# baby tegu ate an earplug!



## Cali 202 (Dec 8, 2009)

I am really worried about my little guy. My baby blue tegu I got from Dave almost 4 weeks ago has been doing awesome and had seemed to have taken a liking to me, so I tegu proofed my room and have been letting him free roam for the past week or so. I am always VERY careful to make sure i pick every little thing he might try to eat up off the floor. I had a pair of those cheap little foam earplugs sitting on top of my dresser, and they must have gotten bumped off. I literally left the room for a couple seconds and came back to find him with one of the earplugs in his mouth, I ran over to him and got it out of his mouth, but could not find the other one ANYWHERE. He had to have eaten it. So for the past 4 days I have been reading other threads on impaction, trying to get ideas on how to help the little guy. I have been bathing him in warm water every day, lightly rubbing his belly, Feeding him softer foods like his ground turkey and scrambled eggs, with a little extra cod liver oil. His appetite has been pretty much the same, just eating a little less, still pooping but not nearly as much as he was before, and just as active, untill today. He wouldnt eat at all today and seems to be pretty lethargic. When I walk in the room, he usually comes to the glass to get out, but hasnt done that at all today. I love the little guy so much and am really worried about him. If he wasnt so small I would think he could pass it easily but he is only about 2 monthes! I am making him an appt. to get x rays tomorrow. Are there any other things I could do to try and help him?


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## dragonqueen4 (Dec 8, 2009)

yep... I can almost guarantee you he will need surgery to get it removed, if not it will kill him fairly quickly. 
What kind of material was the ear plug made of? If its made of something thats not digestible, which it more than likely is.. then he will need surgery to get it out.. if it wont break down in his stomach, and its too big to pass.. the only other option is surgery. At least take him for an xray and talk to the vet about it.If the vet says he needs surgery and you cant afford it, at least have him euthanized.
my tegu ate a rock when he was little and i paid 400$ to get it removed.. he was a very sick tegu besides the rock, he had MBD and had to be euthanized about 2 months after the surgery.
Keep us posted


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## txrepgirl (Dec 8, 2009)

I believe he will be fine. Thank God it's something soft. You are doing the right thing with giving him baths and giving him some god liver oil. One of my Tegus ( my female ) ate a plastic cap off a door stopper ( the metal spring behind the door ). It took her a month to poop it out. I took her to the vet a few times and got some x- rays done to see if where it's located and than a week later a nother one to see if it moved. Keep doing what you are doing. If he stops eating you can get some gerber baby food and force feed him with a syringe ( without the needle ). Please keep a eye on his vent to make sure he doesn't start to get a prolapse ( it will look very swollen and pink. Like the inside is out ). Make sure that he will drink a lot so he will not get dehydrated. Since you don't feed him any solid food right now ( like rodents ) he will have the runds and he can get dehydrated from that. If you want to you can give him just a little bit of some gatoraid. I recommend the ones with the light color and not the dark blue, orange or red. I have noticed they have to much acid in it. What are the temps in the enclosure ? here are some videos from when my female was impacted. Good luck with every thing and please keep us posted. Thank you. 

Your Tegu might start to look bloated if he is impacted and will have a hard time pooping. 

<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.youtube.com/user/txrepgirl#p/u/15/kBEoZOxVxQI" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.youtube.com/user/txrepgirl#p ... BEoZOxVxQI</a><!-- m -->

I know it will be a bit harder to force feed your Tegu since it's still so small but I hope this video still will help. 


<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.youtube.com/user/txrepgirl#p/u/17/KpovPdBYU3c" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.youtube.com/user/txrepgirl#p ... povPdBYU3c</a><!-- m -->

Also Lionidas was impacted when he was a baby. He ate two pieces of the reptic bark. He pooped it out a week later. and that was two years ago.


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## DaveDragon (Dec 9, 2009)

He'll be 8 weeks old on Sunday. 

Get an x-ray is the best idea so the vet can get an idea of how far it's gone down into him. There's no way he could pass that. If he starts to throw up his food you'll know he's impacted. Been there, done that with our adults last year. Nearly lost both of them.

Good luck and let us know how the appt goes today!


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## mr.tegu (Dec 9, 2009)

ah man this is a bummer.. how big is he/she now? i will say that tegus can pass fairly large objects but with some help. it may get stuck in the anus and you may need to gently pull it out with tweezers. if it were me i would leave it alone for a while and feed soft foods and wait to see. i think it will be fine to.


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## DaveDragon (Dec 9, 2009)

The Tegu is only 8 weeks old, and maybe an inch wide. I don't think a 3/8" diameter foam ear plug will get past the stomach. Unless maybe the acid breaks it down. Hopefully we'll hear something today.


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## Kingwolf26 (Dec 9, 2009)

When my tegu ate my tissue I gave her veggies and it came out the next day. Just a suggestion!


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## Cali 202 (Dec 9, 2009)

I wasnt able to call today, been super busy with finals, but I should be able to get him a same day appt. tomorrow. I let him out when I got home and he seemed fine, running around my room and trying to fight himself in the mirror lol. He pooped today but only ate one bite of food. If anything he looks skinnier, not bloated at all. He is a little over 16" as of today, and I think that if the earplug could make it through his intestines he could poop it out fine, Ive seen some of his turds larger in diameter than the earplug. But I honestly cant see it getting past the stomach and making through the wall of the small intestine  . So we'll just have to see how it goes. Thanks for the replies guys, I'll keep you updated.


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## DaveDragon (Dec 14, 2009)

Any update????


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## txrepgirl (Dec 18, 2009)

How did the poop look like ? was it solid or was it runny ? did you take him to the vet yet ? good luck with your Tegu and the finals  . Please keep us posted. Thank you.


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## Cali 202 (Dec 26, 2009)

Sorry I havent been on in a while to update you guys, my computer has been screwed up. Well it took about 3 weeks but my baby finally passed it yesterday =] I was about to give up hope because he hadnt eaten in 3 days and was looking pretty bad. Then yesterday he was scratching at the glass rigorously so I let him out, he ran straight to my shoes and pooped out a bright orange earplug! I was so happy I didnt know what to do, I thought for sure I was going to have to have him put down. Today he ate a little bit of eggs and turkey, not much but better than nothing and I kinda figure it will take a few days for his killer appetite to come back. Now I just gotta get him plumped up again. Thanks guys for your help!


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## txrepgirl (Dec 26, 2009)

Your welcome. Awww that is some great news. I knew he would be fine. I'm very happy to hear that he is doing well now. I think he was just waiting so long to poop it out because he wanted to make your Christmas more special lol. If you get a chance could you please post some new pictures of him ? thank you.


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## Cali 202 (Dec 26, 2009)

Haha it definatly made my Christmas much better thats for sure! I will get some pics up soon, if I can get the stupid zoom on my camera figured out lol. If not i'll just post pics from my phone.


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## DaveDragon (Dec 26, 2009)

That's great news!!!! He's one very lucky Tegu!!!


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## Dustin Gleason (Nov 6, 2018)

Mine just ate a earplug......i hope it ends up a good story like yours did because the vet wants $1000 to remove it.


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## RomanPort (Mar 14, 2019)

Sorry to hear that. Any updates? Did you follow the advise here?


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## Walter1 (Mar 14, 2019)

RomanPort said:


> Sorry to hear that. Any updates? Did you follow the advise here?


A bit late but still no less worth asking.


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