Nose booboo?

holygouda · Member Joined: Aug 18, 2005 Posts: 48

Hey guys!
Ive been asking a lot of questions about this tegu I just got, so instead of stopping, I figured I would throw a couple more out there.
When I got him(Zzyzx), I noticed that he had a pretty good case of nose rub. It seemed scabbed up so I just left it alone. It has a couple layers of old shed stuck on the scale at the tip of his nose, right around the rubbed spot. Im not sure if I should try to do something to help him out by trying to take it off or just let him heal on his own.
I tried to add a pic here so you could get an idea, however i took it with my cell phone so the quality is very far below sucky.

Rick · Posted: Sun Sep 04, 2005 7:41 pm Post subject:

Apply some triple antibiotic. The kind with no pain relief stuff. This will help it heal with no infection, but will also lube and loosen the stuck shed on his nose.

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

holygouda · Member Joined: Aug 18, 2005 Posts: 48

Thanks Rick!

themorningstr · Member Joined: Feb 28, 2005 Posts: 40

I am dealing with a nose rub, myself right now. Yours doesn't look too bad, but Sparky managed to open his up overnight

. While my solution seems a bit extreme, I got the idea from a post I saw here a couple months ago and I'll share what I did for future use to you or anyone.

I noticed that his substrate (cyprus) was bothering it with all that burrowing, first of all, so I totally cleaned the enclosure out. I removed all but one of his grapevine pieces as well. The one I left is his basking one and I covered it in cloth. To pad his enclosure I used old towels with all the frayed edges removed (as to not cause a choking hazard of any sort). Then I bought these washcloths in pkgs of 8 for $1 to put over the towels for easy and cheap cleaning. If he "uses" one, I just toss it because the expense is relatively low for a short-term fix. Then for burrowing material, I found these pkgs of 99 tissue paper sheets for $1 (I love the $ store!) and crumpled them up and tossed them in. They make lots of temp "substrate", moisten well, and are inexpensive and seemingly safe. He doesn't try to eat them and there's no print on them. He has done well with them and I think he enjoys walking over them and going under them (kind of like a toy

). And then I try to keep an antibiotic ointment on the nose as well.

But with that said, Rick, do you have a brand that you can recommend for nose rub? I ask because the one I am using, he hates, so it is a battle to put (and keep) it on. The last thing I want to do is traumatise or upset him, but it's like a kid with shots: They don't understand that it's for "their own good"

. (And of course I don't want to risk getting bitten trying to apply it either.)

Anyway, this is seeming to work and it's very temporary, of course. It's a little extra maintenance, but what can you expect with the "baby" of the house?

Good luck with that!

Jenn.

holygouda · Member Joined: Aug 18, 2005 Posts: 48

I just had a vet visit today and she recommeded covering the inside of the cage in bubble wrap. I can see how that might work, however Im gonna build a very large cage in the next couple weeks so hopefully he won't feel as big of an urge to get out.

The ointment I'm using for my tegus noserub is Neosporin. Its worked on my other lizards and its seeming to work for him as well.

Diegar · Posted: Thu Sep 08, 2005 7:43 am Post subject:

I am throwing my ignorant assumptions in here, but i would be afraid of bubble wrap suffocating my tegu. Maybe i am just overreacting though. :O)
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The Jay

stano40 · Member Joined: May 02, 2005 Posts: 29

suffocation was my first thought as well
Michelle