Videos of my sick Tegu

[dragonqueen4]

Here are some videos I took today of my tegu with MBD. As of today my vet in Newfoundland finally heard from a reptile specialist and confirmed it is MBD. He will now be getting calcium shots frequently until hopefully he gets better.
A BIG thank you to everyone on this forum who helped me and Trooper in the past few weeks!!

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p.s. ignore my parrots in the background making noise!!

 

[RehabRalphy]

I have a green cheek conure, lol noise sounds quite familiar.

When people comment I hope they remember one thing about that video:
The tegu is moving sluggish because of the slick floor. I didnt think about it until a few minutes afterwards. All lizards have a hard time on slick floors.

Other than that, I see improvement.

 

[VARNYARD]

Your tegu has classic signs of progressed MBD. The slapping motion of the front feet, and waddling motion of the hind legs. I am sorry for your tegu, but he is what he has become.

 

[VARNYARD]

Here is a video of a tegu like yours:
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[RehabRalphy]

Could be worse though. Sick tegus need love too

 

[dragonqueen4]

So are you suggesting I should have him euthanized?
I asked the vet the same thing and he said hes seen some lizards a lot worse make a turn around from calcium shots.
He has a mercury vapor bulb now, I threw out the coil uvb bulbs and he will be getting calcium shots everyday. Do you guys think he has a chance?

 

[VARNYARD]

So are you suggesting I should have him euthanized?
I asked the vet the same thing and he said hes seen some lizards a lot worse make a turn around from calcium shots.
He has a mercury vapor bulb now, I threw out the coil uvb bulbs and he will be getting calcium shots everyday. Do you guys think he has a chance?

Sure there is a chance your tegu can live and have some quality of life. But in my opinion he will never be better than he is right now, twisted bones and joints do not become well after you have a case like this with MBD.

I might sound a bit harsh here, but your vet sucks. If he cannot look at that tegu and tell he is dealing with MBD, then he is not a vet I would say that has much/any training in reptiles. Your tegu has all of the classic signs of MBD, how could he not see that if he knew what he was looking at and was trained in exotic vet classes. Your vet sounds like a few we have here, they are trained with dogs and cats, and then try to leach off exotic pet owners with no clue on how or what they need to do to treat them. Just because he holds the title of a vet, does not mean he knows all about every animal. He needs to stick to the fields he was trained in, and let real exotic vets treat exotics.

Sorry, but that is my honest opinion, and it shows by his work.

 

[dragonqueen4]

Well, hes done everything he can to help, including getting in contact with herp vets to figure out what to do because no, he is not a reptile vet.
I live on an island and there are no reptile vets here, the closest one is in Nova Scotia. And Newfoundland is actually really behind in the times, reptiles are only now just becoming popular here and there are probably only a handful of Tegus on the entire island.
Its pretty crappy, especially in situations such as this. I feel so sad for my poor tegu, I want to do what is best for him (or her). If there is a chance he could have a good life I would at least like to try.

 

[VARNYARD]

I will do my best to help you and your vet. Treatment generally involves administering medications which may include oral or injectable calcium but not overdosed, injectable and/or calcitonin. Symptoms and specific medical problems will need to be addressed, and may include procedures such as tube-feeding, correction of dehydration, or fracture stabilization, kidney, liver, intestinal, thyroids, as well as hyperparathyroidism, rickets and osteoperosis. Be very careful handling him with MBD as the bones are very fragile and subject to further injury if mishandled. Radiographs (X-rays) are useful to assess bone density and will give you an idea how much damage has been done to the bones and skeletal abnormalities. Calcium and phosphorus levels need to be checked to aid and help guide in therapy. A ratio of 2:1 is recommended and will start you back in the right direction with his diet. Your tegu needs a bunch of care to regain stronger more solid bones where he can. He will probably still retain bends in the legs, and bent bones through out his body. Other skeletal abnormalities will be part of his life including general stunting, shortening of the mandible or maxilla, and spinal deviations. 7-dehydrocholesterol can be obtained through a vet to use oral added in the diet also to aid him.

Please pass this on to your vet, and tell him that MBD also causes as many internal problems as it does external, many of these problems cannot be as easy to see as bent bones.

 

[mr.tegu]

wow good info guys and gals!! i am so sorry for your tegu and i can only imagine how you feel. good luck with it and i hope all goes well

 

[RehabRalphy]

Well, maybe in the future you could get a nice healthy tegu from Bobby. Good luck!

 

[dragonqueen4]

Thanks guys! I would love to get a Tegu from Bobby.. is there any chance of getting one shipped to Canada? I love tegus so much and I would definitely like to have another B/W and a Red. It breaks my heart to see my little guy like this, I am going to do whatever I can to try and help him.
Thank you Bobby for your help, it is greatly appreciated. It is obvious you truly care about Tegu's.
I will keep you guys updated.

Leanne

 

[VARNYARD]

Leanne, I do like my animals very much, and I hate to see animals like yours suffering. I am more than glad to help, also as for your vet, I did not know he let you know he did not know much about reptiles. I did not want to see you getting jerked around by a vet claiming to be an exotic vet, some here will try it if given the chance. However, it does not take much time with them to know the truth.

I hope to be able to get tegus into Canada soon, I will just need to see how it goes.

 

[laurarfl]

With proper care, I think he could still be a good pet with a good quality of life.

I understand that reptiles are new to your region, but wow, after seeing the video of him, I am surprised the vet didn't pick up on the MBD "look".

Like Bobby said, any bone deformities will not regrow, but with proper lighting and diet, his tremors will cease and he will grow in physical strength. As long as he is not in physical pain and you are willing to accommodate whatever special needs he may have, why not?

 

[dragonqueen4]

Thank you Bobby and Laura.
I need all the hope I can get, because there are times I wonder if Im doing the right thing. But if I dont try I will never know.
He has 2 mercury vapor bulbs now and a repti glo tube uvb about 9 inches from him on the other side of the tank.
He is being injected with 0.3ML of Calcium Gluconate every 2 or 3 days.
Do you guys think it should be done everyday or is this going to be enough?

 

[Beasty]

I would drop the reptiglo, they aren't safe, unfortunately. There's a thread on here where someone pointed out that to me as I have 2 of them myself. I do continue to use them but only through a fine screen which I hope is depleting the amount of UV penetrating through.
ReptiSUN is a better choice but I think if he has 2 MVB bulbs on him that should be more than sufficient.

 

[lizardboy101]

Also, natural sunlight is very good for him when you get the chance. I know as u live so far up north it may be too cold, but bringing my guy out everyday really helped. I also made sure I dusted food every day making sure never to miss it once. I fed him a pinky mouse whenever he would eat it just due to the bones maybe adding calcium to his system. After awhile he finally started growing again, lol, and slowly started moving more easily. He still doesnt have full use in his back legs, but he gets around alright.

Alex