Rat fur impaction?

[DaveDragon]

It looks like both of our Blue Tegu's are impacted with rat fur.

I've seen the male eat cypress mulch (dummy!!). An x-ray taken last Saturday looked like he was impacted in the middle of his intestines. The blockage is soft. We haven't fed him in 3 weeks (he was getting only 1 small rat per week in the feeding rotation). 3 or 4 weeks ago after he threw up his small rat (ate it 2 days before) I removed all the substrate and he's living on the vinyl flooring with plywood leaned up against the sides for hides & basking platforms. He used the platform until the last week.

The female is always wiggling her butt and trying to go, but she may get a little liquid & urate but that's it. She was getting a small rat every other day since she laid eggs 2 months ago. That took alot out of her so I was trying to quickly build her back up with the protein & fat. Instead it looks like the fur plugged her up! We haven't fed her in a week. Her blockage is soft also.

Basking temps are about 100. The male hasn't been basking at all in the past week, the female does.

Today the vet gave them both the liquid barium so they can do an x-ray next Saturday. The male threw it up when we got home. We'll have to call them Monday to see what they want to do with him next.

We've heard mice fur is easier to pass than rat fur. Is that possible??

Sometimes I give them Cod Liver Oil with their turkey. I should have given it to them more.

 

[leoares27]

wow, that really sucks! I hope they pass that fur soon.
good luck with them!

 

[DaRealJoker]

wonder if u cut some raw egg with Cod oil maybe that'll get things sliding a lil or even just straight raw egg lots and lots of water too even try adding water to the egg

 

[DaveDragon]

I think the rat fur is piled up in a ball inside them. We'll see when they do barium x-rays next Saturday.

 

[Harveysherps]

Too bad cat fur ball medicine wouldn't help. I wonder if it is common for this to happen with Tegus.

 

[DaveDragon]

Too bad cat fur ball medicine wouldn't help. I wonder if it is common for this to happen with Tegus.

I gave the male Laxatone (hair ball med) for 2 weeks. He finally passed some of the Laxatone and not much else. I'm thinking they must need to eat more greens (fiber) to keep their digestive system moving. I sometimes see "hair balls" in their enclosures. But many times hey bury their BM's & hair balls, making it hard to figure out when they're not going.

 

[Harveysherps]

Maybe that's why Bert fed his so much plant matter. He may have been on to something with that. But if you fed only processed meat that could be avoided too. This makes for a good topic for discusion though. I'm sorry it had to be your tegus that are going through it though.

 

[DaRealJoker]

Have you tried to masage the obstructions? A close friend of mine had to masage his son from birth. His boy is ten and still gets them. He's had them as far as the intestine through to the colan area. What my friend would do was masage his sons stomache and back below the ribcage to "soften" the blackages. I tell you for a person, these are excrutiating. I feel so bad for the boy as they are 1:1 as in he never gets a break from these. The boy has 'em everyday. Doctors have tried many medications but eventualy surgery will be the topic for him. I dunno, maybe masages will work for your lil guy and gal. I really hope they aren't in any discomfort and I feel for you aswell as this must be very worrysum. Best of luck to the three of yas . I think they'll be fine since this has only been one occurance :-D

 

[DaveDragon]

Have you tried to masage the obstructions? A close friend of mine had to masage his son from birth. His boy is ten and still gets them. He's had them as far as the intestine through to the colan area. What my friend would do was masage his sons stomache and back below the ribcage to "soften" the blackages. I tell you for a person, these are excrutiating. I feel so bad for the boy as they are 1:1 as in he never gets a break from these. The boy has 'em everyday. Doctors have tried many medications but eventualy surgery will be the topic for him. I dunno, maybe masages will work for your lil guy and gal. I really hope they aren't in any discomfort and I feel for you aswell as this must be very worrysum. Best of luck to the three of yas . I think they'll be fine since this has only been one occurance :-D

Thanks!! We've done some massage but more would probably help.

The male has had this happen 2 or 3 more times in the last year. He tends to eat his cypress when he's hungry, and/or he's got a kink in his intestines. He's basking more so maybe he's feeling a bit better.

 

[jor71]

Have you tried giving them some metamucil?

I heard it is fine to give them that, as it is a good source of fibre.

 

[DaveDragon]

Have you tried giving them some metamucil?

I heard it is fine to give them that, as it is a good source of fibre.

The last time I gave them some turkey I put in some Glycolax. I think it's too late for that. We'll see what the vet says.

 

[jor71]

Ok, good luck and keep us posted!

 

[DaveDragon]

Will do!!

 

[olympus]

I wish there was something I knew that could help. I know a guy that is the reptile supervisor at Turtleback zoo near my house, I'll ask him to see if he knows anything.

 

[PuffDragon]

How is Turtle Back Zoo? I've been past it many times but never in it.

 

[olympus]

It's okay nothing like the Bronx Zoo or Camden Aquarium.

 

[PuffDragon]

Yeah, I can walk to the Camden Aquarium!

 

[olympus]

Dave he told me that the basic stuff works the best. The warm baths, increased temps and that he wouldn't recommend a stool softner because he has never used it on any of their animals. He wouldn't want to steer you wrong.

 

[Harveysherps]

Maybe hairless rats need to be on the menu from now On . LOL Emerald Tree Boas and BCC have a problem with rat hair. i got around it by breeding hairless rats. The rex rats are also a thought as far as feeders. I am going to breed some hairless again. I bred it out of mine and just all of a sudden. It showed back up again. So I am going to breed them back into my others.This winter I could ship you some young ones to start a colony of your own. It will be a few months. Most suppliers of Frozen rats. Have the hairless ones. Maybe that is something to check into to avoid this problem all together. This is just my opinion. But I think the freezing process makes the hair on the rats more coarse. I could be wrong. This is why I only feed prekilled.

 

[DaveDragon]

UPDATE!!!!
The female passed 2 huge urate plugs last week after daily baths for 2 weeks. 2 days ago she finally had a small BM in her bath. Yesterday she passed 3 wads of fur in her bath, then a normal big BM on the floor!!!! I think she's clear!! Now we just have to get her eating again. She's been refusing ground turkey. Tonight I'll try some tilapia. Then I'll get some F/T adult mice. I'll have to get a crapload of them at the next show for them so this doesn't happen again.

The male had a small BM in his bath 2 days ago. He's not done yet.