Yet another problem with my Tegu

Discussion in 'Monitors & Tegus' started by Sitonatak, Apr 26, 2005.

  1. Sitonatak

    Sitonatak New Member

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    After my Tegu's feeding today, I noticed that as he sat and basked, his front and hind legs including the fingers were twitching. It is quite constant. It has been about 10 - 15 minutes and it hasn't stopped. This may sound silly but, could it possibly be some sort of seizure. I have only had him for two weeks, and everyday it seems like i find something new wrong with him. Could it be a vitamin deficiency. He has UVB/UVA, and gets calcium supplement every other day. It also seems that his chest is twitching as well, but it's hard to tell as he is lying on it. I took a video of it, but I'm not sure if I can post it on here.

    He had about 20 crickets, 5 meal worms. He also has kale, eggs, banana for lunch, but he didn't touch that.

    I'd appreciate any information.

    Is this normal for Tegus. If so I have never noticed it before.
     
  2. JEFFREH

    JEFFREH Administrator

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  3. ryzard

    ryzard New Member

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    I don't know if this is normal, but my tegu did the same thing and it really freaked me out. He went on his basking area and started lifting his back leg up behind his tail and his legs started shaking, and so did his front legs everytime he moved. I don't know what it was and I still don't, but he didn't really do that again after that and he's fine. However I did take him to the vet a couple days later because he was throwing up, his vet said that there was nothing wrong with him and that it was probably because he couldn't digest his crickets well because he doesn't chew them up enough. She said that some tegus will do this, and that even if the crickets seems the right size for them that they may be too large for their stomach if they don't chew them enough, just depends on the individual lizard. So maybe that's the case and his tummy is just feeling weird, that's what my vet told me
     
  4. JEFFREH

    JEFFREH Administrator

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  5. Sitonatak

    Sitonatak New Member

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    Thanks for the info. I just made an appointment with the vet because it seems to be getting a little worse. I just want to make sure he is ok. I hope that is all it is. Tomorrow I will try to feed him smaller crickets.

    Glad to know someone else experienced this before. It's really freaking me out.

    I will let you know the results.
     
  6. JEFFREH

    JEFFREH Administrator

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  7. lacerta

    lacerta Member

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    Twitching extremities in juvenile lizards is a classic symptom of mild calcium deficiencies, among other possible reasons. I had the same problem with larger tegu about 6 months ago. I up'd his dose of calcium powder mixed into ground turkey with egg yolk, and it went away within 24 hours. Have also seen this in bearded dragon youngsters and in growing poison dart frogs. Calcium is not only needed for bone growth but also used as an electrolyte component for voluntary and involuntary muscle control, hence the twitching as the body diverts needed calcium for bone growth. Suggest also you check basking temps. Too cool and efficient digestion is difficult regardless of amount of supplementation. If too cool, try bumping basking temps up to about 105F in the hot spot by either lowering heat source (or upping wattage) or raising his basking perch. They seem to be very good thermoregulators and they will often adjust position to maintain body temp at around 98-100F. A good IR temp gun is useful. Regarding food size, these guys tend to bolt their food down whole without a lot of chewing. Regurgitation is often a sign of low temps. Following a feeding they like to bask for at least an hour. By the way, after talking to the breeder and others who have more experience with these lizards than I, most of them do not feed everyday once their lizard is about 4 months old. I find that feeding on an every-other-day schedule results in a much better feeding response. Regardless, let's see what your vet says. Keep us posted.
    George
     
  8. JEFFREH

    JEFFREH Administrator

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  9. Sitonatak

    Sitonatak New Member

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    To the Vet we went. As you can guess, by the time I got to the vet, the twitching had stopped, and almost immediately started up again when I got him back into his cage. The Dr. didn't really seem to know what had caused the twitching. He thought that maybe it was a deficiency in electrolytes. Told me to give him a multivitamin, and calcium supplement twice a week.

    After leaving the vet, not feeling quite satisfied, I stopped by my local pet store and spoke with one of the employees, who has helped me on many occasions and sold me both of my other reptiles. She is a very knowledgable woman. She suggested that it is a sign of MBD. She said twitching limbs are a symptom of the disease, and if Calcium with D3 are not supplemented in the diet to correct the deficiency it can get worse. I am going to research the disease before I make any decisions. I want to look at more of the symptoms.

