Tegu Recovering from Surgery, need advice

[ridnic11]

This is my first time posting not sure if I am posting this in the right location. My 2 year old female red Tegu just came back home last week after surgery. The surgery was done because she was not pooping for over a month and eating very small amounts. After an x ray and an ultra sound the vet still wasn't sure what the issue was. The ultra sound showed possibilities of a bladder stone so the vet went ahead with surgery to remove them. During surgery they noticed that there wasn't any issues with bladder stones so the surgery turned into an exploratory surgery which resulted in no definitive findings. They removed a very dense stool from her bowels and noted very little contraction in the muscles of the bowel but had no sure explanation. After bringing her home I managed to get her to eat solid food. she ate almost a whole egg. She also pooped a very small amount. It has been over a week now and I have yet to see the poop from the egg and she hasn't eaten anything since. During all this she is also having a very hard time shedding. I can't bath her as her incision runs down her entire abdomen. I also can't spray her or keep her enclosure very humid as I need to keep the incision dry. I am currently rubbing her down with a wet sponge two times a day (avoiding her underside where the incision is). She is currently in a rubbermaid container with a heat lamp. temperatures are kept to 30 C or 86 F as prescribed by the vet, although I have tried raising the temp a few degrees to try to speed up her metabolism, not sure if I should be doing that or not. I am wondering if anyone has been through a similar situation or has any advice for me in regards to both the shedding and eating/pooping or any advice as far as her recovery after her surgery.
Sorry for the long post and if I am missing any details just ask and I will try to provide them.

 

[Bubblz Calhoun]

Welcome to the site, although not so great circumstances brought you here.

My first thought, does the Vet you go to specialize in reptiles and if so what kind? Bladder stones is more of a tortoise issue than lizards.

What are you feeding?
If she's having problems with constipation and impactions your husbandry more than likely may be the issue. Lack of fiber in their diet and dehydration are common issues with constipation leading to impactions.

Raise the temps to a normal gradient 100*-110* basking, I don't know of any Vet that would recommend lowering the temps for a reptile that's sick or healing. It's a huge part of how they survive and stay healthy.

Because of her incision hopefully she's not on any substrate. So for shedding issues you can rub her down with natural oils like olive oil, to help keep her skin moist for longer periods of time during a shed.

 

[ridnic11]

I should have mentioned this at the beginning. I am in Ontario Canada. Good reptile vets are very hard to find. The surgery was done at Guelph university in Ontario. This is where all difficult and rare cases get sent in Ontario. My vet was an avian and exotic specialist so although not extremely knowledgeable of Tegus he knows general reptiles well I hope and I was told he has had other Tegus in the past. Her recovery enclosure is a rubbermaid container about 3 feet long 1 and a half feet wide, small but the best I can do for a temporary enclosure. Her usual enclosure is a 6x3x3 glass tank. I am using paper towels for her recovery substrate. I thought the temps the vet was suggesting seemed a little low that's why I asked. I assumed you would want her nice and warm to speed up the metabolism and therefore speed up healing. Before the surgery I was spraying her tank twice daily, using melaleuca mulch, and giving her regular soaks. I increased the soaking and spraying more recently as I was noticing issues with shedding and then later the lack of appetite and pooping. Only thing I have had continued success feeding her is ground turkey mixed with whatever greens or carrots I have and her favourite is eggs. The olive oil is something I will definitely do thanks.

 

[laurarfl]

I just read a veterinary synopsis about melaleuca being toxic to reptiles. I'll see if I can find it for you.

I agree with bumping the temps for healing, but hate to say that against the advice of your vet.

What does the vet say about diet with a fresh incision? Is the tegu on any restrictions? otherwise I would think about a slurry diet like Oxbow's carnivore care with maybe a little baby food pumpkin or banana thrown in for fiber. You may have to feed it with a large oral syringe if she won't lap it up. Check with the vet though to see what he suggests.

I've also heard that KY is good for shedding since it is water soluble. That tip came from a friend with a tegu with a terrible shedding issue.

 

[ridnic11]

The vet suggested to go right back to her regular solid diet so I assume there is no concerns there. But I have yet to find something she enjoys eating that is high in fibre so I will check what you recommended, the pumpkin is a great idea. I didn't realize there was concerns for melaleuca, it was recommended to me by the most knowledgeable pet store I have found so far, but that doesn't mean that much so I would love to see any info you have. When feeding with a syringe is there any risks? Also what is an oral syinge? Is this something I can get at a drug store?

 

[Grendel]

How about just whole mice.

 

[Orion]

2 years ago my Tegu ,Tiny, was impacted and had surgery. The vet had us feed her baby food for the first 10 days. At first she didnt have energy and we used a large syringe. In a couple days she was eating off the spoon and by day 10 she was trying to eat the spoon along with the baby food. If I remember we fed her mostly stuuf like chicken and rice mix and some beef mixed with carrots I think. By the end we were chopping fruits ( Strawberries, grapes, blueberries ) and adding that to the mix also.

 

[TegusRawsome80]

Whole mice.