something protruding out cloaca

liquidg · New Member Joined: Oct 15, 2005 Posts: 6

Trying to figure out what to do with my tegu. Two days ago I notice that my Black and White (10 months old) had about a 1/4" to 1/2" of his something coming out of his cloaca. It looks like it is his insides, not sure exactly what. I have been soaking him everyday since, and he has pooped everytime I soak. He stills seems to be hungry, although I didn't feed him for two days when I saw this cause I didn't want to make it any worse. However today I just gave him food and he seems hungry. Not really sure what is wrong since he is going to the bathroom, but I was thinking maybe something could still be backed up in him or something I don't know about. I will try to get pics later today if I have a chance.

tupinambis · Posted: Sat Oct 15, 2005 12:44 pm Post subject:

Is this "something" still protuding? How long was "something" protuding? Was it momentarily or for a prolonged period?

If it is the internal organs, it could be a hemipenal or intestinal prolapse, and if it's still protruding, then you need to keep the prolapse moist, clean (remove all substrate and keep tegu on sterile towels or paper) and GET THE TEGU TO A VET.

Rick · Posted: Sat Oct 15, 2005 12:45 pm Post subject:

It's hard to offer medical advice without actually being there and seeing it, but it sounds like a prolapse of the hemipenes.

I could go into what it is, but here is a link with all of the details.

http://www.anapsid.org/prolapse.html

If it's been a couple days as you stated, I would take it to the vet now.

If it's been only a short period, try manually inverting the hemipenes as described by Melissa;

"You can try soaking the iguana in a cool bath to which sugar has been added. Heavy concentrations of sugar in the water will act to draw out the fluids engorging the swollen everted tissue; this may reduce it enough to be inverted by the lizard. The tissue may be rinsed with fresh water and Betadine, and carefully pushed back in with a gloved finger lubricated with KY Jelly (the type without the spermicde). Extreme care must be taken in doing this as, if the colon contains fecal matter and the colon tissue is pierced in the attempt to replace it, severe, even fatal contamination and injury may result. If the soaking does not work within an hour, and you do not wish to attempt manual replacement, the iguana (in this case, the tegu) should be placed on a damp towel and taken to the vet as quickly as possible."

Rick
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Sisco Reptiles - Proud Breeder of the Tamest & Most Social Tegus. See www.SiscoReptiles.com

YorkOC · Valued Member Joined: Oct 09, 2005 Posts: 101

I'm by no means a vet but from your description it sounds to me like your tegu has a prolapse. Don't know how bad but mine has had one before. To be honest when I saw mine I thought it was normal cause he still ate and pooped but I took it to the petstore and they told me to take it to the vet b/c it had a prolapse. Depending on the severity you can take it to a vet and they can either do surgury or possibly give it an enema. Luckily for me all I had to do was take it in to the vet, they diagnosed him with a mild prolapse, and gave him an enema and $120 with some meds(batryl I believe) my tegus cloaca was normal. The vet told me that pretty much he was all clogged up with hair. What is your tegu's diet? So I had to stop feeding him mice and I used pinky rats for like 4 months till I felt comfortable and now I am back to mice with the SDZ diet I alternate and no problems since. I still check its cloaca frequently cause I am atill a little paranoid but no signs of problems. You should take him into the vet though b/c I tried the soaks and they didn't work for me. Also I noticed when mine had that problem it was a real picky eater... he would only eat in his cage but once he was normal he is a maniac when it comes to eating. I assume he didn't feel that good when he had it. It did smell kinda funky down there too does yours?

liquidg · New Member Joined: Oct 15, 2005 Posts: 6

brought him into the vet. I couldn't get it back in, and neither could the vet. So they are going to take the hemipene off. They are charging me $190, does that seem reasonable.

tegulevi · Respected Member Joined: Mar 10, 2005 Posts: 489

take it off??? you might want a second opinion if you have time

YorkOC · Valued Member Joined: Oct 09, 2005 Posts: 101

That doesn't sound good to me. The place that I had called before I took mine into the vet I did told me they could do surgery to sew it back up but they were not going to cut it off. This is the site to the place I take mine you should email their vet and ask his opinion he responds fairly quick. Just tell them you are thinking about taking it there and Im sure they will answer your question. http://www.drexotic.com/ click on the contact us part. Wait to do it before you get more opinions but I wouldn't wait super long.

sabertooth · New Member Joined: Oct 12, 2005 Posts: 2

For removal that price sounds reasonable, or rather - normal.

But is the area dry? Perhaps that is why your vet is considering removing it? Or does it still look moist and healthy? If so, you may wish to get a second opinion if it is salvagable. Are they going to remove both or one hemipene?

