Gold Tegu-Impaction

[Ezekiel]

Hello we have noticed that are tegu's are being lathargic and she is slightly swollen she seem's to excreet liquids, but i have not noticed solids or feaces should i taker her to the vet or is the anything i can try at home that could prevent the vet bill's. Thanks,

[Ezekiel]

She has just been sat in her water bowl for 10 minutes and has not moved hopefully she is trying to have a poo. I'm getting a bit worried now she is not looking good she is swollen at the base of her tail and she isn't walking propaly i know this sounds stupid but do you think a little bit of human laxativ would be ok.?

[Grimlock]

get her to the vets. do not try human laxatives. do not waste any more time asking on the net. get to the vets, she may be impacted.

[Rick]

I agree with Grimlock. If the tegu fits the description that you stated and the soak in warm water didn't help, I would take it in and have the vet do an exam and possible x-ray.

Rick

[Ezekiel]

Ok thank's guy's and especially rick i didn't expect to recieve a message of you as my friend tell's me how busy you are will be going to the vet right away then can't afford to lose her shes's ace :) thanks guy's James Ezekiels friend :)

[Ezekiel]

i took her to the vet today they said shes definatly constipated but without further examination they wouldn't know if shes inpacted. they gave me liquid Paraffin and said im to give her 2mls twice daily for 4 days. If this has not worked by friday she told me to take her back and that they may need to aneysthtise her and remove the problem.

I feel realy bad for her she hardly moves, its so obviouse shes ill.
I think im gonna have to rethink the substrate situation.

cheers again guys.
Ezekiel

[TheNero]

just don't feed her in her sub so she dosn't have to go through the pain again.

[fresh2ugal2000]

wow sorry to hear of her problem ,I dont own a tegu yet but I can imagine her pain! I hope everything works out so they dont have to put her under but what ever is best for her keep us posted okay!

[tupinambis]

Constipation/impaction may or may not be substrate related. A healthy tegu should be able to pass moderate amounts of small particulate substrate without a problem, they typically do so in the wild (when's the last time anyone saw a wild lizard packing around fine china and silverware?). It is more likely reflective of diet or overall health than anything else. Diets high in rodents, low in fibre frequently can cause problems like this as tegus cannot digest fur. Unfortunately, I've seen it lead to very serious matters in tegus. Did the vets not take an x-ray of the animal?

[TheNero]

Does he or she free roam alot, he could of eaten some along the lines of a marbals, and what not. Could also cause this problem. Missing any keys or anything of that nature.

[Ezekiel]

Tupinambis she has the same diet as the rest of my tegus and the rest are fine.
i have watched her eat her substrate, before i can stop her. i guess she just eat a peice that was to big for her unluckly.
she still hasn't crapped although she trys pain fully. im still giving her the liquid parrafin twice daily. i will be taking her to the vets again on friday.
they have not x-rayed her at the vets yet and she does not free roam yet she is quite tame considering she is columbian.

cheers for the post s guys
Ezekiel

[fresh2ugal2000]

keep us posted ive been checking in to find out how it is doing Poor tegu

[tupinambis]

Usually, or so I've heard from vets, reptiles deliberately eating substrate is often a sign of either parasites or a lack of fibre in the diet. As far as "all the others being fine" and them having the same diet, that may be. But your tegus are not identical. My sister has Crohn's and this requires her to modify her diet. My friend is allergic to gluten. If they ate the same as I do, they'd be in the hospital. Just as human beings can have genetic differences that impact their health and the kind of diet they have to practice to live healthy, so too do all animals. Reptiles just haven't been around long enough for vets to become accustomed to all possibilities. It may indeed be that the tegu is constipated or impacted from injesting substrate, but that's not the end of the story. Reptiles DO NOT normally chow down on substrate, what is causing your tegu to do so? If you do not attempt to address that issue with your tegu, chances are she will again have problems in the future.

[CRG]

When my bluey had a partial impaction it took about two weeks to pass.We used mineral oil by mouth and enemas..They did a xray but "of course" couldnt tell anything...She finally passed a stool with several large peices of aspen bedding in it...I hope everything turns out well for you and no surgery is involved...I was really worried about this cause with blueys they have such big scales the vet said it was very hard to get the wounds to close properly after surgery.

[Ezekiel]

I took her in on monday as the vets were closed all weekend and they could not see her friday. They put her to sleep and managed to extract some large pieces of substrate with out opening her up, unfortunatly by the time i got back to the vets her heart had stoped and she had passed away (completly gutted). The vet then slapped my arse with a 75 pound bill for treatment that was unsuccesful.
I believe the reason why she was eating her substrate was because the male had carried his food over the substrate droping bits scenting it of turky mix and she greedly ait it thinking it was.
the male is still on the same sized substrate but i will take more care when feeding him he is ok and still active.

[tupinambis]

Ouch! Sorry to hear that, Ezekiel. I don't know how possible it is for you, but I'd also find a new vet. I've never lost an animal by stopping their heart while under anaesthesia, and I'm doing far more invasive surgeries than just flushing their colon. Either something had to have been seriously wrong with the tegu or they were grossly incompetent. I'm inclined to think the latter.