Tegu Samaritan

[dragonmetalhead]

So i was at the vet today because Kodo was having a bit of the runs and seemed a tad bloated. Turns out he's a tiny bit impacted. The x-ray turned up a gorgeous, crystal-clear image of a mouse skull lodged firmly in his gut. Anyways, while I was in the waiting room I was chatting with another patron and telling him about how I work as animal curator for a non-profit children's museum. He was so moved he gave me the last $13 on his visa gift card to help pay Kodo's bill. I nearly cried, I was so moved by his compassion. I just thought you all would like to hear a happy tegu story instead of one that involves abandoned or dead animals.

 

[Bubblz Calhoun]

Your husbandry needs to be adjusted, he's not digesting food properly. What are your stats, temps, humidity?

 

[dragonmetalhead]

Temp averages around 90, give or take a few degrees, and doesn't get lower than 75 at night. Tank gets misted daily. Don't know for sure how hot it is in the basking spot, but it's at least 115 or 120. Kodo's had two perfectly normal sheds since I got him. Other than this issue, the vet says he's in perfect health. It's not a digestion issue so much as an overeating issue. I've been left with an unusual number of leftover rodents from other feedings and I've been giving them to Kodo so as not to waste the meat. I don't have a bug budget at work so I can't afford to have eaten mice. The vet said I just overloaded his system and that Kodo should be fine within a week. I just need to give him fewer rodents in the future; usually it's only one a week on Sunday.

 

[james.w]

How are you measuring temps?? I feed around 20 rodents a week and haven't had any problems. Sounds like a husbandry problem to me too.

 

[dragonmetalhead]

There's a thermometer on the side of the tank.

 

[Strange_Evil]

Touching story but i agree with everyone else. What kind of thermometer are you using, what may feel like 90f too you could be we'll over 120f to them. Kodo is a baby right? Seeing how mines eat i find it hard that you could over feed him.

 

[james.w]

That's your problem. Those thermometers are very inaccurate. I would recommend getting a temp gun and some probe style thermometers.
What are you using for an enclosure? Any pics of the enclosure?

 

[dragonmetalhead]

We are currently remodeling his enclosure at the museum. It used to house an iguana and we tried to fix it up for a terrestrial lizard, but it isn't really working out. It's about 60 or 70 gallons and was built long before I started working at the museum. When he's at my house, he's in a spare 45 gallon since that's all I have and he can fit in it. The plan is to build him a custom tank that's gonna be 7x2x2 or so. Part of the problem is I gave him a mouse that was likely too big for him; I cut it into pieces since I thought it a bit large, but obviously the pieces weren't small enough. Where do I get temp guns and how much do the cost? Like I said, limited budget and I already have to pay out of pocket for certain supplies (i.e. this vet bill). I've had his tank inspected by three different vets and Kodo just got his first checkup last week and had a perfect bill of health.

 

[Strange_Evil]

I have two temp guns, one from petco and one from reptile basics. Both are good and extremely accurate.

http://tempgun.com/
http://www.reptilebasics.com/thermometers

Try to go for 7x3x3 at least,if you make it 2ft wide he won't be able to turn soon without hitting his tail and head. If it's two feet high when he is an adult once you add in the foot of substrate to burrow in its only going to leave a foot of space between the light and him. If your making a cage that big, just make something that will last.

You cut the mouse up though, should have been good like that. Usually when the rodent is too large they will get more violent and shake it around and rip it apart then eat it in pieces, i gave mines a fuzzy a week ago and he did this, still ate it though.

 

[dragonmetalhead]

Usually he bites down on the heads and crunches them up. I gave him a cut-up rat that my python turned down, and he swallowed the head section whole. The vet said it was an awfully big skull. I need to keep him on fuzzies/small adult mice until he's a bit larger. Thanks for the tips on the enclosure and the temp guns. If next month's budget allows for it, I'll have to pick one up.

 

[Bubblz Calhoun]

Whether you feed them too much or not,.. they just don't stop digesting food unless something is wrong. They use what they can and need, the rest is converted into fat and stored. Unless they're not able to because something is physically wrong or their environment isn't right.

Korben has never had a mouse pinkie, fuzzie or even rat pinkie or fuzzie. He was started on cut up rat pups since that's what my smaller snakes were on at that time. On top of what ever else I offered him

 

[dragonmetalhead]

Good news, Kodo passed the skull about 45 minutes ago. He dropped the biggest crap bomb I've ever seen (it was solid this time and what a stench!). Kodo felt much lighter afterwards. In the future I will not give him such a glut of rodents at one time. Thank you to everyone for your advice and concern.

 

[Strange_Evil]

Glad to hear he is okay

 

[Pyr0kinesis]

You sure he was even impacted? Mabye he didn't have enough time to digest his food before you took him to the vet.

 

[dragonmetalhead]

It was probably a little of both. I initially thought impaction because when he pooped that morning the only solid bit was a clump of hair. I'm just happy he's alright.

 

[Dirtydmc]

Probebly get a heat gun for a lot less at a auto parts store. Harbor frieght tools is a good place.

 

[james.w]

Probebly get a heat gun for a lot less at a auto parts store. Harbor frieght tools is a good place.

Yep..

http://www.harborfreight.com/catalogsearch/result?q=temp+gun