# constipation pinworms



## cholula (Oct 30, 2011)

my 8 month red tegu was having lose stool so i brought her to the vet, but we didint get a look at the stool until i was already out of town so i jsut started panacur 25mg/kg treatment 2 days ago. but for the past 6 plus days she hasnt passed any stool, she has continued to pass urates, wet ones. i had been force feeding her 3 cc's of stage 3 turkey vegetable baby food, bananna stage 1 baby food, water and cod liver oil mixed together for the past 2 weeks to prevent her from losing more weight. i have been soaking her daily and am using shirts/sheets on top of newspaper as substrate as the cypress mulch was obviously contaminated. the basking spot is 94 degrees, the cool end is 78. the humidity has been low, 40-50% so i keep misting/dampening the sheets. any suggestions? are their any laxatives that could help?


----------



## Rhetoric (Oct 30, 2011)

Does your vet know that you have started panacur and that you are force feeding? Did the vet confirm that your tegu has pinworms or are you guessing thats what the issue is? 6 days seems to be a decent amount of time without a BM but it doesn't sound like your tegu is eating much to begin with. When it does pass urates does it look like it is straining? You should up the basking temp, the recommended temp is 105-110*F. If the temps are too low the tegu might not be able to process/digest the food you are giving it. What are you using to measure the temps? Is it a stick on thermometer, a digital probe, a temp. gun? 
Do you have any pictures of your tegu and/or your set up?
I have not heard of people using newspaper for a tegu, however if you are trying to keep an eye on BM's it might not be a bad thing. My main concern with newspaper is the humidity. What do you mean when you say the mulch was contaminated? Was it the worms?
I would not suggest giving your tegu anything else without consulting the vet. You may want to talk to your vet about doing an x-ray to see if there is an impaction. 
Are you force feeding because your tegu will not eat on its own period or because it will not eat the baby food on its own? Are you supplementing the food that you are feeding it?


----------



## Bubblz Calhoun (Oct 30, 2011)

_Just to add to what Rhetoricx said and you respond,.. stop feeding bananas. _


----------



## cholula (Oct 30, 2011)

the vet did recomend the force feeding no more than 3 cc's p/day since she was not eating on her own, i have been putting small amounts of calcium powder in the mix as well. every day i offer her dusted ground 3;1 turkey/beef liver with cod liver oil mixed and occasionaly hardboiled eggs. i have tried offering melon more lately, as in the past it has made her pass loose stool and she always liked it. she hasnt touched the food at all pretty much, i even try leaving it in her cage after she doesnt eat it in her feeding tank. i did a fecal smear of her feces a week ago and we confirmed they were pinworm eggs. the week prior we had been treating her with flagyl as we had guessed it was a flagylate in the absence of a fecal sample to analyze so that i had something to treat her with back here at school. i am using an indoor outdoor digital thermometer, i put the little outdoor probe on the hot spot and the hanging indoor part in the cool end. she is in a 40 breeder with and an undertank heat pad and a 2 month old 10.0 uv florescent bulb, the long kind not the coil. i previously had an issue with eco earth as it got in her eye and irritated them, so i got cypress mulch from lowes, and didint bake it in the oven as i have since learned is a good means of killing parasites. i havent watched her pass a urate, there is always alot of extra water in them and they are not hard wh

when they come out* 
today i tried gently massaging her abdomen after soaking her as i read about on other threads. my problem is that i am no longer home in nyc where i have a trusted exotic vet, i am at school near utica, so a coupld hours from the closest herp vet... i have read about using cat hairball medicine or cod liver oil to help get things going for her but dont wanna jump the gun.


----------



## Bubblz Calhoun (Oct 30, 2011)

_If she's not eating I wouldn't force feed her anything unless it helps soften her stool which canned (plain) or raw pumpkin will help with that. If they're healthy and have enough fat reserves they can go months with out food. Does her tummy look full even though she's not eating much? If she's constipated or impacted and you keep force feeding then your only adding to the issues on top of the worms since she's not passing anything,.. there's a reason why she's not eating.

Does she have a basking platform that you can raise so she's closer to the light and higher temps for digestion? Also try letting her swim for a bit to help move things along._


----------



## cholula (Oct 31, 2011)

she was really down to little body fat when i started force feeding her, shes still scrawny. when i palpate her stomach/lower abdomen it feels like its more full than it should be considering how little shes been eating. her basking ramp goes within 4-6 inches of the heat source. i have been soaking her for 15 mins then massaging her stomach daily.


----------



## Hokurai (Nov 1, 2011)

Try offering softboiled eggs. Possiby with the whites still slightly runny. My tegu seems to find them even more appetizing than hard boiled.


----------



## Bubblz Calhoun (Nov 1, 2011)

_How is she doing and were you able to get the temps up? Somethings not right and may need to be replaced. If her basking platform goes with in 4-6" from the light and her temp is only 98*. You may need a higher wattage light or a new probe and way to measure temps._


----------



## cholula (Nov 1, 2011)

i took her to the vet yesterday and they said she didint seem too bloated/constipated. they gave her subdermal lactated ringers solution and an enema just for thuroughness, but all that came out was a urate. today when i was soaking her she finally passed a very cod liver oil smelling turd. i checked the temps again and the basking spot was actually getting up to 102 after i added a second heat source. she still isnt feeding on her own but yesterday i saw her out basking for the first time in a month almost so im hopeful yet


----------



## Bubblz Calhoun (Nov 1, 2011)

_ Sounds like she's made some progress and is on her way. Did you keep the poop for another fecal to check progress? Since it's been in there for a while you might have gotten better results._


----------

