Baby tegu trembling and not acting right

[OpalRaven]

So my baby b&w has been super healthy acting although very skittish, i posted another thread about that. I have had him for 3.5 wks now. Last week he was perfectly active. I admit this wk i have been working alot so leave the hous before he wakes and am home after he goes to sleep. I am home today and he is trembling uncontrollably. Did not eat yesterday and has not eaten yet today. Not as active. Could he have gotten metabloc bone disease this quickly?? Please any help is greatly appreciated!! I dont know what to do.

 

[beardeddragon111]

Does it look like this?

This is a video I found on youtube. I believe it shows trembling due to a calcium deficiency.

 

[OpalRaven]

Yes, i think its a bit worst than that, his whole body. How do i fix it?! How do i get him to eat??

 

[beardeddragon111]

I think a exotic vet trip would be required. I'm really not sure what to do.

 

[OpalRaven]

My reptile vet is off today... he just walked a lap around his tank and seemed a little better. Back under the heat lamp now still hasnt eaten though. He is also very skittish and fearful of me... could it also be stress/fear related?

 

[beardeddragon111]

Could also be stress/fear related. What is your lighting and supplementation? When he goes to the vet he can probably get calcium injections. Hopefully he doesnt have MBD yet.

 

[Walter1]

It may have been Roadkill that noted liquid calcium is absorbed faster than powdered. Likely a step a qualified vet will do if this is the cause of his trembling. Good luck and please keep us up to date.

 

[OpalRaven]

I have a 60 watt black light on 24hrs, a 100 watt day white incandescent spot and a 5.0uvb reptisun on during the day. Im using zoo med reptivite with out d3, i thought it was calcium when i bought it. He is mainly eating raw ground turkey and mealworms, he also gets hard boiled egg and grapes every few days. And crickets probably once a week since i havent set up to keep them alive for very long.

 

[beardeddragon111]

You might want a source of UVA, as well as a better UVB. I prefer Solar glow bubls. Also, is he big enough to feed at least pinky mice? It would be good to add things with bones in his diet when hes fixed up.

 

[OpalRaven]

Im not sure if he is big enough for a pinkie. He drank some water so u feel a little better. He still didnt eat though. How long can a baby go with out eating? Also he goes to bed very early, buries himself under the substrate at 4pm today, us that normal

 

[beardeddragon111]

Im assuming he doesnt have much energy . He should be good until you get him to the vet on eating.

 

[Walter1]

Im not sure if he is big enough for a pinkie. He drank some water so u feel a little better. He still didnt eat though. How long can a baby go with out eating? Also he goes to bed very early, buries himself under the substrate at 4pm today, us that normal

Spending a lot of time in a hide is typical.

 

[dpjm]

I read that you were giving him a multivitamin that you thought was calcium.. Since you realized this, have you started supplementing with calcium? You can use all the UV lamps in the world but without dietary calcium they will of course be deficient in calcium. All the foods you mentioned (raw turkey, mealworms, egg, crickets) are very low in calcium for what a tegu needs, so make sure you always supplement. From the information you have given us, calcium deficiency is the most likely cause of those tremors. If it is at that stage, a vet visit is pretty much mandatory and calcium injections are a solution your vet will likely use.

 

[OpalRaven]

Im an jerk and only just realized about the vitamins now. I thought reptivite was the brand and saw without d3 and i guess just assumed it was calcium. It does have calcium in it, im just assuming not enough. Ill go get some real calciym tomorrow when im out to the vet . How much calcium should he have a day? Is there certain types that are better?

 

[Walter1]

Should have whole prey items included in diet. Young adults with calcified bones. Regardless, dust with calcium.

 

[dpjm]

[QUOTEHow much calcium should he have a day? Is there certain types that are better?][/QUOTE]

My favorite calcium is Zoo Med Reptical because it is not ground oyster shells.

You should give him enough calcium to ensure that his diet has a 2:1 calcium phosphorus ratio. So it really depends on what you are feeding. Whole animal prey need none, pretty much everything else needs calcium.

 

[OpalRaven]

How do i know how much phosphorus he is getting to know that the ratio or correct?

 

[Justsomedude]

How do i know how much phosphorus he is getting to know that the ratio or correct?

By feeding him more crickets it's very important when they are young

 

[dpjm]

It's easy for some items and not so easy for others.

For insects, just dust them with calcium, there is no other way. All insects need calcium dusting every time.

For produce, use this resource http://nutritiondata.self.com/

Just use it to find out about foods that you commonly feed him, check out the calcium and phosphorus amounts and see which items needs adjusting through calcium supplementation. The lower the ratio of calcium to phosphorus, the more calcium to add.

 

[OpalRaven]

I did get him to eat yesterday so i feel better The vet is having me order liquid calcium. But with the holiday and what not im sure itll take a little bit to come so we will be doing a calcium inj tomorrow when i get out of work. I bought real calciym powder and also the gut loading stuff for the crickets with calcium in it....His tremor episodes seem to come and go. Another question on the calcium supplementing. Some come with and some with out d3, do they also get d3 from the lighting?