat once or twice a month. I also cook it and give it boiled or scrambled with a little smashed shell.

Incorporating as many whole foods as possible into the diet will make for a healthy tegu. Feed bugs one or two days, rodents two-three times a week, fish, organ meats (OK, not exactly a whole food, but I think they're healthy), and offer fruit daily. I change the fruits a couple of times a week: strawberries, grapes, blueberries, cherries, peaches, cantaloupe, grape tomatoes, etc. Usually it depends on what I'm buying for myself and what I've got open or available in season. I give lean turkey once a week because I mix it with my vitamin mixture, but I wouldn't rely on it for a staple part of the diet. As the tegu gets older, they can also eat day old chicks, crayfish, snails, whole fish, etc.