impaction update

Its day 3 that I have known that my beardie has an impaction(which im 95% sure is his problem) I have fed him a little bit of olive oil daily and applesauce the organic kind and bathed him in lukewarm water n stroked his belly. The lump is still there and feels as if it's gotten bigger. He's tried to poop, lifting his tail m relaxing his legs n pushing as hard as he can and his legs pull up into the air n his body feels like a balloon and some smelly liquid comes out and that's all I have a vet appointment Monday or if it's immediate that he's treated I can take him tomorrow. He acts about the same just not as active as usual his body does not twitch and he can stand up run and climb okay. Are there any other tips I can fallow to help my poor baby out? He's a few months old and eats well I guessing the cause of this are the large crickets I've recently started feeding him

Large crickets are too big for a 2 month old baby. They should be no larger than the space between his eyes. The next time you give him a bath, very gently massage on his right side from his armpit to vent area. If you feel a hardened area, massage gently in a circular motion to help it move closer to the vent so he can pass it. Another thing that helps is using very warm baby food applesauce, heat it in the microwave for a few seconds but make sure it isn't TOO hot. Also, giving oral fluids really helps things along too, you just put drops on his nose that he should lick off.

After the applesauce, massaging & bath, blot him dry and lay him down on a heated rice sock. Fill a sock with uncooked rice, tie the end in a knot and heat in the microwave for a few seconds, test the temp of it on the side of your cheek.

Make sure you are using either a digital thermometer with a long wire & probe end or a temp gun to check his basking temps because any type of stick on can be very inaccurate. Make sure he is basking at least an hour but 1 1/2 hrs would be better to help with digestion.

Please keep us updated.

He's about 5 months

xerioc":1ml10p0d said:

He's about 5 months

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Oh, ok. Make sure the crickets aren't any larger than the space between his eyes though. Any luck with the possible impaction?

Will do, we gave him an enema yesterday and he went but it's not all gone yet I've bathed him twice today and we gave him another enema but this time he didn't do anything, rubbing his tummy in the bath doesn't seem to work, I dissected his feces yesterday and it was only cricket parts, lesson learned.

Please be extremely careful giving an enema, it could actually do damage if not done correctly. Did you try the very warm baby food applesauce and a heated rice sock?

What are the tank temps and what type of thermometer are you using?

We were very careful my mom works with small animals with things like that all the time, im using a digital thermomiter and the basking spot is 93-98 degrees, I have not yet he's asleep right now but I will first thing in the morning

That's good that your mom is experienced with that, I was just concerned.

Does your digital thermometer have a long wire & probe end? The temps are a little too low for a 5 month old. Could you fill us in on the size of the tank and the bulb wattages?

Yes the thermomiter has a long wire and a probe, he is in a 40gallon im using a 200watt bulb and a uvb florescent light at the same time. He is on calcium sand but no problems with that before other than him getting dirty. I'll make sure to feed him the right stuff this time.

That's good that you're using a probe thermometer. Make sure that the probe end is actually resting on the basking spot and that you're waiting at least 45 min for the temp to stop rising before getting the final readings. That does seem like a lot of wattage for a 40 gallon though. One of my tanks is the same size and I only need a 60 watt household bulb on the basking side and a 40 watt on the cool side to get temps of 102 and 80.

I would highly recommend removing the calci-sand because that is a horrible substrate. In case you didn't know, if it is ingested, it hardens in their bellies like cement making it impossible to pass. There have been a lot of beardies that have died from that substrate. It also makes it impossible to remove all the liquid, etc from the poop which can cause bacteria to form.

We only want what is best for your beardie.

Okay I'll do my best thank you

He ate plenty of the applesauce n he's loving the heat pack he's decided to sleep on it. I really hope he passes the rest of his stuff today to avoid the vet bill tomorrow. I tried a lower wattage bulb before and it didn't get very much over 80 in the basking spot. The 200 is the only thing that's keeping it above 90 I don't know why. Maby because it's winter here in Texas or something? I had used the pet store bulbs and 1 worked like my 200 watt but was 5x more expensive. I have a dome sitting on top of the wire lid....hes starting to push xs fingers... He quit only a small amount of urine and feces came out.

Could you raise the basking spot to get it closer to the heat? Low temps will aggravate his digestive troubles. Please take him to the vet if he doesn't pass the blockage today, and try to get rid of the calcium sand. He will probably have a much healthier life without it.

His basking spot is at 98 degrees now he doesn't sit on it much he prefers the rock closer to the bottom of the tank, I'll get rid of it asap, what can u suggest as a replacement I don't like carpet because when he goes for a cricket his teeth get stuck in it. I'll take him to the vet for sure if he doesn't go today his current basking spot is a little bit over the half way mark in his take and is about 5-6 inches from the light. I've never had a problems with the sand before he loves to dig in it and snuggle in it to sleep that's why I got it for him.

He tried to go again just a while ago and we gave him another unsuccessful enema and he's still plugged up. His vet appointment is tomorrow at 4, what will the vet do to him? How expensive will it be? The heat pad on his belly seems to stimulate him, the enemas and baths no longer seem to. So far he's had this for 5 days that I know of he could have had it a few days longer im not sure. How long can they go before they die? I'd be devastated if I woke up tomorrow morning and he's dead D': im going to get new supplies while im out tomorrow. What type of bedding should I get? And are meal worms okay or what other food should get him with less citten(idk how to spell it) but is still nutritious. I wish I had never listened to the pet store and started him on larger crickets thinking they were okay. They wernt very much bigger than the space between his eyes but I guess it had its impact, no pun intended