Lizards can live healthy lives without a hemipene, but surgery and recovery always have risks. Hope everything works out okay.
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liquidg · New Member Joined: Oct 15, 2005 Posts: 6

They took it off cause it was so inlarged that it would not stay in. We got it back in at the vet like three times, but it would just get pushed right back out. So they said the best thing to do would be to cut it off. They used a lazer or something to do so. They only cut one of them off. He seems to be doing alright after the surgery, but he is really sluggish.

ReptilesLovePunk · Posted: Wed Jan 18, 2006 3:01 pm Post subject:

from what i understand from reading the website is that it's okay if it comes out when he poops right! it always goes right back in as soon as he stops. im glad i read this cause i was kinda spazzin' out!!!

tupinambis · Posted: Wed Jan 18, 2006 7:29 pm Post subject:

Umm, no. Under normal circumstances, while defecating, no internal organs should be coming out. Sometimes, however, with particularly difficult bowel movements, the hemipenes will evert with the strain of pushing. If it goes back in right away, it shouldn't be damaged or anything. But it IS an indication that your animal was straining to defecate, which should indicate to the owner that there is potentially a problem, most likely associated with the diet but could be more health related.

MO · Posted: Tue Apr 25, 2006 10:10 pm Post subject: prolapsed cloaca

Speaking of prolapsed cloaca's.......so it's around 8PM here in the golden state and Rocket, my tegu, usually settles in around 4 or 5 pm and I don't see him till the next morning.

However, I just heard all this thrashing in his tank and low and behold he did a really stinky, runny poop and was running around with his garbage hanging out! Because I've been checking this site out for a while I wasn't to stressed out but he's really young so I didn't quite think it happened in little guys! It only stayed out for a few seconds then it went back in.

I have a few questions for the experts:

1. I threw him into a warm bath right away thinking maybe he had to poop some more. Is that okay? I guess it's too late for that ? huh

2. Do you think it will happen again anytime soon?

3. Do you suppose he swallowed some substrate snd it's stuck, should I take him to my Vet before it happenes again? I work for a Herp Vet so it won't be that big of a deal to get him seen.

4. How often do you think this kind of thing happens in the wild? Maybe were feeding our tegus too much and they're getting stopped up by too much food? I'm sure in the wild they don't eat every day like they do at our houses.

Monique

Nero557 · Posted: Wed Apr 26, 2006 8:16 am Post subject:

All right, first off, I'm not expert, but I do have some comments. For your answer to number one, putting him in warm water isn't a problem, and wouldn't be (I couldn't see any harm from it) If it only came out for a few seconds while he was pushing, it could just be his hemipenes and that is completely normal. Also, then you know it is a male. This happens sometimes when they defecate. If it comes out for a while, then you might have a prolapsed cloaca. The reason behind me saying that the warm water isn't a big deal is because I've been told and I have read multiple times that you should put the animal (with the prolapse) into warm sugar water, the sugar takes out the moisture and then allows it to slide in easier.
Next, if it was only a few seconds (while he was still pushing) then there is no need to go to the vet, unless you know the difference between everting the hemipenes and a prolapsed cloaca and you know that this time it wasn't everting the hemipenes. It could happen another time really soon or not for a while if it is was just the hemipenes. If it is a prolapse, then it might or might not come back out soon also, simply because he might have gotten the problem "out" so to speak. Also, tegus are pretty smart, and I've seen all of mine take in substrate with food before, and they have all simply sorted the food from the substrate with their tongue and spit it back out. But I'm not saying that it isn't possible.
In the wild they do not eat every day if they can't get food on that paticular day, they may go days or even weeks without food. Just depends on what comes along... Tegus have very highly developed digestive systems and they digest everything that goes in usually (such as the bones and some of the fur from mice/rats. The enzymes in their stomachs seem to be pretty darn strong, kind of like a snake. Good luck, sorry it's not all in order, and I hope this helps.

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-Art-

Beth · Posted: Thu Jun 15, 2006 1:10 pm Post subject:

I wish I had seen this earlier. I had my 6 year old Tegu "Dennis" put to sleep this morning due to a prolapse in hemipenes or cloaca. The vet told me it was a rectum prolapse.

I would have had it pushed back in for the $600 he was going to charge me but he also said that he couldn't guaruntee that it would work. He also said that it's quite possible that he had a parasite or had eaten some of his substrate. He also kept saying that Dennis was very sick due to the prolapse. Which I can't understand since he was acting like his normal self except just a little sluggish and kept trying to push like he was pooping. He made me feel like putting him to sleep was the best option unless I wanted to pay him $600 with no guaruntee plus another large sum for the surgery if it didn't work.

Unfortunately, he came highly recommended on that Herp Vet Site. He will definitely have some bad comments on his page now. He made me feel like I didn't know what I was doing when it came to MY lizard that I have had for the past 6 years! I'm not saying I was an expert but I did know how to take care of him and I loved him. God rest his soul...