Blind / Partial Blindness?

Faust · Member Joined: Jun 13, 2006 Posts: 21

I've had my tegu for almost a year now, and he's finally awoken after his first hibernation, however, I noticed this when I first got him and assumed it was due to "pubescent" (if you will) uncoordination...

He is rather awkward at feeding and drinking, such that I would speculate he is hard of seeing...

He has a water bowl, but never drinks from it until he falls in. When I spray his cage, I always give him a gental warm misting, and he starts lapping up the water around him and from the glass. This doesn't seem to be too big a deal, it just strikes me as odd.

Also, this in particular concerns me. He's been gobbling his crickets down, that is when he can find them. I put them in a bowl, and when he goes over to check it out, he just awkwardly snaps into the bowl with reckless abandon. If he grabs a cricket, he'll withdraw and munch it, but if he drops it once he got it out, he CAN'T seem to find it. For example, he places his front foot on the cricket and holds it down, then pulls back and snaps, usually missing by a relatively large margin. He does this over and over until he catches it.

Just this morning he was chasing one of them around and it turned a sudden corner behind a log... He just kept zooming forward.

He also uses his chin to hold icrix down in similar fashion to his foot.

This is my first Tegu, but surely my little guy could see a cricket, bite it, eat it, not hopelessly chase it around.

Could this be eye sight problems? He also rubs his eye on his substrate occasionally, but they seem to be fine upon inspection. (as in no glaaaaaaring abnormalities)

Any help would be appreciated, sorry for the confusing descriptions :]

Cheers.

Faust · Member Joined: Jun 13, 2006 Posts: 21

You know, I guess this is a prompting to try new feeding methods.

Rick · Posted: Sun Mar 18, 2007 5:32 pm Post subject:

Faust,

That sounds exactly like poor vision. That is exactly the issue with many albino tegus. I find prekilled rodents, fruits, prekilled roaches (I use discoids), and lean raw ground turkey work well. I do no use moving food items.

You can test the vision by dangling a live rodent just outside the glass wall/door where it can not be smelled. Do not allow the rodent to make contact with the glass so there is no sound. If the tegu has good vision it should run to the glass, if the tegu has poor vision it will not even know the rodent is there.

Rick

Rick
_________________
Sisco Reptiles - Proud Breeder of the Tamest & Most Social Tegus. See www.SiscoReptiles.com

Faust · Member Joined: Jun 13, 2006 Posts: 21

mmm, he was an '06 hatchling from AgamaIntl

Assuming this is the case, it is still possible to have a "healthy" social relationship with my Tegu, right? I love the little guy to death, poor vision won't change that.

Thanks for such a quick response.

Cheers