Worried about my Tegu

[Orion]

Tiny is less than a year old. She went into hibernation back in October and did not come out until about 10 days ago. She does not have much of an appetite. She has only been eating a couple mouthfuls a day of either egg or ground venison. I have noticed her eating some of the substrate which is Eco-Earth, I check her stool and it seems to have passed fine. Her cage is kept humid and her basking spot is 110 and her hide is kept at 70. I was not to worried until this afternoon. When I was moving her to the feed tank she seemed to be shaking. She is on the way to the vet right now. But I was wondering if anyone else has gone through this? and is it normal? Or do I need to be worried.

 

[lilgonz]

If she is shaking or twitching, it might be MBD, you might want give her some calcium supplements. and make sure you have UV Bulbs in the enclosure or give her some outside sun time.

 

[Orion]

Thanks lilgonz. I have a Rpti-Glo 10.0 above her basking spot. She has not really eaten so I have not been able to dust her food, I usually use Zoo Med calcium without the D3. I also had her out in the sun for 4 hours the other day when it was warm enough.

I just got word from the vet that there is a partial blockage of the digestive tract due to ingesting the substrate. She is having laobred breathing because of the blockage also. They are going to keep her and give her Barium to try and pass the blockage.

 

[fireimp141]

Compaction can be deadly. You might wanna change your substrate to something that she doesn't feel like eating lol. I tried a couple things before I figured it out and cyprus mulch is the only thing tyson won't eat haha.

 

[Orion]

Tiny is going into surgery this morning to remove the substrate she has consumed. She has been at the vet for 3 days and nothing has passed. I am praying that all goes well and she is healthy and home soon. When she does come home I will need to some other kind of substrate. Does anyone use plain newspaper? Or indoor outdoor carpet?

 

[Marlene]

When Tiny comes home, I would use paper-towels for a while as the incision will still be vulnerable to infection. You could use regular light coloured towels that have been thoroughly cleaned as well. The lighter the colour, the better! You'll want to watch for any bleeding, and having the white paper towels/towels will help a lot to keep track of it. You'll basically want to keep a couple of hides, a basking rock/fake log and a water bowl in the cage, things that can be easily cleaned on a daily basis to avoid infections.

 

[Anthony]

switch to eco earth i had similar problems

 

[Orion]

Thanks Marlene. The vet said she came through the surgery fine, she said she removed a huge ball of coco husk . I am just waiting for tomorrow. The next 24 hours are crucial. I will be putting her on paper towels for the time being. In the long run I am going to need to come up with something she isnt going to eat.

 

[fireimp141]

Have you tried cyprus mulch? Works great, they can dig real good and its super cheap. Filled my 250 gal tank for $4 haha.

 

[Orion]

What brand do you use and where do you get it?

 

[carcharios]

I go to ACE Hardware and they sell Cyprus mulch for about $4 a bag. Seems to do the trick.

 

[txrepgirl]

I'm sorry to hear what happend to your Tegu. But I'm glad the surgery went well. I wish you both the best. I get my 100% cypress mulch from walmart. In the spring I pay close to 3 in the fall close to 4 dollars for it. If you want to get some cypress mulch please make sure it is 100% cypress mulch and doesn't have any cedar or pine in it. It's toxic for them. Please keep us posted.

 

[Orion]

Thanks all for your well wishes. Her surgery went well.Tiny is home now and resting well. She seems very awake and alert. I am going to to look into the Cyprus mulch in a couple weeks. I am going to be extremely cautious of putting anything in front of her since she has a propensity to eat mulch. I know she was doing this back in the fall but I didnt think much of it since everything seemed to be passing until about 10 days ago.

 

[txrepgirl]

Your welcome. I'm SOOOOO happy that the surgery went well and that she is doing good . I don't want to scare you but I also recommend to keep your eyes open with her getting into other things. I thought that my female Argentine blue/red hybrid got impacted from eating some cypress mulch but when we took her to the vet and got a Xray done we saw something round in ther stomach. It was the rubber cap of the metal spring from a door stopper lol. She pooped it out 1 month later ( the day she should of had the surgery ). The reason why we waited so long is because when we took her in to get a second Xray done that object had moved.

 

[Orion]

I was really worried this week. Following surgery she was not moving much nor was she really eating. The vet said to keep her from eating to much so her stomach does not rip open. I have been keeping an eye on her and I was really thinking she was on her way out. She had not had a bm since her surgery. Well about lunch time today she finally left a nice big pile in her cage. I tell you I have never been so happy to see an animal take a crap. A couple hours later she actually ate on her own.

 

[brutus13]

I know what you mean about being excited to see my lizard take a crap. I have expeirenced impaction as well and it is not fun. Im glad she is pooping and eating on her on. Just give it time and she will be fine.

 

[lazyjr52]

Glad to hear she's doing better.

 

[Riplee]

That's ok.

 

[txrepgirl]

You don't know how happy I am for you. To be honest with you I was very worried when you sad that she had to have surgery done. So far I haven't heard of one Tegu that made it. It's so good to hear that all went well with your Tegu. You must have one great vet . I know how you feel about beeing happy to see a animal poop after something like this. I have been there . Thank you for keeping us posted and please give your Tegu a hug from me.