Tegu twitching??

alex · Valued Member Joined: Aug 03, 2005 Posts: 106

Colin thought I should chime in.

Metabolic bone disease isn't really a catch-all term, it's just a rather imprecise one for a specific subsection of deranged calcium metabolism called nutritional secondary hyperparathyroidism. So I'm going to try to stay kind of general to explain why you need to get blood tests run by your vet:
Skeletal disorders of reduced bone mass can be classified as either osteomalacia (mature skeleton) and rickets (immature skeleton). Any way you look at a reduction in bone mass, you can see similar symptoms from a vitamin D deficiency, phosphorus decificeny, chronic renal disease, or chronic fluoride toxicity. Osteomalacia as it derives from a vitamin/mineral imbalance is really poorly understood in all animals, including humans (i.e. despite supplementing our milk with active D3, 30% of Canada is deficient) What reptiles tend to get is a slightly different disease called fibrous osteodystrophy, where the skeleton is resorbed and replaced with fibrous tissue, leading to deformity and pathologic fractures. which is generally caused by primary or more commonly secondary hyperparathyroidism, the latter being where nutritional hyperparathyroidism fits in. The parathyroid gland is more active than the thryoid in Ca++ metabolism.

So in reptiles, it is reasonable to assume that the early phase of secondary parathryoidism is causing the tremors, as calcium ions are critical in regulating muscle contraction. However, renal issues are possible, as is a primary CNS problem (probably unlikely, but it could be shared living in the same environment). The renal issues could occur from similar husbandry, but it's less likely than a secondary parathryoid problem.

You could futz around with your husbandry, but the simplest thing to do is take them to your vet, explain your concerns, and get serum calciums run. If they're low, it's certainly early enough that you can do simple oral calcium and change your UV lights, and check the expiry on your Ca supplements as D3 does decay. Getting x-rays likely won't be too helpful, as it sounds like the problem is relatively early and it's hard to see when bones are just beginning to thin (severely affected reptiles look completely homogenous soft tissue, there's very little visible skeleton, but much before that is hard to see 'cause their skin is so thick and often slightly ossified) A general panel should tell you if their kidneys are shot, etc, and help rule in/out some differentials. If it's a primary CNS problem, good luck.

Alex