# tegu having trouble going to the bathroom



## Venom6547 (May 13, 2012)

i noticed that it seems like my tegu is impacted he can poop out the white stuff but nothing solid has come out of him that ive seen and i took him outside today and saw him try to poop and something pink came out but not a prolapse because ive seen it before.. I got another question. could my larger male like mount my smaller male to assert his dominance ive seen him laying on him like how they breed and i always move him when theyre like that but i was just wondering if that could be a possibility, also its hard to keep the humidity up in their cage which is an 8x4x4 i cant seem to find any humidifiers around to turn into a mister... any ideas besides spraying because that doesnt do much


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## Venom6547 (May 14, 2012)

And i woke upi this morning to see he has a prolapse again... i dont know what i can do i have to leave for school and i have nowhere to keep him to keep it clean :/


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## laurarfl (May 14, 2012)

1) If it isn't a prolapse, then it is a hemipenes. Are you sure about which one you are seeing?

2) Let's deal with the BM first, then the behavior. 

Diet: Try some ground turkey with a 1/4 teaspoon of plain metamucil or some pumpkin if he will eat it. Don't feed rodents or chicks right now because the hair and feathers are too bulky. But the plant fiber is soluble and insoluble which will hold in moisture and help moves things along. Something juicy is good, too, to add moisture. Will he eat mango or melon or grapes? (add calcium btw)

Humidity: You want the humidity up 60-70% even 80 if you can get it. How is the ventilation is the cage? Is there too much airflow? I don't know about humidifiers because I live in a high humidity area.

Temp: Keep the overall temp up to 115 on basking, 90 on warm side, nothing below 75 on cool side. Right now you can up to 80 on cool side, too.

Right now, daily warm water soaks (90 degree water) may help move things along. The body warms up, the swimming motion and the water seems to make them want to poo. You can try mineral oil on the food for added lubrication. Olive oil and food oils won't work as well because they are absorbed by the body. But mineral oil squirted down the throat and accidentally breathed in can cause a nasty pneumonia, so be careful doing that. But if you can get a good tablespoon or two of mineral oil in there...awesome.

Keeping it clean and moist is important because dried out and infected tissue will die. You can keep him in a Rubbermaid container with a basking light. Cover the exposed tissue with KY Jelly.

*fine print disclaimer: I'm not a vet. Always seek medical attention from your vet if your tegu does not improve or seems to have a serious issue.

Let us know how he's doing


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## Apophis (May 14, 2012)

The above sounds like good advice but IMO I would be careful about Mineral Oil, it is nasty stuff that comes from petroleum http://www.herballuxuries.com/about-mineral-oil.html . Also, how long has it been since your Tegu has had a full BM?


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## Venom6547 (May 14, 2012)

Well, i never feed rodents, only to my larger tegu, and i managed to get it to go back in when i got home by putting him in the back and i lifted his tail and pulled some poop out that was hanging and it went back inside.. i only feed turkey gizzards so i dont understand why this is happening, heat and humidity are fine, just the dirt in the cage doesnt stay damp its dry and dusty. i plan on converting my old baby chicken coop into their outdoor pen since its got screen on the side for sunlight and i didnt know what i was going to use for substrate yet but i went off topic sorry. im just going to keep a close eye out on him and make sure everything okay, i mean he has to be pooping eventually because how else can he keep eating if it wont go anywhere.


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## Bubblz Calhoun (May 14, 2012)

_His diet and husbandry may be the issue, does his abdomen look distended or bloated at all? If not then it's coming out at some point and he may be burying it while digging around. Just because you don't feed rodents doesn't mean that he can't get impacted. A number of different things can cause it like lack of fiber and dehydration to name a couple._


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## laurarfl (May 14, 2012)

Mineral Oil is the oil of choice by vets for impaction because it is petroleum based and not absorbed by the body (same as Vaseline) like plant and animal based oils are. Yep it can be nasty, but it is just temporary and should be added to food rather than syringe.


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## Venom6547 (May 17, 2012)

Everything seems to have gone back to normal now.. it just seems to be a once in a while type thing, i know its common in tegus for a prolapse he pooped a lot today so hes all better.


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## Apophis (May 18, 2012)

If you only feed turkey gizzards I would try and get some more variety in there, at least mix some dark greens (kale, collards, chard) in there for fiber if it's a recurring issue. Glad he's doing better!


I could understand using it for an emergency, I just think people should be careful about petroleum based products. Personally I avoid putting those things in or on my body or my animals.


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## got10 (May 18, 2012)

Bananas . Bananas make them use the bathroom if you are feeding whole food items . put a fish oil pill or two in the mouth of whatever you are feeding and let the Gu go for it. That way the oil is introduced with the feeding and you knock off two birds with one stone


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## Venom6547 (May 18, 2012)

well it happened again and this time its much worse... his entire intestine came out because something he aint was never digested and is impacting him and pee is coming from around it. i just dont know what to do a few people have told me that theres no saving him so i have euthanize him and its not my first choice but i dont know i feel like that would be the best option even though im devastated even thinking about it i love him so much but i dont have hundreds of dollars to put him in surgery that might end up killing him anyways.. i just want him to stop being in pain and i dont want him to go through any more of it if he is its selfish of me.. i just want to know if euthanizing him is the best choice. =/


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## got10 (May 19, 2012)

Try a fleet childs enema.the size for infants, At worse it will clean out the bottom portion of his tract ,at best it will clean him out and get rid of the impaction. I wish you the best. I just hope the animal gets better and doesn't have to be put down . Are you sure its not hemipenes sticking out . Do you have a picture . And have you taken him/her to vet yet? And if you did what was they're prognosis on it
Good luck


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## Renske (May 19, 2012)

I had this ones with my female tegu. When I just got here. You have te give him a lot of olive oil. I gave her 2 times a day 2 injections filled with olive oil in here mouth. And put her 1 time a day in a warm bath. It took 1 month for here to poo after starting treedment. In her poo were whole pieces of wood...
I discovered that it was becouse of here eating the bark in the enclosure. When I had the bark replaced by Earth + sand mixture she never got poo problems anymore.
I don't think you sould euthanize him. Tegu's are strong animals. He can survive it.


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