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- 1,218
- Location
- Prescott, AZ
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.......
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.......