Impaction Nightmare??

[xobeyxlaxsoulx]

whats up ladies and gents.... ive been here before but had to make a new account since it has been some time. Anyways i own a 4-5 year old Red and for the last few weeks ive been through hell and im not out of it yet. April 16th i fed him 8 small sized mice. first, is that too many? hes a pretty big guy but i never really looked into it and now im regretting it. normally he gets a random switched up menu of fruits meats and veggies via baby foods i mix in with stuff. his temps are good, i keep it humid and i wet the front lawn and take him outside on his leash to catch humidity and natural uv's and heat. well since the 16th he has not had a bowel movement and i got scared so i took him to the vet..... blood work was done and all came back on a good note. today an xray was taken ( i will post pic shortly) and the barium given to him by the vet was located in his stomach. there is no signs of rocks,substrate, or anything visible to cause any kind of blockages however he is carrying quite a load of feces in him ready for the exit door.also while the xray was about to take place he made sure to shower me and the nurse with a large amount of what i think was urine....yes...it was lots of fun. i was told to give him small amounts of laxative (cod liver oil, vegetable oil) force feeding style every 6 hours to help him pass it and take him back thursday for another xray and move on from there.....with that being said im hoping surgery will not be in order at most i hope its some sort of an enema or a natural passing..... what did i do wrong here? was it too large of an amount of mice and if so is the length of time being passed for him to take the browns to the superbowl (ha-ha) just due to the fact that his body needed the time to break it down fully? thanks for any input and i will be sure to keep everyone posted..thanks in advance

[Pikey]

I would say i personally dont feed more than 3-4 mice/rats at a time because the large amount of hair can cause impaction. But dont feel bad even though Tegus are VERY popular pets there is not a whole lot of info out there on them (aside from the endless care/feeding sheets).
I wish someone would put together a full care book on them just like the MANY monitor books out there, I personal wrote a small care book and tried for 3 yrs to get one of the many companies to publish it, but because there is no Ph.D after my name they wont even return a call or email.

But if your guy is 4-5yrs old and can eat 6 mice at a time I'd step him up to 2-3 med or 1-2 larger rats, they have much more minerals & i higher bone density they are all around better prey items. Or even quail or chicks

[xobeyxlaxsoulx]

yea im going to see about switching to quail chicks.... but ive never seen them in person at what age should i get them and how are the feathers (if any) on the tegus digestive system?

[laurarfl]

Mine don't have a problem with feathers, but I never feed more than 2 chicks at a time. I order week old or day old, whichever is available. I also limit rodents to no more than two at a time.

It could have been cold temps, dryness leading to slight dehydration, or just a bunch of hair that balled up and can't pass.

I have a 6yo beardie going through a similar issue. In her case, there was a lighting issue and I reduced the lighting. In turn, that lowered the temps. Then I was feeding her superworms (I normally don't) and she ended up with an impaction. I'm doing the oil/bath regime for now and heading to the vet tomorrow or Thurs if nothing moves. She passes a watery stool, but nothing of substance.

[xobeyxlaxsoulx]

the only thing Arch has been passing is alot (and i mean alooottt) of really bad smelling clear fluid with uriates here and there...... tonight he attempted to go and yet again its only a small amount of clear fluid..... im sure seeing as how theres no signs of particle blockage from the bedding that the vet will opt for a small enema type situation before a surgery..... and its weird because also in the xray you can see its all down int he general area of where it would be before a bowel movement..i also do the tub,oil,and i take him outside i nthe humidity and rub his belly downward to loosen it up and im feeding him prune baby food with a little bit of oil to lube up his insides....

[HernandosMom]

Thanks for sharing your story. We will all wait for poop with you!

Like Pikey said, there's not a whole lot of instructional information to rely on out there. I've found it really helpful to read the problems other people's tegus have had and to see what solutions are available.

The fact that he's passing lots of fluid is good. It means he's getting plenty of water and trying hard. I would be sure he has full basking heat (up to 100-110 at the peak) available as well as a cooler place (78 degrees) to retreat to at night. I think I read that a lot of digestion takes place at night, when they aren't expending energy on a lot of other things.

[laurarfl]

Sometimes what happens is that the blob of fecal matter gets too big. The wall of the lower intestine is stretched out and can't contract properly to pass things through. So it looks like it's "right there", but the musculature can't operate to get it moving.

[xobeyxlaxsoulx]

so if the blob gets too big what is it that needs to be done? becuase looking at the xray that looks like that could very well be the issue hes having

[HernandosMom]

I just re-read your start post. Did you really mean April 16? Are you sure he didn't poop in the substrate and it got buried? Because I can't believe a vet wouldn't at least have given you a laxative. We had a constipated reptile a few years ago and were given drops of something specifically prepared for her.

It sounds like you are doing the right things. What is the time length and water temperature of his baths? What has he eaten since that fateful day? I would try giving a variety of fruit but no meat for several days, to see if the fiber and extra moisture can help push things through. Did your vet give you a time frame after which to come back?

As far as seeing the rest of the GI tract in the X-ray, don't be fooled by the clear area. There are lots of organs and intestines that don't show up in an X-ray unless a special dye is used. I think that's what you meant by the barium in the gut? Did the vet force the tegu to drink a fluid with an X-ray sensitive dye?

I'm sure you paid quite a bit for that vet visit. I would not be shy at all about phoning and asking for clarification of what the next steps would be.

[xobeyxlaxsoulx]

april 16th is when i fed him the mice and he has not had a full bowel movment since then only clear smelly liquid. the barium i was told was do do its exact purpose in the x-ray... first as a laxative and second as a tracker to see if or where it gets stuck inside him becasue the xray picks it up.


he didnt give me a laxative to give him becasue i had allready told him that i had been using things i reserched myself as laxatives such as the oils and prune baby foods to soften his stool. i was instructed to feed him small amounts of laxatives ever 6 hours and to continue giving him warm bath soaks like ive heard around here to help him out. not sure o nexact temp but its at a tolerable heat for him to handle without burning him and i leave him in for about 15-20 minutes followed somtimes by me taking him outside on wet grass to eat up the humidity.... i take him back for x-ray number 2 tomarrow if nothign has changed im sure the decision for an enema or surgery will be made then