Prolapse help

[SeanM]

Hello,

I'll fill out the FAQ below - my year-ish old tegu had a prolapse problem today. It seemed to resolve and I made an appointment with a reptile vet for Friday (the soonest they had). I've unfortunately never been to the vet before. I plan on getting some saline and swapping out her substrate (100% cypress mulch) for something cleaner.

My main question is whether I should feed her? She's never had this problem before and I wasn't sure if I should since it resolved. My guess is that she will be very hungry starting tomorrow. She's always been pretty active and eats fine... I'm not sure exactly what happened. I feed her off of a plate, but maybe she got some substrate by accident or was constipated. I put her in a clear plastic bin and her vent looked normal to me.

Please let me know if I can provide more information.


Thanks for your help,

Sean

What kind of tegu do you have? Adopted Florida tegu (black and white) from Rodney Irwin
How old is your tegu? 1 year~
How large is your tegu? 32"~
What is the sex of your tegu? Female
How long have you had your tegu? 6 months
Does your tegu brumate or hibernate? Brumate some during the winter
What size enclosure do you have? 2x4x2 that connects to a 3x3x1.5
What kind of substrate is used? Cypress mulch
What kind of UVB do you use (brand and coil vs bulb vs tube)? 2 x reptisun 5.0 bulbs (18" and 22")
What is the wattage of your bulb? Will check later.
How old is your bulb? ~3 months and 6 months
How far away is the UVB? 14", no covering on the ballasts
Do you use a separate bulb for heat? What is the wattage? 2 x ceramic
What are the temps (basking and cool side)? 95 degrees on the hot side, cool side high 70s to low 80s
What do you use to measure the temps? IR gun
What is your humidity? What do you use to measure it? I have a Zoomed gauge of sorts (digital). I keep it 60%+ using a humidifier with PVC setup
What do you feed your tegu? Usually raw chicken, beef, fish as the meat, then fruits such as cantaloupe, honeydew, pineapple (in moderation), red grapes (in moderation), mango. Green beans and squash are my usual greens.
How often do you feed and what time do you feed (morning, afternoon, night)? Evening (5pm~)
Do you use vitamin or calcium supplements? What brand(s)? How many days a week do you use each of them? I use a multivitamin and calcium supplement. The calcium I use each time, multivitamin every other time, fish oil once a week
Does your tegu have regular BM's? Yes usually every other day
Have you gotten a vet check and fecal done? Not yet
Does your tegu share and enclosure with another tegu? No

 

[Walter1]

A related matter. She must be fed to a large degree whole foods, such as frozen thawed rodents. Heavy on calcium powder and some fish oil. I'd feed her a small meal with fish oil added. By small, I mean 1 tablespoon tomorrow and again on Thursday.

 

[SeanM]

Thanks Walter, I'll give that a try. I'll go get some frozen mice after her appointment. Forgot to add that she does eat mashed up soft-boiled chicken eggs occasionally.

 

[Merlot]

When you feed a fuzzy Walter. Should you still try and roll it in some calcium and fish oil ? I usually feed whole prey reptilinks and inject some cod liver oil with an insulin syringe and some other foods in the mix for variety

 

[Walter1]

First few, offer whole and partially slit. Then dust with calcium, plenty because pinks, fuzzies, and hoppers have little to offer in the way of calcium, but are nutritious. Oil can either be poured on before calcium or injected.

 

[SeanM]

The vet said she didn't have any infection/swelling and gave her some antiparasite solution (metronidazole?). I upped her temps slightly and she has been doing better this week. She has eaten some fuzzies, fruit, and turkey and done well... thanks for the help.

 

[Walter1]

The vet said she didn't have any infection/swelling and gave her some antiparasite solution (metronidazole?). I upped her temps slightly and she has been doing better this week. She has eaten some fuzzies, fruit, and turkey and done well... thanks for the help.

Great news.