# Tegu impaction/constipation



## Debita (May 29, 2019)

Hey - I just wanted to report an event we had with our 2 yr old male (Skully) this past weekend. He's O.K.....thank God! I noticed late last week that he hadn't gone to the bathroom. I didn't panic until - by Sunday - he really didn't look good. Eyes were dull, activity was zilch, and he was starting to look bloated. I regularly give him baths, and he was just starting to show signs of being potty trained when he stopped going all together. After looking up everything I could find, I started getting him into the tub with warm water every day and kept him there for more than an hour sometimes. Mostly, he was just sleeping. I did continue to feed him ground turkey with organic canned pumpkin. And as @Walter1 advises, I bumped up the fish oil (I had only recently started to supplement with that). He ate a little - (maybe gagged on the canned pumpkin in his favorite turkey - LOL). 

I was really scared. I thought I was losing him. While in the tub, I started massaging his tummy, pushing inward on both sides, and much higher between his ribs. He was looking at me with the strangest look on his face. And, (no, I'm not weird) I also pressed over the vent area, trying to stimulate his natural urge to go. I wasn't doing that long before he tried to push an elimination. I was so excited - I know - only lizard people will understand this....he knew what I was trying to do! Either that, or the massage was moving things and he thought it was time. That said, nothing happened. He strained and strained with his whole body. Zero elimination. 

The next day - I repeated the same, and he started straining to eliminate again. All that came out was a part of his regular looking poop - the yellowish whitish blob (plug?) While I was happy to see it, I knew it wasn't enough, Now, it's Tuesday (yesterday) and I'm thinking I have to find a Herp Vet - which is going to be one long drive and $$$. I put him back into the tub later in the day, and started the massage again. He strained and strained, twisting and wrenching, and a smaller piece of the blob came out. I let him fall asleep in the water for at least 2 hours. I run a very warm drizzle into the tub, and keep checking the water level, so as not to make him work to stay above water line. Boy is he a fighter. This is the same animal that wanted nothing to do with me for 8 months (easy). 

This morning - I checked him, and hoping I wasn't an idiot about to find a dead Tegu, found a very big, stinky poop. No joke - I was jumping up and down. His eyes are bright again (yes, that fast) and his tummy is overall smaller, and soft again. I'm planning on staying with the softer food for now - one source advised - no whole prey for a short time. Today he's pretty tired, and stays close to the basking light. One last thing, I was worried about him becoming dehydrated, so I kept dripping water onto his nose and mouth while he was in the tub. I know he licked a little, but wow....he wasn't having almost anything toward the end. This was a scary experience, and came on fairly quickly without warning. 

One last thing - I don't have any plastic, or fake objects in his home. I read that most of the impactions in Tegus are caused by foreign objects that are decorative. My gut says, in my situation,....too many whole prey. I was giving him a mouse every 2 days, and had even given him 2 the same day on occasion. Also, his substrate is barky, no sand, and nothing that an adult or baby should have a problem with.

I just wanted to pass this on, in case anyone else runs into a similar problem. *Phew!!
Would love to hear what everyone thinks.......


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## Walter1 (May 29, 2019)

Excellent response and excellent timing. You saved his life no doubt. 
Now to avoid that problem.

I like a variety that is whole prey heavy. 

Mine are about four years old excepth for Jingles whose near two. I'm in no hurry to feed them. They eat well, ppo, and it might be a few days beyond that when fed again and not always to their fill. Gives their plumbing a rest as long as they remain in good form. Maybe that might be helpful. Sometimes wait an extra day and sometimes feed 1/2 the portion of varied diet?


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## Debita (May 29, 2019)

Ahhh, Walter - I was hoping you'd respond! Thanks.....you got me a little teary. I have come to love this little monster that gave me extra grey hairs. His character and demeanor has changed so much to be more trusting of me in the last 2 months. I go in and out of the tank with no apprehension. He as much as looks forward to my presence now, wondering what we're doing today. No aggression, no fear, no huffing or puffing.... so to have this happen now seemed like the planets had aligned against us.

So, you're not worried about the whole prey, or would you also think that 2 in same day are too much? Your practice of the 1/2 portion sounds good to me - Otherwise I've been doing the days exactly as you mentioned. I try to let them show me when they're hungry. Right now, the baby (Captain) is still getting fed every day, but even she seems to be able to go every other day. Skully likes to steal her food, so I try to mitigate that.

Also - not sure what ppo means?


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## RomanPort (May 29, 2019)

I'm glad he's okay. That is one of my biggest fears. Without a doubt, you saved this little one's life. Thank you for posting this, I'll definitely be looking back here if something like this ever comes up for me. Is everything good with him?

Also, I'd imagine that "ppo" is probably just a typo of "poo".


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## Walter1 (May 29, 2019)

RomanPort said:


> I'm glad he's okay. That is one of my biggest fears. Without a doubt, you saved this little one's life. Thank you for posting this, I'll definitely be looking back here if something like this ever comes up for me. Is everything good with him?
> 
> Also, I'd imagine that "ppo" is probably just a typo of "poo".


Give that man a prize!!! Poop it was!

Regarding rodents, I prefer medium sized. They handle several small prey much better and get more from it than a single large prey item.

These FL WC are bone tough. Just remember fish oil, calcium, and small items in variable amounts. That's why I include chicken gizzards and hearts, cut up liver, and high quality wet dog food. Small things they can fill up on or partially fill.

I wonder if Skully ate alot before pooping and hadn't drunk much.


