Possible compaction in new tegu :/

[SnakeCharmr728]

Hi everyone,
So the adult female arg b/w that I took in about a week and a half ago... I think she may be compacted... not sure.
The previous owner stated that she hasnt had an appetite and has been really sleepy (for a few weeks) and that he noticed her eating a few small rocks (about half a dime in size) from her bark.

She is indeed sleepy and doesnt have much of an appetite... I have got her to eat a few times for me but very small meals. Like only a bite or two of things. but she sleeps ALOT and she does not come out to bask... She does have a ramp and shelf on her cool side of the cage and she prefers to be there, so its not like shes staying buried... she buries in the night, wakes up in the AM, goes up to her shelf and spends the day there and then buries again at night... She doesn't go to bask on her rock under the basking bulb... So I am not sure if her lack of appetite is due to her possibly being compacted from small rocks??? or because shes sleepy and doesnt allow herself to heat up and bask? basking temp is 105-110, cool side is about 75

She also has NOT pooped in the week and a half that shes been here.... although she hasnt really ate much to have to poop either? She has let out some urates.
I have been soaking her... I do not notice her drinking from the tub or from her water tub but she may do it without me seeing. She is NOT bloated, straining or showing any signs of discomfort.

I have been soaking her, massaging her tummy (I feel no lumps although I am not sure what Id be feeling for) She gets about an hour or so a day free roam time--- I know when my others get out to roam the exercise gets their bowels moving, that hasnt happened here as I said she hasnt pooped at all...

Any ideas what could be going on??? Should I wait it out another week or so to see if any symptoms change??? Or should I bring her to the vet (which I am a little hesitant to rushing her to a vet if it doesnt seem too serious because its ALOT of $ that I don't have to waste if nothing is wrong) of course if she starts showing more serious signs, she will be going to the vet but I guess I don't feel like its an emergency right now...

Anyone have any ideas or suggestions to try? I have dealt with 1 compaction before but it was obvious so I knew exactly what I was dealing with....
so the mystery in her behavior has me kind of stumped.

 

[james.w]

Is she walking normal or does she drag her back half?

 

[SnakeCharmr728]

Walking normal and can even run with no problems (few times I spooked her while she was out and she took off across the room) lol

 

[james.w]

Are you positive she isn't pooping in the enclosure or while she is out freeroaming?

 

[got10]

maybe she is still just getting used to you OR hibernation can be coming on sooner than later

 

[SnakeCharmr728]

pretty sure she hasnt, i've searched diligently.

 

[james.w]

From my understanding tegus will eat rocks in the wild to aid in digestion. Could also be from something lacking in the diet, ie fiber. Try upping her fiber intake. If the rocks are small and she is decent size, I doubt it would cause impaction, unless of course she was impacted prior to eating the rocks and is trying to use them to clear herself.

I once had a tegu that was impacted and my vet recommended I give him a daily enema to try and break it loose. It worked after about a week, along with twice daily 30 minute warm water soaks. I also fed chicken baby food by syringe to make sure he was still getting food.

 

[HeatherN]

with my dragons, in their high chiton diet, they would occasionally get impacted if theyve been refusing their veges, and to move their bowels along id use a combo of warm bathes, lots of roaming time (like you said, their bowels tend to move), and just a hint of mineral oil as a lubricant. they were easy to get to drink the stuff, as i would just drip it on their nose and they would drink it like it was water. since your tegu doesnt seem to like to drink easily, id suggest mixing a drop or two into the small amount of food theyre eating. you can gauge how much you ultimately want to use, the worst that can happen is they get a bit of a super loose stool, but i prefer picking up diarrhea as opposed to nothing at all for weeks. its one of those things you can start off small with. other than that, keep up the soaking, feed the fibrous num nums, and it sounds like youre doing everything right! keep us updated on the poor fella!

---

also, sometimes if they are being lazy, i place them in their basking spot to artificially move things along. if theyre walking fine, theyll move out of it themselves if theyre uncomfy, and it might be good for them to walk more of their own volition in their cage anyhow. just a suggestion though, it never seemed to bug my lizards.

 

[Logie_Bear]

I agree that the onset of hibernation May be a factor, depending on how long (including before you had her) that this been going on for. My suggestion would be to have a fecal test done in the meantime. Any vet worth their practice could run one and you can just drop off a ziplock of fresh poo without taking your lizard to the vet. It'd be a lot cheaper as a preliminary option. And at least it could rule out parasites as a cause of her behaviour.

 

[SnakeCharmr728]

Update:
She is still acting healthy. She is starting to have more of an appetite, still not how my others are but shes eating more now than what she was when she first got here... and she is basking ALOT more. I am still soaking her, she passes urates but I still have not noticed any poops... until today....

It was incredibly watery... which now has me more concerned of possible compaction or parasites? I figured if it was a compaction she would be showing more signs of it by now but shes still active, eating, drinking, not bloated, walking just fine, i feel no lumps when feeling her abdomen...

I am now probably going to be taking her to a vet just to be sure of everything...
What do you guys think about the poop?

 

[laurarfl]

Yuck! I think I would add 1/4 teaspoon of plain metamucil to her next meal. The extra fiber will help move anything along and help with the watery stool. In the meantime you can get a stool sample checked for parasites. It may be watery from all the soaking and extra things you doing to move feces along. As for mineral oil...I had corn snake that was suspected of having an impaction. He was given 10-30cc of mineral oil with a feeding tube and later about 10cc in an enema. When you get to a medicinal level, it really is a large amount to lube everything up.