Constipated tegu - are there OTC treatments?

[SeanM]

Hello,

I'll start this off by saying I already called the vet, and they said to just keep soaking her in warm water daily until her appointment on the 8th. It was the first available. I did get on a cancelation list, and if her condition worsens I'll take her to MedVet. She is still passing urate.

Symptoms:
- She's kind of a sluggish but did eat a few pieces of fruit on Saturday (I didn't offer much).
- It's probably been 10+ days since I noted she defecated and she looks pretty bloated.

Question(s):
1. Are there any OTC stool softeners that tegus can take? Or food I should offer? I read on here that someone got lactulose, but that's more of a laxative and prescription only (I think).
2. A couple sites suggested rubbing their belly toward their vent but I wasn't sure about that.

She's always been a bit irregular in her defecation cycle. I'm not exactly sure why, but it could be lack of exercise, or perhaps something I'm doing and haven't identified. She doesn't really want to come out of her cage often and I try to not drag her out of her house. Over the past 3-4 days I have been dragging her out of her house and soaking her for ~20-30 minutes in a large tub. I don't think she ingested a bunch of cypress mulch, but whenever I feed her chickens she sometimes doesn't eat them right and they wind up on the ground.

Some general stuff pertinent to this:
- I've owned her about 3 years
- Eats whole hairless mice, small chickens, reptilinks blend with egg
- Fruit offered with fish oil, calcium powder at least once a week. Vitamin supplement given once a week
- I haven't identified veggies she will eat regularly, unfortunately
- Both UVB 10.0 bulbs are about 3 months old
- Has clean water (~12x30 "tub" and also a large bowl)
- Last treated for worms and to the vet in April/May. She was a wild caught Florida tegu
- Cage is 3ft d x 7ft w x 2ft h
- Hot spot was actually too hot when I checked it (~120f), but I got it down to 115f. Bulbs are hard to control


Thanks again...

 

[AnimalNerd]

My boy got a little constipated after eating mostly reptilinks and too many at once(I think they can have a hard time with digesting that casing). He was still pooping but they were tiny and hard and he was really straining. I gave him a mixture of organic pumpkin puree, blueberries, and ground turkey with extra fish oil and added mineral oil and that seemed to do the trick. Food grade mineral oil is the most recommended laxative I've seen, it's been recommended by many to do daily soaks and gentle tummy massages too. Ease off on whole prey and calcium supplements and give only soft food if she is still eating. I hope you can maintain her condition until the vet visit, good luck!

 

[SeanM]

Thanks, I hadn't thought of the casing but that could be an issue. After she had a prolapse I may have gone to the far extreme of all whole prey (reptilinks are sort of whole food), but perhaps some ground turkey now and then could be helpful. She does get fish oil every time I feed her fruit, although its properties may be somewhat different than mineral oil.

I've been soaking her every day for ~20-30min and have been on "poop watch 2021", but still nothing notable. She has passed urate again the last few days. She still is kind of lethargic but does move around once I get her out. Hopefully soon, but if she gets worse, I'll take her to Medvet or call the vet's office again and say it can't wait 2 weeks.

 

[Debita]

Do you give her fish oil? I've been using that since my adult male had a problem and was severely impacted. I've told the story too many times on this forum, but essentially, I went in and unblocked him myself. It's not hard, but not something everyone would choose. It worked perfectly - he started to improve immediately but by the time I fixed his problem, he eyes were dimmer, behavior was quite sluggish, and his tongue was grey. It's the same thing an "orderly" does in a hospital when a human comes in with the same problem. For my male, there were urates blocking him from going. Baths did nothing by that time.

I would say to firmly massage his stomach when in the tub, as that triggers his "gotta go" response.

 

[SeanM]

Yep, she gets fish oil on her fruit at least once a week.

I took her to MedVet on 8-28 and did oral cisapride, lactulose, and meloxicam for a week without improvement. She's going back to the normal vet tomorrow finally. Still passing urate and I've seen her try to go several times, but maybe blocked up somewhere else :-(

 

[AnimalNerd]

Yep, she gets fish oil on her fruit at least once a week.

I took her to MedVet on 8-28 and did oral cisapride, lactulose, and meloxicam for a week without improvement. She's going back to the normal vet tomorrow finally. Still passing urate and I've seen her try to go several times, but maybe blocked up somewhere else :-(

Poor little thing. I hope they can find some answers and help her tomorrow, best of luck!

 

[Sammartin]

Pumpkin dates plums figs and fish oils help my girl. Also having a little swim in a Luke warm bath always helps her poop. Not sure if it’s the warm water, the full body movement, or just how relaxed she gets in the tub. Good luck

 

[AnimalNerd]

Hey Sean, have you found anything new with your girl when you took her to the regular vet?

 

[SeanM]

She got x-rays and the doctor didn't see anything in particular other than a lot of poop... so she got an enema and has pooped twice since Thursday. Hopefully on the mend.

The doctor wondered about my UVB lights but I think they're probably OK (zoo med 10.0 x 2 fixtures). I may replace them with the Arcadia brand that she recommended after I find some more reviews. Other thoughts are too much whole prey, not enough vegetables, too many repti-links (? maybe), and probably the main one is not enough activity. In general my tegu isn't my biggest fan and I don't push getting her out of the cage, but it may be needed to make sure she gets enough exercise.

Thanks all

 

[AnimalNerd]

She got x-rays and the doctor didn't see anything in particular other than a lot of poop... so she got an enema and has pooped twice since Thursday. Hopefully on the mend.

The doctor wondered about my UVB lights but I think they're probably OK (zoo med 10.0 x 2 fixtures). I may replace them with the Arcadia brand that she recommended after I find some more reviews. Other thoughts are too much whole prey, not enough vegetables, too many repti-links (? maybe), and probably the main one is not enough activity. In general my tegu isn't my biggest fan and I don't push getting her out of the cage, but it may be needed to make sure she gets enough exercise.

Thanks all

I'm so happy to hear that she got help! The only other thing I noticed is that for her size a basking temp anywhere between 115 and 125 is optimal, so you don't have to fuss too much at keeping her basking temp at exactly 115. Heat and uvb is integral to digestion so extra uvb coverage couldn't hurt either. Also while ground turkey should never be a staple it is an excellent way to smuggle veggies in for picky eaters. I find whole ground turkey (bones and organs) and blend up whatever veggies I'm smuggling in and mix it all together with some calcium powder and my boy gobbles it right up along with some blueberries (those are a universal anti constipation food with both people and animals). Reptilinks smuggle in veggies too but sometimes those darn collagen skins can be too much if too many are fed at once.

 

[Debita]

When my Skully had his problem, I really thought (just pure instinct) that I might have been giving him too much whole prey. Live and learn huh? So glad to hear the good news. Keep up that fish oil - it's good for constipations and sheds too.

 

[Augie’s Mum]

Do you give her fish oil? I've been using that since my adult male had a problem and was severely impacted. I've told the story too many times on this forum, but essentially, I went in and unblocked him myself. It's not hard, but not something everyone would choose. It worked perfectly - he started to improve immediately but by the time I fixed his problem, he eyes were dimmer, behavior was quite sluggish, and his tongue was grey. It's the same thing an "orderly" does in a hospital when a human comes in with the same problem. For my male, there were urates blocking him from going. Baths did nothing by that time.

I would say to firmly massage his stomach when in the tub, as that triggers his "gotta go" response.

Can you point me to your post about how you manually unblocked him? My girl is backed up, prune baby food for two days hasn’t helped, mineral oil will be started tonight but if that doesn’t work I’m going to have to roll up my sleeves.