dozer is twitching,

[Dirtydmc]

solar pro 160 watt uvb 6 inches from his basking spot., good basking temp, good humidity, eats well, has supliments twice a week sometimes three. past couple days it was in his back feet, today its all over. What to do?

 

[Rhetoric]

What kind of supplements? How old is the bulb? Is it possible it could be a dud or something? Do you feed eggs very often? Some foods are higher in oxalic acids which can make it more difficult to absorb calcium, maybe there is something in his diet? My guess would be a calcium deficiency if he is having tremors. I would call around and see if you can find a vet that has experience with tegus. They might be able to give Dozer a calcium shot.

Heres a thread I pulled from thetegu.com, there are a few posts that I found to be really useful.
http://thetegu.com/showthread.php?692-Tegu-twitching

 

[Dirtydmc]

he eats eggs twice a week with suppliments in it. Using repcal herpavitamins no d3. the bulb is only a month old.

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Ive had him for almost 2 months.

 

[Kebechet]

You might consider adding chicken necks to his diet. I second the possibility that the bulb may be a dud. Do you have a way to measure UVB output?

 

[Dirtydmc]

You might consider adding chicken necks to his diet. I second the possibility that the bulb may be a dud. Do you have a way to measure UVB output?

nope.

 

[Rhetoric]

Is it possible for someone to take him outside for a few? In a tub or something so he cant bolt? Natural sunlight is a million times better than any bulb we can buy. I would still guess calcium deficiency but if hes having issues absorbing it should help.

Is there a ton of phosphorus in the supplement? I think the ideal CA : P ratio is 2:1, if hes getting too much phosphorus it can increase his calcium requirements which can also lead to a deficiency.

edit: did not mean for the "" face, I forgot the colon + p turned into that...

 

[Dirtydmc]

can it be fixed?

 

[babyyitslove]

Lots of sun.... try for a new bulb (even though I know they're expensive). See if you can have Lisa take him outside in a tub with maybe Just a piece of screen on it during the peak hours of the day for sunshine.
If you can figure out what's causing it, and provide him with what he needs to stop it, he wont always be a twitcher. But make sure you remember what you did, so you'll have a game plan if it happens again.

 

[Bubblz Calhoun]

As long as it's caught early, you find and address the issue, it can be fixed. Are you adding supplements to everything that you feed with little to no calcium in it? Because you only mentioned that he gets supplemented eggs twice a week. What else are you feeding?

How big is your tegu?,.. 6 ins is close too close for me.

 

[Rhetoric]

If its a calcium issue it can be fixed. I believe there are OTC liquid calcium products that might be of use, I have never used them before so I have no idea which ones work and which are garbage or if they're all garbage. I would also use the calcium supplement every day if hes not eating whole prey.
I'm obviously not a vet but from my understanding, when there is a low level of calcium the nerve transmission is off which causes the muscles to contract/twitch. Calcium issues can lead to MBD (so can other things) so it is important that it is addressed but if it is a newer issue, I don't see why it can't be successfully treated.
There are probably a few other reasons why he may be twitching but calcium is the first that comes to mind, especially after seeing that he isn't too interested in whole prey.
If he takes fruit, here are a few that are higher in calcium and might be worth trying:
blueberries, papaya, banana (also high in phosphorus so its an occasional food), blackberries, pineapple (also higher in citrus another occasional), I think mango is another one.

See if you can get him to eat anything new, maybe get him outside for a bit, look into a liquid calcium. If it continues a vet visit should be in order. To the other members, feel free to correct me if I'm wrong about something.

 

[Dirtydmc]

I put supliments in the turkey too. Ill up the dosage to daily feedings. When I get home tonight ill chop up a rat pup I have. Have a few breeders at home.
Snakes are so much easyer. Im so new at tegus, Im worried that my extreme will have issues too. Is it ok to feed all meat diets? As long as I add calcium and other vitamin suplliments? Dozer wont take fruit. Tried.

 

[Rhetoric]

Generally younger tegus won't take fruits or veggies. I believe that colombians are more carnivorous than the argentines. I'm not surprised yours isnt interested in fruits but it never hurts to try! When Guru was younger he only ate meats, it wasn't until around the start of the year that he started taking fruits. Gary and Rango only ate bananas and mice until April when I got them.

 

[Dirtydmc]

Im worried. I wonder if its the talapia thats causing it. This didnt start untill he got it.

 

[Bubblz Calhoun]

Is it okay to feed all meat diet,..I wouldn't do it,.. if you have too cut up the fruits and veggies really small or puree it in a blinder. Mix small amounts into his food until he gets use to it,.. then slowly up the amount. Or even put a little honey on it, the fruit may not be ripe enough. You can do the same with hoppers or what ever you have so that they get use to the smell, taste and they learn that it's okay to eat.

 

[Dirtydmc]

getting cod liver oil and a calcium suppliment tonight. Chop up some rats and mix it with turkey meat.

 

[babyyitslove]

The only fruit my columbian will take is chopped blueberries. He even goes as far as picking them out of the ground Turkey and leaving the rest. (When I mix them)

 

[james.w]

Columbians are carnivorous and generally won't eat fruit. An all meat diet for them is fine. If you can't get him to eat whole prey you need to supplement daily. I would be persistent on getting him on whole prey, it will be much better for him in the long run. All the UVB in the world won't matter if he isn't getting calcium.

 

[Dirtydmc]

Columbians are carnivorous and generally won't eat fruit. An all meat diet for them is fine. If you can't get him to eat whole prey you need to supplement daily. I would be persistent on getting him on whole prey, it will be much better for him in the long run. All the UVB in the world won't matter if he isn't getting calcium.

Yeah, Im gonna murk a pup rat tonight and chopitup. My daughter might wig, but I'll ask her if she wants to help. i really like dozer. I just hope I can find the issue and fix it. Buisness has been really slow and it would hurt the bank account for a vet visit right now. But if I have to.........

 

[herpgirl2510]

I would considering going to the vet if the tremors are very bad. When my extreme came to me he had eggs like your guy did he was a year old. He would have tremors which got worse when I picked him up. He also did not walk on his front feet kind of on his elbows and he really wiggled when he walked. What I did as far as meat is whole prey every meal I never gave him eggs for 3 months and he could ask for several hours each day in natural sunlight. I know everyone loves the ground turkey but a herpatologist I know said it is not a good staple food. I would pick up a different uvb bulb I have heard bad things about the solar glo. It took about a month for him to never have the tremors anymore his were very extreme. Now he walks up on his feet, wiggles the appropriate amount for a tegu when they are walking and never has tremors. I just gave him some eggs for the firsttime in 3 months and I will give them maybe 2x monthly but I was advised that that was all he should have they are just not that great for them.

 

[spidersandmonsters]

I don't know if this has been said, but cut out the eggs. They make it hard to absorb calcium.