    Hopefully this will get better, and I can bring him back to good health. I would love to give the store that sold me him a piece of my mind at this point, but it prob wouldn't do me any good.

    Thanks to all who replied. You have all been a great help.
    :D I will keep you posted on his condition.
     
  10. JEFFREH

    JEFFREH Administrator

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  11. KLiK

    KLiK Well-Known Member

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    give him some mice and that will help with some of the calcium. the bones in the mice will be enough for the calcium needs of your tegu
     
  12. Sitonatak

    Sitonatak New Member

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    Is it ok to give him pinkie mice at such a young age? He won't choke on them?
     
  13. nomad85

    nomad85 Member

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    how big is the tegu? also if you do give it a pinky make sure it is a week old so that it has had time to form some bones, newborns are not a good source of calcium, at a week old they have much more bone matter and are full of their mothers milk.
     
  14. nomad85

    nomad85 Member

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    388
    you can cut the pinky in half to make it easier to eat, only do this to a f/t pinky.
     
  15. Sitonatak

    Sitonatak New Member

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    He is 6 months, 16 inches long and I think the vet said 170 grams.

    Well, he is eating now. I gave him lots of Calcium and Multivitamin this morning. Now I just have to get him to eat his salad. His twitching is a little bit worse this morning. Wondering if I should call the vet back. I will see how he is after he eats.

    Does anyone know of a good book on MBD or just Tegu's in general. Went to a few bookstores last night looking for something, but I found not one book on either topics.

    Thanks
     
  16. Sitonatak

    Sitonatak New Member

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    Well... he ate a whole pinkie. Even tho it was frozen he went right after it. I was quite surprised. Thanks to all who offered suggestions. The twitching has ceased once again, but I'm sure it's not the end of it. I have decided to give him liquid calcium with D3 because he doesnt want to touch the powder. We'll see how it works. Hopefully I can nip this in the butt before it gets worse. Here is a pic of him basking now after eating that pinkie. Plopped himself right down on top of the log hide.

    [​IMG]

    How often should I give him a pinkie. I know that they are fatty, so they shouldn't be give often. Just wondering how often is healthy for them?

    Thanks again. You have all been so helpful.

    Amy
     
  17. nomad85

    nomad85 Member

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    need some more info, what kind of UVB do you use, and what are the basking/cool temps?
     
  18. nomad85

    nomad85 Member

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    he's cute :D
     
  19. ryzard

    ryzard New Member

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    hope everything's under wraps for you w/ the little guy. I hope it was just a calcium thing. Sorry i couldnt be of more help to u, like i said it only happened to mine once. But he didnt throw up from low temps like lacerta said, if anything his temps get too high, it was because he couldnt personally handle the large crickets, then as soon as I gave him smaller ones he was fine, even though he's right that does happen. What exactly is MBD? hows he doing now?
     
  20. nomad

    nomad Embryo

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    Dont give your tegu mice to often, few lizards actually eat rodents in the wild, tegus especially, theyre scavengers, and as such they eat a lot of things like snails, and bugs and fish and soem carrion and bird eggs and that sort of thing, mice are good maybe once every two weeks, tegus need a lot fo variety in there diet, and as with any large animal, a lot of exercise too, dont worry if your tegu is a little on the skinny side, dont make him a lardass though, thats all bad cuz then u have a lazy unhealthy "SUPER TAME" tegu
     
  21. Sitonatak

    Sitonatak New Member

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    Fecal Examination came back, and he has two parasites: 1. Oxyurid and 2. Giardia.

    My poor little guy. I can't wait til this is all over, and he is healthy. Waiting for the vet to call me with prescriptions.

    UGH! He didnt eat much today. Ate a few meal worms, bananas and kale. Barely touched it. Then burrowed himself back under the ground. :)

    He just doesnt feel well. No sign of spasms today, which I was happy about.
     
  22. ryzard

    ryzard New Member

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    poor guy. well at least you know what it is now.
    Mine won't eat much at all either, he literally eats 2 bite of food and that's it for the day. He doesn't poop very well either, I haven't seen anything black/brown for at least a week. His temps are perfect, basking spot is hot, getting enough water, vet says nothings wrong, i dont know what it could be..
     
  23. Sitonatak

    Sitonatak New Member

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    Have you had a fecal exam done on him?
     
  24. ryzard

    ryzard New Member

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    yep, said there was nothing, that's why I'm stuck and really don't know what to do
     

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