no #2

katie · Member Joined: Sep 24, 2006 Posts: 23

Hi everyone,

I'm just looking for suggestions because i've tried everything I could possibly think of short of a trip to the vet. (which unfortuantly I can't afford at the moment) Chomper hasn't pooped in over a month and I'm out of idea's. (shes an arg red, 1yr old, 30") Shes been eating well, chicken and fish mostly and a good assortment of fruit, she won't eat the mice though, my guess is because they're f/t and she doesn't get to kill them and hear them scream because she'll eat live ones after shes tortured them. I haven't feed her quite as frequently because shes not going #2, but shes ate over 10 times and has yet to poop. She had trained herself to go outside over the summer but ever since I stopped taking her outside shes stopped going. And taking her outside is no longer an option since its cold and snowy.
My aunt suggested trying mineral oil because the vet prescribed it to her dogs, but I wasn't sure if it would be safe to try with my lizard. Any ideas on that?
Aside from not pooping she seems very healthy! Active, bright eyes, eats well, drinks an insane amount, and shes a good size looks healthy enough anyways. But i'm still worried, hopefully some of your suggestions will help. Thanks in advance!

TheNero · Valued Member Joined: Sep 28, 2006 Posts: 115

She may be impacted do you feed her in her sub, she may be drinking so much water attempting to pass what ever is blocking her up.

katie · Member Joined: Sep 24, 2006 Posts: 23

I've never fed her in her cage... I always take her out, most the time I feed her on my kitchen floor.

striggs · Posted: Thu Dec 07, 2006 12:02 pm Post subject:

Give her a good soak in warm water. That should help.
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Johelian · Retired Mod Joined: Nov 22, 2004 Posts: 848

Eating is a good sign, as impacted lizards will quickly go off their food; I wouldnt cut down how much youre feeding her. If shes otherwise healthy I wouldnt worry too much - youll probably be rewarded eventually with the mother of all poos

So long as your basking temps are still at the right level (the cooler temperature of your house in winter could be having a knock-on effect on the basking spot temperature, unless youre really blaring out central heating a lot all day, so it might be worth checking it again in case you need a high wattage bulb), she should be digesting ok.

You can indeed use mineral oil to help move things along.
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eradi · Posted: Thu Dec 07, 2006 1:34 pm Post subject:

I have a female that is about 1 1/2 old and I ran into the same problem.
She doesn't like to go in the enclosure, only outside. When fall came around it was too cold to let her out and she was getting ready to hibernate so I needed her to go, it had been almost 3 weeks although
I wasn't feeding her as much since I was prepping her for the big nap.
I did what Striggs suggested and gave her a good long soak, like an 1 1/2
and she finally went. I ended up filling the tub with enough water where she had to move around because the water was deep. I think the movement also stimulated her bowls along with the warm water.
I made sure I was there watching her in case she got tired. I would never leave her unattended in deeper water.
Good luck!
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Mochasr4me · Posted: Thu Dec 07, 2006 2:59 pm Post subject:

Something else to try with the bath .... rubbing her tummy while she is in the water if she will let you. Go from top to bottom to help work it all down. We do this with beardies to stimulate the poo process.... usually works quite well.
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katie · Member Joined: Sep 24, 2006 Posts: 23

Thanks everyone for your help. I've been trying long soaks every second day and rubbing her tummy but I've never had the water deep enough for her to have to swim around... so I'm going to try making the water a little deeper and if that doesn't work then i'm going to try the mineral oil. Something has to work eventually. Thanks again.

btorgy · Member Joined: May 07, 2006 Posts: 17 Location: Arizona

Well, I let my Tegu out of his enclosure the other day, because everywhere I read they like to roam around. I was sitting at the computer so I could watch him. Of course he immediately tried to go under his cage, so I picked him up and put him in my lap. He started to wander around the computer desk, but seemed calm so I kept talking to him and let him wander. He went behind the monitor, where all the wires are, and I heard this sound, and smelled that smell, and sure enough, he emptied his bowels all over the computer wires!!! What a huge mess!!! It took some time to get all that cleaned up!
But aside from the mess, being physically active has always stimulated all my animals to go! Works on people too!
Good luck!
Beth