Red Tegu healing?

[NemyNem]

Hi-
If you read my intro in the welcome room you will know why im posting lol... If not then i will reiterate what i have going on.
PLEASE DO NOT YELL - I got this animal in this condition...

I recently traded a mean carpet i had for a red tegu female that is 16" and supposedly 5months old. When i first got her i didnt think she looked too bad but i guess he must have done some work on her right before he met me... She looks to have half a dozen sheds stuck on her and has currently lost 6 toes/nails on various feet and has lost the last 1" - 1.5" of her tail due to the poor care she was in im sure she is going to lose part of her toes on the ones that have lost nails due to discoloring im seeing even though i had got some off i think the damage was already done

Luckily she is eating great (since he said all she was eating was pinkies...) She wont even touch pinkies yet. But she is eating a mix of lizard goo (ground turkey, chicken hearts, gizzards and beef liver) and a variety of fruits (cantelope, pineapple, grapes, honeydew) every nite. I do cod liver oil every other nite and calcium powder 2X weekly. Im going to try and sneak in a pinky again one night and see if i can trick her as i do understand they need some whole prey.

I have been doing nightly to every other nite soakings, i have tried mineral oil rub downs and tonight i was reading about aloe vera so i am trying that. i do realize it isnt going to get great overnite.

It seems her skin is turning really smooth on her back and her tail and loosing its beaded feeling that my black and white has I dont know if reds are less beaded feeling or not i cant find out a whole lot on them anywhere.... But her tail is looking mighty pitiful. She looks like she had a bunch of sores that have started healing and now you see white so im sure its going to be really scarred as she gets better. I will try to upload some photos of her tail and back so you can better understand what im seeing.

 

[laurarfl]

I would put calcium powder on all of her food without bones...maybe even food with bones for a couple of weeks. She looks to have a foreshortened jaw as if she has had a calcium deficiency in the past. Get her under a quality UVB bulb and proper basking temps. Keep the humidity up all the time (over 60-70%) and put some Neosporin ointment on her tail and all toes. She does look rough, but I'll bet she makes a pretty good turnaround with proper care.

 

[NemyNem]

Ok I had read about ODs on too much calcium so that was why i do it 2X weekly but i can give her more my black and white is doing good on that routine. I have a 10.0 UVB that i turn on no later than 9am and turn off anywhere between 9 and 11 at nite. Aww i didnt realize that like i said the guy did snakes and i think got the tegu and then ignored the poor girl as she certainly is in rough shape.
Temps are good around 100-105 round the clock but they move back and forth to the cool side of the cage as well I installed a ceramic heat emmiter and leave it on as we live in a cold basement where temps can get into the 60's at night. I keep the humidity around 60%

I read about using certain neosporins that dont have any additives??

Well with the way she wolfs down food she should do ok once i get around this shed issue and get her digits all mended up


About the beaded part is that normal or do reds just have different skin that isnt quite as beaded -- if that makes sense..

 

[laurarfl]

The overall daily diet should have a ratio of 2:1 calcium to phosphorous. Her diet right now is more like 1:20-ish. So adding calcium to every meal won't overdo it. You won't need to add D3 to the diet if you have a good UVB, plus she is eating cod liver oil and beef liver. That could be too much D3.

Regular Neosporin or even Silvadene is fine. The additives won't be harmful.

I sorta know what you mean about the skin. My red has been sleeping since Sept, so I haven't felt him lately. But he is just as beaded as the others. I think this little one has a lot of skin issues so the texture is just off. The top near the head almost looks burned or damaged by UV. And it seems too tight or stretched around the neck/jowl area. I think as new skin underneath heals and the old comes off, some of that beaded feeling will return. Of course, serious damage can permanently alter skin color and texture. It may be a wait and see.

Sounds like you have her off to a good start! I'm sure she's much happier with you.

 

[Deac77]

You may also start feeding fish like talapia or cod (or even raw anchovies if you can find them) I've seen it help with bad sheds