Can anything be done for him?

[sivuh5]

OK, this is very strange, but I think my dragon ate a 3 inch rubber gasket.

I feed his roaches in a traditional chrome dog dish, which has a piece of black rubber molded around the bottom edge to prevent it from sliding on the floor. It's just a normal dog dish from Petco.

Last night I left the empty dish in the tank, which I've done a million times.

This morning, the black rubber piece had been torn in half and pulled away from the dish. And a 3 inch section is missing. It is evident that the piece was ripped away, as the break is jagged.

Dengar was alone in his tank as usual all night. I checked on him around 10 p.m. and he was sleeping in his cave. This morning he is out, but not basking and very dark. He has not eaten or pooped (although I wouldn't expect him to poop until later). I took him out and inspected his mouth inside and out and there is no evidence of any black or rubber or anything strange. But the piece of rubber is missing... I checked all around the tank and it's not in there. There were no other animals or people in the room with him except my sleeping 9 year old who knows nothing about it.

Is there anything I can do? At this point, if he did eat it, I guess it will either pass, or it won't. And if it doesn't I don't see things going well after that. It's a pretty significant piece of rubber (about 3/4 of an inch wide when flattened and 3 inches long), and it's not all that soft. I don't see how he could digest it.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Sue

 

[TheWolfmanTom]

If it where me Sue I would get to a vet right away. Xray ect ect

 

[katherine]

i suggest you give him/her a warm bath for about 15-20 min and rub him/her on the belly in the water to help him/her make a bowel movement.if that doesn't work you can try chicken baby food or fresh pumpkin pureed or cut into bite size pieces. i hope this helps in some way.please keep us posted on how your little beardy is doing and if you can give us a brief update on yur terriaum set up would be very much appreciated so we can make sure your set up is in order.

katherine

 

[sivuh5]

Thanks for your replies...

My inclination is to take him to the vet, however last Monday I lost my job and I just can't incur that expense this week - especially if they're just going to tell me that if it doesn't pass they'd have to operate or something.

I will try the bath... he had his weekly bath yesterday and he hates them, but I know it will likely help if it will pass.

Set up:
40 gallon breeder
Tile substrate
ReptiSun 10
household bulb for heat
basking temp 103 at belly level
cool side 75 at floor level
diet - dubia roaches, collard/mustard greens
male, date of hatch 8/9/09, approx 300 gms, 17 inches

He's been healthy up til now, he's currently shedding. Over the last 2 weeks or so he's been temperamental, bearding me - which I think he just learned to do, wanting to be hand fed, etc. But when he's out of the tank he's friendly, bright orange and blue colors, nice white belly (as of yesterday).

Today he is stressed. And I still haven't found the rubber gasket. I've never heard of a beardie eating an inanimate object. Had I known it was a risk I never would have left the dish in the tank.
I'll keep you posted.
Thanks again.
Sue

 

[sivuh5]

OK, so the good news is he's basking now and his color is good.

I gave him a bath and kept him in there for a whole 6 minutes, which is 5 1/2 minutes longer than I usually can keep him in there. No poop.

BUT, when I put him back in the tank I started looking again at the rubber gasket. I discovered that when the gasket is cool, it stretches. I put it back around the bottom of the dish, and was able to stretch it to get it to fit the full diameter. When I did that I saw that the ends where it is now disconnected, fit back together perfectly.

SO, it's possible that he DIDN'T eat a section of it, but that it snapped over night from the stress of being heated and cooled repeatedly and when I picked it up this morning it was hot so it was not stretchy and did not fit around the dish.

It's possible that he's just being a dragon with attitude, as he has for the past 2 weeks, not wanting to bask unless I put him there and just being difficult. The other day he stayed in his cave all day, with his head up and alert, just refusing to bask. As I said, I'm using the Reptisun 10 and a household bulb. My Reptisun is about 4 months old.

He is shedding, so that could account for being off food slightly too.
So, I think he's fine and he's giving me the stink eye for actually thinking he's stupid enough to eat a rubber gasket. LOL with relief.

Thanks again for the replies and encouragement.
Sue

 

[Loganator]

It is not at all ridiculous to think that they would eat an inanimate object. There have been quite a few posts on this site about curious beardies eating a variety of different items; coins, a metal washer, button, etc. some have had good outcomes and some not so good. So glad to hear that it's possible he did NOT injest it after all. Keep a close eye on him and good luck!

 

[AMHaak]

The metal washer was my post. The washer wasn't even that big, it was smaller than a dime. My fiance and I were putting together his new tank. My fiance set down the washer so he could pick up the screw, and out of no where Harley ran to the washer as fast as he could, and ate it. Neither my fiance or myself had time to grab it before he ate it. I still had to bring Harley into the vet, and they did have to remove it. Which cost me about $600, but at least he is still here with us. The vet told me that if I did not remove it he could have a very serious impaction because Beardies do not have a very big colons. In short it is not uncommon to have your beardie eat things that they should not be eating.