SO SAD - Please Help

kewl_guy33 · Member Joined: Jan 29, 2007 Posts: 15

i just rescued a 4 year old columbian black and white tegu and i am so sad to see the shape of him.. when i got him he was in a box with substrate and no lights and nothing to eat . sayed he was like that for a few days.. couldn't do anything with him, a deal fell threw and left him hanging.

anyway for one i am anewbie for tegu's but a herp lover for sure.. i have 2 beardies, 4 geckos, 2 ball pythonsand a veiled chameleon and now the tegu so any relevant info for the tegus would be awesome..

but the topic at hand is his toe nails and toes .. on the front one toe nail is missing a few have swollen bumps on them and one is reddish pinky kinda .. and on the back they lok ok kinda but are the whole long toe suppose to be able to bend easily and almost in half?? i dont know i am a newbiie ont hese and want to care for him SO MUCH.. please help?

reddawg · Member Joined: Nov 02, 2006 Posts: 47

The first thing I would do is take him to a vet if possible. Give him a good soaking in warm water. Unfortunately I believe this toe problem is do to bad sheds. Low humidity. I don't know if it is a common problem, but you do see it often. I know this isn't much but I hope it helps a little.

Daggit_Columbian · Honored Member Joined: Oct 10, 2006 Posts: 251

it looks pretty bad on his toes man..... the long toes are surprisingly flexible though, so, without seeing it, i couldn't really tell....

on the left of the screen, under the "main menu" there is a "helpful info section" [url]http://thetegu.com/contentid-22.html [/url] ahhh what the heck, there's the link....

if you take him to the vet, some of the toes may have to be amputated.... by the looks of it, that wouldn't b the worst thing....

has he eaten anything for you??

kewl_guy33 · Member Joined: Jan 29, 2007 Posts: 15

he hasn't eaten.. i just tried to throw a few karge crickets and i dont know what he was eating b4 but he looked at them like he wanted them but didn't get them kidna thing.. what should i try

right now i thinka vet visit would be out of my cash range right now. not saying it wont be soon but right now it is.. so i wanna do the best thing i can for care for him myself....

right now he is burrowed under all his shavings and u can barely barely see him and i dont wanna get him out of there for a good soakin in the bath, he is handleable surprisingly the way this guy has been takin care of

Nero557 · Posted: Tue Jan 30, 2007 12:30 pm Post subject:

jack up the humidity, try covering the top of the cage (if its screen) with wax paper, or something to help keep it up. Daily soaks, if not more. Use triple antibiotic ointment on the fingers and other problem areas. Get him up to a good weight and let him be for a while, he's probably stressed beyond all belief that's all i got right now -Art-
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-Art-

wendy93 · Member Joined: Dec 03, 2006 Posts: 12 Location: Clovis, CA

That is soooo sad. I know how you feel my iguana was in bad condition when I took him in. I'm fairly new to the tegu, haven't had any problems yet. When any of my snakes had a shed problem I would put them in a warm bath every day for a soak and swim session. Seems that this has worked for most of my reptiles, you might want to give it a try. As far as food I've found that my tegus just go looney for ground turkey and scrambled eggs. Hope this helps alittle..

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Wendy
2. B&W Arg. Tegus-Sampson & Delilah
1. Kenyan Sand Boa- Lear
1. Igauna- Mr. Wizard
2. Rottweilers- Othello & Ausset
1. Siamese Cat- Isis
Several Fish

dpjm · Posted: Wed Jan 31, 2007 10:26 am Post subject:

Is it drinking any water? If not, what has always worked for me is to get a spray bottle with drinking water, and using the stream setting, not the spray setting, spray water on the front of his mouth. If he was in such bad conditions, I imagine its probably dehydrated and drinking water, raising the humidity, and soaking him daily will definitely benefit him.

dpjm · Posted: Wed Jan 31, 2007 3:27 pm Post subject:

Sorry my last reply was cut off because I had to leave. As far as feeding goes, I've never seen my tegu pass up a rodent. At this point he might be better off going for food he doesn't first have to catch, so a fresh killed or thawed mouse should look good to him. Also, as another member has said, ground turkey is a good option that I think most tegus like and you can mix in fruit and vegetables with it as well for extra nutrition. There is also appetite stimulants available that you can add to their water to get them eating, and this has worked well for some of my herps if they get stressed and don't eat. Definitely put Polysporin or equivalent antibiotic on his hands and feet until you can take him to the vet, he probably injured them trying to dig his way out of the last enclosure he was in, I probably would too. I have to go again, let us know how he progresses.

DRAZIL · New Member Joined: Jan 12, 2007 Posts: 5

Looks like retained shed on the close up not quite sure, i would soak in warm water daily and very gently rub it off if possible, only problem with this is if he's stressed out he'll end up more stressed out, might be better to give him a week or two to settle and let him get eating again. If he's not drinking you'll have to see a vet but take in to account he might not want to drink whilst your there. If you can get away with leaving him then do so and keep the traffic low in the area around him, tip on keeping the humidity up put one of your old t shirts in with him worn and soak in warm water till it is damp, dose'nt look pretty but it will get used to your smell and keep humidity up at the same time , hope it goes well..........

fresh2ugal2000 · Member Joined: Jan 16, 2007 Posts: 21

wow that is very sad those photos and the condition you found him in bright tears to my eyes I hope all works out for you it is a beautiful tegu Good luck