Norman went to the vet this morning. It was a visit for firsts! First vet visit with a tegu, first vet visit wrestling a large lizard into and out of a box, first vet visit leaving with my clothes & the exam room splattered with blood. Yeah, it was that kind of visit.
But before that, let me introduce you to Norman. He's a 3 year old Golden tegu who is actually quite nice-- if you aren't touching his feet or tail.
While we waited, I snuggled him and kept him calm. Sweet baby. I know he's in a lot of pain because of his feet & tail so I was patient with his struggling. Plus, he lived his whole life with one person and now he's with me in a new place, a new tank, and a new area. Super stressed.
Norman's owner got busy and overlooked his shedding. The old skin stayed stuck on his toes and started to cut off the blood supply. The result is nails and toes that are in various stages of dying, dead, and falling off.
Here's his right foot:
Here's his left foot.
The tips of some of his toes will have to come off, but he shouldn't lose too many of those.
His tail had a major cut in it and is almost completely detached. While we were examining him, he snapped his tail and broke open the scabs. The tail started bleeding as he snapped it back & forth like a whip, leaving me and the room splattered with blood. Then he peed all over me and my shoes and the floor. Not my best vet visit.
I opted to leave Norman at the vet to have them sedate him and work on each of his toes. They will pull off old shed and then snip off the toes/nails/tips that are dead or dying. I had the option of trying to soak him myself and removing built up skin, but I didn't want to do that. It would make me the bad guy for him and it would take forever and be the most painful. This way, it will all be over quickly and with the least amount of pain.
I don't even want to think about the vet bill at this point. I'm guessing I may do a mini fundraiser for Norman to help pay off the bill and help me get him an appropriate set up when he's ready to leave his sick tank. More details on that to come.
