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back from the vets...no luck. x-rays showed a solid fecal mass that is nowhere near the colon, isn't moving anywhere, and can only be removed if grim is anesthetized and will likely require surgery.
bottom line...i'm looking at a $300-$500 procedure to save her. i think i'm in shock at the moment, i don't know what to do. i can't afford that, not by a long shot. the vet said there's no way the mass will work itself out on its own. i honestly don't know what to do
the worst part is wondering how this really happened. was it really because she had too many rats at once? has my temp/humidity gauge not been working right this whole time? did i give her too many supplements? i really thought i followed the instructions on all the tegu care sheets to a tee but this still happened.
if anyone has ideas of what else i should do, please PLEASE pm me, or pm me for my email address. i'm obviously not in the financial position to be making long distance calls so please just pm me with any help. I just read another thread here about a guy who's red tegu had the same problem, but his was constpated for over 5 months before repeated enemas eventually did the trick. grim has only been blocked up for a few weeks. is it too early to turn to surgery? honestly, it is no matter how you swing it...i simply can't afford it as this time, its going to take a few months of overtime before i have that kind of cash to spend on her. how long is it fair to make her wait before resorting to the operation??
and on top of all this, today i just (like 5 minutes ago) discovered my snake has mites. how? I HAVE NO IDEA . I've been nowhere near any other snakes for almost a year. what a shitty day this has turned out to be.
Last edited by Grimlock on Mon May 07, 2007 4:30 pm, edited 1 time in total
Sorry to hear of the news...
If it were me I would beg, borrow or steal to get the funds to save him!
Hopefully you can find a $ resource and get him taken care of.
Good luck!
E _________________ 1.1.0 B/W Argentine Tegu
0.0.1 Red Tegu
First of all, unless the x-ray showed a bunch of undigested rodent skulls, this is not the result of a single large feeding, this is a condition that has been building up over some time. Sometimes it is genetics (males are predominantly the sufferers of calculi), it could be related to another disease, but most likely it is related to diet. Not just in nutrient balances, but also amounts.
Oversupplementation may indeed be a factor. However, one would need to examine the obstruction to determine what the precipitate was that formed the mass in the first place before jumping to that conclusion. It is likely a combination of factors.
There is one thing you might try, but I honestly can't say it would work at all, nor am I sure I should suggest it. Cats are quite prone to renal calculi, and one time in our lab when they were doing research on them the cats were developing calculi due to the diet they were on. The vet at the time prescribed ammonium chloride tablets, and this seemed to help the cats and problems ceased. I have no idea what the dosage was, and I am unable to find any such therapy recommended in any of my vet manuals for calculi in reptiles. Furthermore, this is based on "word of mouth" info from people who may or may not know what they are talking about.
I seriously recommend doing the cystotomy instead though. You will have to place the tegu on antibiotics for some time before the surgery can be performed as the surgeon will be cutting into the GI tract, a rather nasty place, and all microbes possible will have to be eliminated to avoid infection.
If surgery is not an option for you due to the cost, then you may need to consider the possibility of euthanizing the tegu or handing it over to someone able to afford the fees. Calculi are extremely painful, and delaying things is just going to make things worse.
it is not calculi, i never said it was nor did the vets. she did have hard urate, which we thought was the cause, but she passed a large chunk of urate the other day. the only thing blocking her up is a lot of feces and fur. today she did get a tiny bit of fecal matter out, which to me indicates it might be starting to break up. anyway, i have made an appointment with another vet who has more reptile experience so we'll see what he says.
Calculi are "stones" or concretions formed from precipitates such as urates, oxalates or other mineral salts in the kidneys, bladder, gallbladder, or any other part of the body (particularly the GI tract). It's just another term to describe the hard mass that was formed.
I'm glad to see it isn't possibly as serious as previously thought.
Joined: Feb 01, 2006 Posts: 403 Location: Missouri
Posted: Wed May 09, 2007 3:43 pm Post subject:
Sorry to hear about the impaction. I havent been keeping up with the post, but heres my words of wisdom.
Do what you can to save it. I know I say it a lot, but its your responsibility to do whats possible to save the life of something living if you decided to purchase it.
well i was pretty shocked after first hearing she needed such a procedure, but after thinking it about it i've decided to definately go for it. i'll find a way, and the vet will allow me to pay in installments. i am still going to another vet first for a second opinion though, like i said while my current vet is great she is not all that experienced with reptiles. i found one who has 25 yrs experience with herps though, so we'll see what he has to say. thanks for the help everyone.
since friday grim has been passing large chunks of hairy poop, every other day or so. i think the warm baths and raise in basking temps did it. today she ate as well, as was much more active, so i think she is going to be ok .
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. I've been nowhere near any other snakes for almost a year. what a shitty day this has turned out to be.
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