Big yucky sore!!!

CRG · Posted: Thu Jan 31, 2008 1:01 pm Post subject: Big yucky sore!!!

My tegu has been hibernating off and on all winter.Well today I checked on hiim and he was out and about and I noticed he was starting to shed.So I got in his pen and started looking closer and when I lifted a piece of shed on his back there was a nasty looking sore.I soaked him real good and put neosporin on it....My question is how did this happen.It couldnt be a burn, I use a Kane heat mat with a 150 watt basking hanging from the ceiling, no way he could have touched it.Can a retained shed cause sores underneath the skin like that? There was no injury I could see on the shed.
Any thing I can order from the vet for this.
Im going to soak himevery day this week and put the neo on daily too.BTW this is no easy task, he is huge and hates bathes.sorry I should have gotten a pic of the sore.I will tomorrow he is kinda freaked right now

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meanah · Posted: Thu Jan 31, 2008 6:58 pm Post subject:

man hes a big boy. i dont know much about the hibernating issue. cause i dont have a arg.
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0.1.0 Colombian Tegu
1.0.0 Arg. Tegu
0.1.0 Bearded Dragon
0.1.0 Royal Python
1.0.0 Crested Gecko
0.0.1 Kingsnake
0.0.1 Painted Turtle
0.1.1 Spotted Pythons
1.2.0 Tokay Geckos
2.4.0 Leopard Geckos

tegulevi · Respected Member Joined: Mar 10, 2005 Posts: 489

location of the sore would be good info

anywho tons of things can go wrong in hibernation. from the insignificant to death. i will bet money that when he went down for hibernation he had a small cut or deep scratch where this sore is located. when hibernating the body is slow and practically defenseless. this allows wounds to get infected because of the lack of anything to fight it off. this can create an abscess. which tends to smell very badly. if this is the problem a good vet should be able to clear it up. this happened to my male red last year. we went in and he cleaned the wound and gave him 2 injections. and sent us home with a few more weekly injections of something that i cant remember lol. he will definitely need to be kept from hibernating any more this year.

good luck and keep us posted. tell me if i was right or wrong.

P.S. you think he hates bath time just wait for needle time

CRG · Posted: Thu Jan 31, 2008 7:45 pm Post subject:

The sore is on his back along the spine area.If you could remember what they gave you I would appreciate it.I have a local vet who is not a reptile vet but she is very good and will look things up and call other vets, she has helped me with a partial impaction in a bluetongue and given me free xrays on a ferret just so she could learn too.If I can tell her what meds it would help alot.I was thinking maybe a high powered antibiotic cream but I dont want to wait till it gets into his system if its an infection.He is eating fine and acts okay but the sore is oozy looking.

tegulevi · Respected Member Joined: Mar 10, 2005 Posts: 489

well i went and checked to see if i had anything with a label, and no luck. i believe one was a antibiotic, one was a vitamin shot just to jump start his immune system and there was a pill that i never got him to take. he could smell them even inside a rat i cut open. it was the same medication that he uses on dogs with similar infections, so she may be able to help if she has a reptile medicine book. its the cleaning part that is the hardest though, he really had to get in there and dig stuff out. hmmmm i wish i could help more, got a pic?

txrepgirl · Posted: Thu Jan 31, 2008 7:57 pm Post subject:

My Tegu has one,too.I'm going to have a vet appointment next week.Go to my photogallery ( you can click on the bottom of this post ) and I have a picture of his sore.Let me know if it looks like the one my Tegu ( Leonidas) has.If it is I'll let you know what my vet found out.Good luck with your Tegu and take care.Oh, you have a very beautiful Tegu by the way.

CRG · Posted: Thu Jan 31, 2008 8:04 pm Post subject:

Pixel looks much worse then that.His looks more like an abscess that broke open, more like deepish hole.I will look at it again tomorrow and take a pic.If I think it looks too bad I may just call the vet anyway so she can start researching this before it gets any worse.

tegulevi · Respected Member Joined: Mar 10, 2005 Posts: 489

if thats what yours has CRG than its not even close to an abscess. and actually looks like a burn or stuck piece of shed. and abscess is essentially just a pit full of puss and infection. and smells rancid once broken open.

txrepgirl. good luck at the vet. doesnt appear to be a big concern though IMO. if you have any feeling that the vet is wrong seek a second opinion. "reptile vets" dont normally know much about tegus, or most reptiles in general. there are simply too many species to be an expert on all of them, so they will likely refer to the big ol medicine book for help. not a problem but be objective if you feel they are incorrect.

good luck

CRG · Posted: Thu Jan 31, 2008 8:53 pm Post subject:

The first thing I thought of was a burn actually but its just impossible the light hangs at least a foot above his head and the Kane heatmat is not that hot and only on his belly anyways...Then I thought what if a cat got in there and took a swat at him and dug a claw in.I wouldnt have been able to see the wound and it would have abcessed easily.
My cats have had plenty of abcesses from fighting over the years and they do usually ooze yellow pus and blood.
This is not really oozing anything but looks wetish....Could he have rubbed the shed off before it was ready himself on the edge of his hide and caused such a wound?
I will get a pic post it tomorrow and call the vet too.

txrepgirl · Posted: Thu Jan 31, 2008 11:42 pm Post subject:

Thank you tegulevi.

tegulevi · Respected Member Joined: Mar 10, 2005 Posts: 489

no problem. good luck

CRG · Posted: Fri Feb 01, 2008 12:02 pm Post subject:

The vet cant fit him in till Monday.She said to use the betadine I have as a soak type thing over the weekend.We have two vets in town but the other wont see exotics period, not even ferrets.They are mostly farm animal anyway and arent even very good with cats or dogs.

tegulevi · Respected Member Joined: Mar 10, 2005 Posts: 489

i think that should be fine, they arent usually life threatening.

good luck

CRG · Posted: Fri Feb 01, 2008 1:53 pm Post subject:

After soaking him and looking him over ive found a few odd looking spots on his side too.They almost look like a rotten spot on fruit...Could this be fungal? Would something like Baytril treat a fungus as well as a bacterial infection.If not what would be the treatment for a systemic fungal infection?

I hope my vet is able treat this right.....I dont want to go to KSU its a long drive and they charge up the Whazooo also the last time I went there they hurt the side of my lizards mouth opening it....They dont let you go in to the room with your animal either cause its the University vet clinic so you have no idea what they are doing to your animal...Or if they even know what they are doing.

tegulevi · Respected Member Joined: Mar 10, 2005 Posts: 489

hmm, possibly. id hate to try and diagnose that though, without knowing from experience.

never in a million years will a herp of mine be left in the vet staffs hand unsupervised. 99% havent the slightest clue how to restrain or manipulate an adult tegu when needed. thats just gonna be injuries to the tegu and the vet staff lol.