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## Debita (May 29, 2019)

Thanks RomanPort - He's good - definitely feistier today. His tongue is also back to the normal pink color (yesterday it looked grayish-pink). I just caught him trying to eliminate and only a small amount came out, but I think that could be because he hasn't eaten a lot. I hope I don't end up with a prolapse issue with him. I still see him wrenching sideways, and back and forth, as if he's not done with the impaction maybe.


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## Debita (May 29, 2019)

Hey Walter1 - are you up on the calcium amounts? I can look them up - just wondered about your thoughts on whether you can give too much. Also - I like your idea about the several smaller size prey vs. one lg size. I assume we're talking about medium size mice instead of mature-full grown right?


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## Debita (May 29, 2019)

Appreciate all your help - thanks so much.


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## Walter1 (May 29, 2019)

You're welcome, of course. I aim for for medium for size and age because they have fully calcified bones. Large and extra large, esp. if females, are drained of sufficient calcium. 

Good question about too much. Hard to if growing or if breeding female. Otherwise, I heavily dust in the plTe. IPJM is a member who knows the figures well.


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## Debita (May 29, 2019)

Makes sense about the mice - med sized. I assume I haven't overdosed the calcium if you say you "heavily" dust. I've just cut my dose back a little - seems hard to find a good definition of exact amounts for specific aged animals. I'll ask the IPJM guy...thanks!! You guys are great.


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## Debita (May 30, 2019)

Skully drank a lot of water just now in the tub (I'm thinking your idea about the drinking could be correct Walter1) - he tried to go, but I don't think he's eaten much and he keeps straining. Making me a little nervous. Only the yellow/white and very stringy. He seems better though - so glad he's drinking now. He did eat that egg I gave him yesterday (no shells)!!


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## Zyn (May 31, 2019)

It all comes down to hydration. When you’re dehydrated what happens ? Rabbit pellets or constipation lol when a cats dehydrated they have hair balls a properly hydrated cat will always poop the hair out. Most people don’t know they get 99% of their hydration from wet food. Kibble is the death of cats lol. 

I make sure my rodents are pretty much dripping wet after being thawed out so they are getting water in that way also. I raise my own as well, they are also plump water filled little guys a lot of frozen thawed rodents won’t have a very high moisture count. So thaw them in warm water and feed them dripping wet problem solved. 

Also deb the white/yellow blob is a mixtures of calcium and uriate


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## Debita (Jun 1, 2019)

So much has happened since the last post about Skully. Thanks Zyn for more info about the water. I can see that Skully isn't drinking like he should, but I don't know exactly why. I thought when Skully eliminated on Tuesday night this week that he was on the road to recovery. But by Friday, I was completely panicked again, as he hadn't been eating, and hadn't eliminated again. I'm not sure what happened on Tuesday night, but it must have been only a partial elimination. So so so...... I went into research mode, watched a few videos, and after giving him an internal exam, I realized I couldn't unblock his problem with my hand. I did feel something like stones - or at the time I thought maybe a calcification so I went with enemas. I didn't have any mineral oil, so I just used warm water. 

What an incredible animal I have. How could he be so tolerant? Miracle. I'm posting a pic of what the urate blockage looks like, in a nutshell, it's the white/yellow mixture that's hardened like a rock. You can even see the rings that have formed on it as it was being worked in the intestine. The enemas worked, as least for now - there was A LOT of stony material in clear water that kept being expelled into the tub. Once the enema water (I used a $13 human enema kit from the drug store, not a syringe) went in, Skully started pushing. He pushed so many times, but toward the end, it appeared that the small stones were gone, and just a brownish (I assumed poop) liquid was now coming out. No escaping that smell. Geez. 

Today, he's hiding under my shirt. @Walter 1 suggested the water wasn't being consumed enough. I think that's spot on. I think he's slowed down his water consumption - maybe because I gave him too big a container? I don't know. For a long time, he was getting in and soaking, then I got the new baby and I rarely see him go in. As I was adding water to the container yesterday, he literally came toward the flow of water and drank right out of the bottle while I held it. He did the same thing again within an hour. Reading up on all of that - I understand that the yellow/white blob is his urine, when it's soft and mushy. If it's stone hard, and blocking the cloaca, he's not getting water. What would I do without this forum??? Thanks for all your help.


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## Debita (Jun 1, 2019)

One last thing - I also think that I'll be exercising him more now, which the veterinarian mentioned is also very important. 

Good thing he's become so completely agreeable.


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## Debita (Jun 3, 2019)

Just a quick update for anyone interested........ We are doing well!!!! He's eating again, and eliminating, and I've stopped probing the poor animal. All of it was very worth the trouble, but I would caution others that I used a great deal of care and patience. Skully did one of the most fantastic 360 degree crocodile death rolls the last time I attempted to do the exam (I'm sure he knew what was coming) - he finally let me check him, and I couldn't feel any more urate stones. *Phew!... Gigantic elimination today - the size of what I expect from him. He looks at me right now with a "No way Jose" look on his face. Def getting his attitude back.

So glad I didn't lose him. Thanks again to you guys - can't say it enough.


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## Walter1 (Jun 3, 2019)

I raise my glass. Tough work and you did save him. 

I admire his post-poop pissed off 'tude for the moment.


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## Debita (Jun 3, 2019)

LOL! Thanks for the cheers - it's been a long week! So good to have you guys to run this by. I got a water pump (they're very cheap) to just move the water around in his water tank hoping that he'll hear it and be more stimulated to drink. I've had a lot of animals in my life, and have not been afraid to roll up the sleeves. Also glad you told me they're "bone tough" - because not all animals are tough when it comes to pain. They'd rather give up. 

Anyway - I think we're there.


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