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Posted: Wed Feb 07, 2007 8:13 pm Post subject: My blues tail is cracking??
I have a blue about 5 months old he seems to be fine but i noticed in the last couple of days that the end of his tail in the little cracks was getting red i didn't think anything about it but i was playing with him tonight and now notice that at the top of his tail the cracks look like they are open and scabbing they are not big but i don't know what to do?? there are not any vets in my area that treat reps. that i know of i just moved here. (greenville, south carolina) is there something that im doing that would be causing this?? or something i can do to help this... PLEASE HELP!!!!
It sounds like a humidity issue. What is the humidity reading in your tank? Do you soak him/her? What substrate are you using? I would make sure the humidity stays above 70% in the cage, start soaking him/her for 10-15 minutes a day, every day, and after each bath, rub mineral oil (plain mineral oil from Wal Mart or wherever) on his/her tail. Make sure the cage is clean and the temps are right. This should help a lot. Have you checked http://www.herpvetconnection.com for a vet in your area? I did not see one listed for Greenville but there are some in other cities. You may have to drive an hour or so to find a vet. Perhaps find a small animal vet that would be willing to consult a herp vet in another city if necessary. I do not; however, think this is a vet issue just yet. What are you feeding him/her? Vitamin C is a very important part of their diet and will help with shedding issues as well. Does he/she eat fruit? If you aren't feeding fruit already, I highly recommend introducing fruit into the diet. _________________ Kris, Herps they're not just a hobby, they're a way of life!
I HAVE JUST BEEN FEEDING HIM TURKEY AND ADDING CALCIUM. I AM HAVING A HARD TIME KEEPING THE HUMIDITY COULD I GET A HUMIDIFIER AND KEEP IT NEXT TO THE CAGE??? WHAT KIND OF FRUIT SHOULD I FEED HIM, AND HOW WOULD I GIVE HIM THE VITAMIN C?? HE IS MY FIRST TEGU MY BROTHER HAD A OLDER ONE BUT HE NEVER HAD ANY PROBLEMS...
Turkey, raw, ground and lean. Mix plain calcium, and vitamins (herptivite or Miner All) in the turkey. Add some bits of fruit to the turkey to introduce him to the taste.
Egg: Hard boiled, crushed to include the shell. Add calcium and vitamins to the egg.
Fish: Tilapia, Ocean White Perch, Salmon
Feed fish twice a month, egg twice a month. The rest of the month feed rodents/fruit one day, insects/fruit the next day, turkey/fruit the 3rd day. Rinse, repeat. :0)
How big is the cage you have him in? What type of cage is it? (aquarium?)
What are you using for substrate? (that's the stuff you have in the bottom of the cage like mulch, sand, dirt, newspaper, paper towel, etc)
What are the temperatures in your cage and how are you measuring the temperatures?
Yes. You can buy a humidifier and put it next to the cage. You also need to mist the cage daily. _________________ Kris, Herps they're not just a hobby, they're a way of life!
HE IS IN AN AQUARIUM RIGHT NOW BUT I AM IN THE PROCESS OF HAVING A BIGGER CAGE MADE FOR HIM. I HAVE FOREST BARK FOR THE SUBSTRATE (DO YOU RECOMMEND ANYTHING DIFFERENT??) THE TEMP ARE GOOD 105 BASKING AND 85 ON THE OTHER SIDE OF HIS CAGE. I JUST HAVE A THERMOMETER I BOUGHT FROM THE PET STORE. IS THE FISH RAW THAT YOU FEED HIM?? THANK YOU FOR ALL YOUR HELP....
Forest bark is fine. Cypress mulch is much better. How big is the aquarium? I assume the lid on the aquarium is all screen? Cover most of the lid with something like a shower curtain or saran wrap to help hold the humidity in. Humidity is going to be a HUGE issue for you with an aquarium. Mist that cage every single day. You want the bark to be moist but no standing water in the bottom of the tank.
Yes, feed RAW fish. :0) Don't buy canned fish. Buy it frozen or fresh in the meat department at the grocery store.
I suggest you go to Wal Mart and pick up an Accu Rite Indoor/Outdoor Thermometer/Hygrometer with Probe. They run about $15 but are insanely accurate and last for years. You can measure temperatures in two spots with them PLUS they will tell you what the humidity is in the cage. A MUST HAVE for reptile keepers. _________________ Kris, Herps they're not just a hobby, they're a way of life!
I'M NOT SURE EXACTLY HOW BIG IT BUT IS I THINK ITS 60 GALS. NO SMALLER THOUGH I KNOW HE NEEDS A BIGGER AREA BUT I JUST MOVED A FEW WEEKS AGO AND WAS WAITING TILL I COULD BUILD SOMETHING THAT HE COULD HAVE FOREVER SINCE I HAVE PLENTY OF ROOM NOW... BUT THE TANK IS GOING TO BE BUILT OUT OF WHITE PLEXY IS IT GOING TO BE HARD TO KEEP THE HUMIDITY IN THAT??? SHOULD I HAVE HIM BUILD IT OUT OF WOOD AND JUST MAKE PLEXY DOORS???
