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Post by mar on Aug 14, 2004 12:37:28 GMT -8
Well as the subject announced Bob re-lost a toenail that looked as if it was growing back.
I had him in my lap when I noticed that there was some goopy stuff on the nail, I went to wipe it off wondering what he got into this time when the nail fell off at my mere touch. There was no pain reaction nor any evident blood. In fact it was very clean and the nail just slid off.
I plan on upping the amount of sunlight he gets -- more time outside. He has not been out too much in the last week and a half as it has either been rainy or rather chilly. I am also going to buy a megaray bulb as soon as a deposit clears the bank (went in Friday).
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Post by prism_wolf on Aug 14, 2004 12:50:39 GMT -8
Wonder if the goopey stuff was a bit of infection? Since this is the second time around and another substance around the nail was found...you might want to think about some oral antibiotic treatments. Baytril is usually the drug of choice. But you said it was very clean...I'm confused... . Strange how a nail would just fall off. Especially regrowth.
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Post by WillemsMom on Aug 14, 2004 12:51:30 GMT -8
Good Luck! Sounds like you're doing all you can. I admire your priorities.
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Post by mar on Aug 14, 2004 13:55:29 GMT -8
Well the goop was congealed blood as best as I can tell. Brown/red and slightly sticky. Unfortunately the nail itself fell into the grass never to be seen again.
I don't think that the nail ever totally fell off rather was just sheered off at the top, this was about 5 years ago. After a whole lot of nothing it appeared to be growing back over the last few months, starting with the introduction of UV, but not in the correct shape. The nail was curling down like a normal claw but not tapering to a point as it should.
I really need to get him to a vet to have a blood panel run. After my mis-care of him early on -- I had an old book -- he grew a bladder Ca stone which was removed but I am sure that his kidneys have taken a huge hit in that time.
Two things: * Can anyone recommend a vet I can get to in the greater St Louis MO area, lets say within a 90 minute drive. * Does anyone know how I can tweak his diet to be easy on his kidneys, or where this info can be found?
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Post by dominick on Aug 14, 2004 14:59:38 GMT -8
Mark- I'm inclined to go along with Veronica here. The fact that the nail just "fell" off indicates necrotic tissue possibly caused by an infection. Thinking that the nail beds are very strong, the nail might have had an infection as far back as the bed. Please, as you know, keep it clean and watch closely for any signs of infection or tissue dying off. Try www.herpvetconnection.com or www.arav.org for qualified Iguana vets. Also, If you keep Bob very well hydrated, kidneys are not an issue. It's dehydration and low-calcium levels that usuallly cause kidney damage. Please let us know what you find out when you get him to a vet. I plan on upping the amount of sunlight he gets -- more time outside. He has not been out too much in the last week and a half as it has either been rainy or rather chilly. Mark, without UVB exposure the calcium stores in the bone matrix are depleting in order to keep the blood calcium serum levels up in the iguana's system. The kidneys are working overtime during this process. Get him some good UVB quickly please! It's taxing his system. In fact when faced with "chilly" or no UVB, he'll not suffer nearly as much with "chilly" as he will with no UVB. We take Rex outside right up until the daytime temps drop below 60F. He's only out there for a 1/2 hour or so and the UVB benefit far outweighs his "cooling" down and slow digestion. Remember, cooling down only inhibits the digestive process temporarily. As long as it is followed by a good warming up period (to activate the microbes necessary for digestion), he'll be fine. Good luck with him. I know he is in excellent hands!
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Post by mar on Aug 14, 2004 18:39:06 GMT -8
Not too much outside time means about 45 minutes to an hour a day rather than three or four hours and chilly is still a safe 70+ -- should have been more clear on that.
I soak his food in a lot of water before offering it to him. There usually ends up being a quarter of an inch of water in the bottom of the salad tray. I wash it in a bowl of water and don't bother spinning or shaking the water off it. There are a lot of water droplets on the greens that he eats.
I am calling a few vets Monday -- any questions you guys recomend to help screen out ones that will just waste my time and money with lack of herp background.
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Post by IguanaKing on Aug 14, 2004 19:18:30 GMT -8
Related to your current problem...you might ask the vet what else is capable of growing back (I know you already know, just try to play dumb). Ask, if he ever loses any of his teeth, will they grow back too? How about the tail? Will all of his tail grow back? How much of his tail can he lose before it won't grow back? What temperature do you recommend for me to keep him at? Things like that. With my vet, it was easy, I brought Hercules in because he was suffering from a stomach irritation caused by feeding him carrots with his food (I don't do that anymore now ). It became obvious that they knew igs very well because they immediately handed me a booklet on proper iguana care. The vet asked me questions which I purposely answered incorrectly, he corrected me on them, so I knew he was a good ig vet.
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Post by mar on Aug 15, 2004 10:23:08 GMT -8
I am more trying to find a track to weed out vets that don't know enough or are not current on igs before I even have the doc visit.
My budget is not such that I can afford to pay for a doc visitation only to find that he can't help Bob.
This kind of came out of the blue. Bob has spent a lot of time outside this summer, has had a good diet, very active, and has not shown much of a change in temperment. He is on the second shed of the summer and I had no real reason to suspect anything was wrong with him I still have a hard time believing it.
Mark
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Post by IguanaKing on Aug 15, 2004 16:36:23 GMT -8
Many times you can ask for a consultation over the phone before any money changes hands and before Bob has to be subjected to inadequate knowledge. This is what I did last time I took Audrey to the vet...same vet clinic...I just wanted to make sure their iguana-handling capabilities were still up-to-date. ;D
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Post by mar on Aug 22, 2004 6:55:47 GMT -8
Bob has a vet visit coming up tomorrow at 17:30.
Check this out, I found a vet on one of the lists that I thought was near my house -- in the same small city at least. Called him and had a phone consultation to find out that reptiles, igs specifically, are his strong area. After speaking to him for about five minutes I arranged an appointment with the secratary and asked her where they are, here's where it gets better, they are within walking distance of my condo.
More after the visit
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Post by Merlin on Aug 22, 2004 14:51:01 GMT -8
Talk about luck! Hopefully the lucky streak will continue and Bob will be back to normal soon!
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Post by Tesa on Aug 23, 2004 3:42:54 GMT -8
Very cool that you found one so near!! Will be waiting to hear back from you......
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Post by prism_wolf on Aug 28, 2004 6:04:45 GMT -8
SO? How did the vet visit go Mark?
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