Tegu not pooped in at least 10 days!

[Richcymru]

Hi

Well the new adult tegu that came to live with mr last week needed feeding up a bit. He's had about 5 meals and has certainly got an appetite. However he hasn't pooed since I've had him (10 days) and I'm getting a little concerned. He's been having daily soaks in the bath and although he's passed some urine he hadn't produced any solids.

Yesterday when I went to pick him up I must have pressed his belly too hard as he 'vomited' up a clear fluid. He hadn't eaten for 2 days before this but he was right next to his water, so he may just have drank something. I'm worried that it's getting a bit full inside him!!

Any advice??

 

[Odonata]

I don't really have any experience with adult tegus, but if you have the time to provide a little more information there are many knowledgeable owners/breeders on this forum that can help. More information about your husbandry will make it much easier to determine the cause of the problem. This list comes from the following thread:

http://www.tegutalk.com/showthread.php?tid=9678#axzz25JQ2k0qU

What kind of tegu do you have?
How old is your tegu?
How large is your tegu?
What is the sex of your tegu?
How long have you had your tegu?
Does your tegu brumate or hibernate?
What size enclosure do you have?
What kind of substrate is used?
What kind of UVB do you use (brand and coil vs bulb vs tube)?
What is the wattage of your bulb?
How old is your bulb?
How far away is the UVB?
Do you use a separate bulb for heat? What is the wattage?
What are the temps (basking and cool side)?
What do you use to measure the temps?
What is your humidity? What do you use to measure it?
What do you feed your tegu?
How often do you feed and what time do you feed (morning, afternoon, night)?
Do you use vitamin or calcium supplements? What brand(s)? How many days a week do you use each of them?
Does your tegu have regular BM's?
Have you gotten a vet check and fecal done?
Does your tegu share and enclosure with another tegu?

Care sheet:

http://www.tegutalk.com/showthread.php?tid=7712#axzz25JRn8YGf

 

[larissalurid]

If he is still eating he should be fine for now. Impacted lizards usually stop eating. They can go for a while without pooing. Just keep an eye on it and if he stops eating or starts acting strangely that's when I'd be concerned.

Feed him a little egg or banana if you think he's blocked up and it should help.

The reason he spit up some clear fluid was because he just drank, it's happened to me before when I picked up a fire skink who just drank and he wasn't the tamest so he got nervous and spit up clear goo since he just drank.

 

[Richcymru]

If he is still eating he should be fine for now. Impacted lizards usually stop eating. They can go for a while without pooing. Just keep an eye on it and if he stops eating or starts acting strangely that's when I'd be concerned.

Feed him a little egg or banana if you think he's blocked up and it should help.

The reason he spit up some clear fluid was because he just drank, it's happened to me before when I picked up a fire skink who just drank and he wasn't the tamest so he got nervous and spit up clear goo since he just drank.

Thanks for the replies. Yes he is still eating and I spent several hours bathing him and gently massaging his stomach. Finally a large, very hard block of urates came out so I'm hoping that we are on the way to sorting it.
I'm guessing that the girl who had him before also kept him in sub optimal conditions as the soaking today allowed me to remove the buildup of 3 layers of skin that should have shed off his tail.
A bit more tlc and Esteban will be a top lizard!

 

[james.w]

What have you fed him?

 

[Richcymru]

What have you fed him?

minced turkey, pork, beef heart, blueberries, grated carrot, banana, egg, asparagus...all sorts

 

[Richcymru]

So after a week of daily baths and massages, pumpkin, baby food and a little castor oil he was still straining to pass faeces. So tonight I gave him a warm water enema and 20 mins later he pooed!!

Turns out 3 ping pong ball sized blocks of uric acid came out followed by a lot of brown!! Very happy!