Long Dead Tegu (still looking for answers)

sleestaxx · Member Joined: Jun 29, 2007 Posts: 32 Location: Alabama

Kilo, whose pics are in my photo album, passed away 01/15/06. I got him as a month old baby at the Dixie Reptile show in Alabama for a discount because he was missing part of his tail. I had him checked out by my reptile vet and he said everything was ok and his tail was healed up good and he was in great shape. About 6 or 8 months after I brought him home he fell out of his enclosure about 4 feet high, he seemed ok but I had him checked out by my vet anyway and he assured me everything was ok. Skip to five years later, I took him out of his (different) enclosure to feed him and he was fine and ate great, two days later I took him out and his front legs were paralyzed and he couldn't use them to walk, just pushed himself around with his back legs. Took him to my vet and had x-rays and blood work done and everything came back normal. A week later he was dead. The vet wanted to do a necropsy but my wife and I didn't want him cut up and buried him in the back yard. Just wondering if anyone my have had a situation similar to this or what may have happened to him, it still bothers me to this day.
Thanks

txrepgirl · Posted: Mon Jan 07, 2008 2:05 am Post subject:

Hi, I'm sorry to hear what happened to your Tegu.If you don't mind me asking what did you feed him ? did you give him any calcium and vitamin powder ? did you had the right lighting ( UVB and not UVA ).Was the temp in the inclosure high enough ? I'm asking because if they don't get the right heating (and UVB ) the food can not digest properly and it causes the food to start rotting in there stomach.I don't know very much about Tegus but I'm trying to help you figure out what could of caused the death of your Tegu because I also am curios on what happed.I really hope that one day you will find out what happened.Hang in there.

snakehandler · Member Joined: Jan 03, 2008 Posts: 38

paralysing in reptiles can be caused by lack of vitamins, lack of light, lack of calcium and light. also giving tegus raw eggs can break down biotin (a vitamin). Consider that tegus are wild animals and although they are aften seen as pets theyre really wild reptiles and the conditions in a cage should mimick the conditions in the wild. Although theyre hardy animals a lack of one of these conditions can cause death after several years.
The same applies for turtles and tortoises.
Reptiles are not the same as other pets and can die suddenly if the conditions
are not optimal. But hey you can buy a new one, cuase death occurs sometimes and we tend to learn from our experiences.

txrepgirl · Posted: Mon Jan 07, 2008 6:24 pm Post subject:

I know that.That's why I asked him those questions to find out if he gave all the right things to him.I don't mean to be rude but you made it sound like it is so easy to get over the lost loved one by just replacing him.Guess some people are more sensitive than others about loosing a loved one

.I know I would.

greentriple · Posted: Mon Jan 07, 2008 7:18 pm Post subject:

Snake, pal you have the bedside manner of a Dr..

I must take issue with a point you've made here and before. If you capture your tegu in the wild, or snake for that matter, it's wild. But at some point when "wild" animals have been kept in captivity, bred, raised, died, bred, raised and died over and over again they are no longer wild and they are domestic. Now I don't know how many generations of tegus have been bred in captivity but I don't think it's fair to say these are "wild". They may be more wild than dogs, cats or canaries but who knows. I think it's more than reasonable to try and replicate or create conditions that best suit their physiology, such as humidity, UV exposure, food and space, but to create a "natural" environment in captivity, even Zoos understand the limits to this and adjust accordingly.

In the end these are pets, and to many of their owners just a precious and important as we accept dogs and cats to be.

snakehandler · Member Joined: Jan 03, 2008 Posts: 38

even though theyre considered pets by some people. theyre still reptiles who evolved over a long time. maybe milions of years, it isnt changed over several years of being caged. their basic needs are still that of those who live in the wild. their metaoblism is different from that of cats or dogs who have been domesticated over thousands of years.
if one of thier basic conditons is ignored death may occur.
and yeah pets do die. remember that the basic threath to tegus is the skin trade. one dead pet is a great loss but it can be replaced.
maybe next time it will go better.

txrepgirl · Posted: Tue Jan 08, 2008 12:13 am Post subject:

Well put greentriple

.

sleestaxx · Member Joined: Jun 29, 2007 Posts: 32 Location: Alabama

Kilo was just a baby when I got him from a local reptile show. I live in Alabama about 20 miles from where Burt raises his tegus. During the summer he stayed outside most of the time getting natural, unfiltered sunlight. During winter he would sleep a lot but never hibernated and always had heat and UVB lighting in his enclosure. He had the normal (for a tegu) food, dusted two or three times a week with a vitamin and calcium supplement. He had regular vet checkups with a qualified reptile vet. The 15th of this month will be two years since he passed away and my wife and I still miss him. He slept with us one night when our power and heat went out and slept on my wife's stomach until morning and when I got up he crawled over to my pillow and slept on it next to her head until she got up. We have another baby tegu we got from Burt this past summer but there will never be another one quite like Kilo.
_________________
0.0.1...Arg B&W Tegu (Zoe)
1.0......Nile Moniter (Little Bit)
1.0......Bearded Dragon (Dewey)
0.1......Mali Uromastyx (Digger)
0.1......Leopard Gecko (Spot)
0.1......Colombian Rainbow Boa (Haley)

snakehandler · Member Joined: Jan 03, 2008 Posts: 38

could have been an accident also. all living things die eventually.
when getting attached to a pet we have to accept that.
i am sorry about your loss though.

emma_ra7 · Posted: Wed Jan 09, 2008 2:47 pm Post subject:

Just a thought......can Tegus have strokes or seizures

Would the vet have been able to pick that up

Maybe so with tests that were done. IDK just throwing out an idea.
_________________
~Emily~

1.1.0 Cats
0.1.0 Argentine Black & White Tegu

spencer · Posted: Wed Jan 09, 2008 6:17 pm Post subject:

im pretty sure they can and if they can that could explain his death.
in any case im really sorry for your loss

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spencer · Posted: Wed Jan 09, 2008 6:18 pm Post subject:

im pretty sure they can and if they can that could explain his death.

in any case im really sorry for your loss

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spencer · Posted: Wed Jan 09, 2008 6:18 pm Post subject:

im pretty sure they can and if they can that could explain his death.

in any case im really sorry for your loss

snakehandler · Member Joined: Jan 03, 2008 Posts: 38

Also reptiles can suffer from stress that is unnoticed and that can kill them after a certain prolonged time. people often regard them as being pets like cats or dogs but they are not domesticated animals and require needs that
mimick those in the wild. even being caged causes stress in reptiles.

greentriple · Posted: Thu Jan 10, 2008 11:33 am Post subject:

Being caged causes stress to any living creature!