Plexi is great. Just make sure your doors/top isn't open like the lid of an aquarium. You want *some* ventilation but not a lot. Humidity, just like heat, will escape through holes. _________________ Kris, Herps they're not just a hobby, they're a way of life!
No problem! Keep asking questions! It's how we learn! Do you have pics of your tegu? We'd love to see them! _________________ Kris, Herps they're not just a hobby, they're a way of life!
Joined: Jul 23, 2005 Posts: 385 Location: North Carolina
Posted: Thu Feb 08, 2007 11:23 am Post subject:
Just to add on to this a bit. Blues, like reds, are prone to skin problems, just in a lesser degree. Their requirements for more fruits, simply means that they need more vitamins.
The cracking on the tail, are actually tears in the skin. The tegu is growing, but his old tight skin isn't letting go, so it is ripping apart. Though that sounds gruesome, it is actually not that hard to correct, by following worley's instructions to offer vitamins, offer fruit, and soak in warm water (followed by a good rub down with plain mineral oil) _________________ The Jay
I'm having a similar problem but with an Argentina B and W.
I love this lizard but his tail is almost looking swollen (the whole thing). I was confused at first because he normally has a thick tail. But now I see that there is some cracking and I worry about infections. Soaking and oil dont seem to help. In fact, I dont see any obvious point where I should expect a shed to even start.
I'm really concerned, could he die from an infection of his tail?
I'm getting away from roaches for food and I'm incorporating food with veggies, vitamins, etc.
Joined: Nov 06, 2004 Posts: 972269 Location: Central Maine
Posted: Thu Mar 08, 2007 3:44 pm Post subject:
All of the tegus can have a shedding issue with lack of proper diet. Reds are generally much more dependent on the vitamins, but it's hard to guage which, blues or black and whites, have the issue worse than the other. I have had more people with black and whites contact me with shedding issues than people with blues, but that could be relative to the fact more keepers have black and whites more commonly than blue tegus.
A varied diet with lots of vitamin rich foods will help resolve most of the skin and shedding issues. None of my tegus have these issues but I do deal with them a lot because people bring me tegus in poor shape from time to time.
First thing is to start getting some vitamins into them. This can be as simple as feeding the tegus strawberry, grapes and melon with vitamin and calcium supplements for a few meals and feed them little to no meat to make them eat the fruit. If this doesn't work you can dice up the fruit and mix it into some lean raw turkey supplemented with vitamin and calcium supplements.
Soak the tegu for 10 to 15 minutes in the morning, every few days. Dab dry (don't rub and don't dry completely) and then apply a coat of mineral oil to the tegu to help hold in the humidity and to keep the skin from drying out. Dab off any excess oil. In the evening, apply some triple antibiotic to the wounds. Daily misting of the enclosure will help to maintain proper humidity as well.
If this does not show any improvement, seek vet attention.
Seriously, I contacted Bert when I went through this and he said soakings are pretty useless, because they just dry out a few minutes after they get out.They HAVE to have CONSTANT humidity.My tegu was just like yours with the tail cracking and everything.I used a wet bathtowel and put in right in the tank so he could hide under it.I put a small branch under to keep it from laying flat on the ground.I rewet the towel daily and changed it and washed it everyother day.And it was not sopping wet but very wet.My tegu loved it and it took about a week or two before all the shed came off and his tail healed.Doesnt look good but It really did work.Now he has a separate humid hide(full of wet cypress) connected to the cage by a tunnel so ive not had any problems since.
I hope this helps its just my experience..
Joined: Nov 06, 2004 Posts: 972269 Location: Central Maine
Posted: Sun Mar 18, 2007 12:51 am Post subject:
CRG wrote:
he said soakings are pretty useless, because they just dry out a few minutes after they get out.
If all you do is soak them and put them back, yes.. it will be pretty much useless. Soaking will soften the skin (and immediately relieve some skin tension). Soaking does not always remove stubborn shed, which is why I recommend a method that I use with great success.
Quote:
Soak the tegu for 10 to 15 minutes in the morning, every few days. Dab dry (don't rub and don't dry completely) and then apply a coat of mineral oil to the tegu to help hold in the humidity and to keep the skin from drying out. Dab off any excess oil. In the evening, apply some triple antibiotic to the wounds. Daily misting of the enclosure will help to maintain proper humidity as well.
Adding a damp towel can work, but I would warn on not leaving a towel in the enclosure unsupervised because a tegus nails can get tangled in the small loops of the cloth and can rip/cut off the tip of a toe.
In a post a made long ago, I made a sweat box for a red I received with in severely horrible shed. It was a large sterilite bin with a damp beach towel folded in half in the bottom. The tegu could lay on the towel or crawl inside it. Under the bin I placed a small UTH. I would place the tegu in the sweat box for a couple hours a day, so I do agree it works, but I did notice the red lost a pinky toe which was caused by the loops of threads that make up a towel.
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HOPEFULLY IS TAIL WILL GET BETTER SOON....
