HELP!beardie passing pea sized hard rocks!

[ez2bbad64]

please help!something is wrong with peaches!. i realised something was wrong just as my vet closed and they wont be open untill monday and theres no emergency vets in a 300 mile radius that will see a reptile!.
as most of you know i have been having problems with peaches pooping. i have been soaking her once a day for 15minutes evry day. she fights me on her veggies so i feed her veggie baby food and sneak greens in her mouth. she has only been going once a week.tonight i was trying to get her to go i was messaging her belly and she has a small hard lump about the size of a pea about an inch up from her vent in her belly. she passed the white stuff they pass and she had hard little pea sized like rocks in it. she only passed that no poop. whats wrong!? please help us!.
just in case it matters heres what her set up is like and what she gets....
i feed her crickets coated in jurassi-cal calcium mon-fri and jurassi-vite on saturday and sunday
i sneak her bits of collards and mustard greens and feed her three syringes a day of veggi baby foods and a syringe of unsweetened apple sauce to try to help her pooping
she has a brand new reptisun 10.0 light
she lives in a 40breeder cage.
her basking temps are 107 measured with a digital probe.

 

[ez2bbad64]

please help!something is wrong with peaches!.i posted this in health also then someone suggested i should post it here i didint even think of it untill they mentioned it so sorry about it being in two places!
i realised something was wrong just as my vet closed and they wont be open untill monday and theres no emergency vets in a 300 mile radius that will see a reptile!.
as most of you know i have been having problems with peaches pooping. i have been soaking her once a day for 15minutes evry day. she fights me on her veggies so i feed her veggie baby food and sneak greens in her mouth. she has only been going once a week.tonight i was trying to get her to go i was messaging her belly and she has a small hard lump about the size of a pea about an inch up from her vent in her belly. she passed the white stuff they pass and she had hard little pea sized like rocks in it. she only passed that no poop. whats wrong!? please help us!.
just in case it matters heres what her set up is like and what she gets....
i feed her crickets coated in jurassi-cal calcium mon-fri and jurassi-vite on saturday and sunday
i sneak her bits of collards and mustard greens and feed her three syringes a day of veggi baby foods and a syringe of unsweetened apple sauce to try to help her pooping
she has a brand new reptisun 10.0 light
she lives in a 40breeder cage.
her basking temps are 107 measured with a digital probe.

 

[KairaandTaz08]

It sounds like it maybe impaction. How old is she and how large are the crickets? What substrate do you have her on?
Sorry, I can't help too much, but if you suspect impaction, stop feeding her crickets...keep to "liquids" (babyfood). I find that "Apples and Blueberries" babyfood really helps get their systems moving, more so than any other babyfood (I wouldn't really recommend just that one babyfood as a "diet", but it has worked for us, when used with other babyfoods). I'm not sure what else could be going on...but this should help draw more attention to your post at the very least.
I hope she gets better soon.
Abi

 

[ez2bbad64]

thank you.
i have her on astro turf. i burn the bottom of it to melt it so the fake grass stuff cannot come off.
i have been feeding her sweet pea,green bean,squash and applesauce baby food. i called the emergency vet who is not willing to see a reptile but said to give her a little mineral oil. suppose it cant hurt

 

[KairaandTaz08]

Hmm...mineral oil? I've heard of olive oil, but I don't know about mineral oil (honestly, I don't know what it is, sorry for my ignorance here ). I'd wait to get a response from somebody who knows a bit more before giving her either one, though. Beardies are very sensitive and if the vet or I am right, you could over-do it.
How long has this been going on? Sorry, I don't know the whole story and haven't been keeping up with the boards lately. How old is she, though? I believe (somebody will correct me if I'm wrong) that hard pea-sized "rocks" can be related to problems with the kidneys. I'm just throwing ideas out here and hoping somebody else responds that can help more. But, with the "lumps" you describe, I'm still leaning towards impaction. Is the emergency vet not experienced with reptiles, I'd assume that's the case if they won't see her, but just want to clarify? I don't understand why the vet won't see her...I had a vet that had never had a reptile in their office "try" to help years ago...he never treated them with anything, but he did look treatments up in his "books". I'd think this vet would try to help a little more or suggest another place to call at the very least.
Abi

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

How often are you supplementing with calcium & vitamins? He possibly could be passing chalky or hard urate plugs or pieces of harder urates. Is that what it looks like?
The mineral oil is fine to use, it is used for impaction just as the olive oil. Just use a couple of drops per day & get extra oral hydration into her for a few days to see if that helps out, along with baths.
Does she strain when going to the bathroom?

Tracie

 

[ez2bbad64]

the vet has no reptile knowlage and does not want to see them. shes going to have to wait untill monday unfortunately.
i am dusting her crickets in the morning 5 days per week with calcium jurassi-cal brand
peaches true age is unknown but she is guessed to be about three years old.
i have been giving her water orally and a daily bath she has been having poopie problems for the last couple weeks i thought she just needed to eat more veggies and thats why i have been sneaking collards and mustard greens between bites of crickets.and why i have been feeding baby food.
her urates are real chalky also its like the rocks are hard parts of it.
and she has been straining to go

 

[Resputan]

Hi there,

Just a few questions,

Is she still basking, still eating and still active? Does she drink any water during the baths?

If shes still active, eating and basking theres not a whole lot you can do. Make sure the water is warm that your soaking her in, maybe soak her a little longer, I had a problem with my beardie going once so I scrubbed out the tub, put some warm water and let her run and play in the water and kept it warm for about 20-25 mins. Just a thought. Also, I dont know if you have access to any other insects over the weekend but maybe try giver her something with a lot of moisture such as butterworms. If she isnt drinking while soaking or out of a bowl or anything try syringe feeding her water just to get some fluid moving through her system.

Im of course no vet and have never encountered this problem but if you just noticed it she will likely be ok until after the weekend when the vet is available and can take a better look at it and give you a better opinion.

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

Has Peaches ever laid any eggs, fertile or infertile?
If her urates are hard & chalky you are definitely going to have to push the fluids for awhile as she is too dehydrated.
At around 3 years of age, you can cut the calcium back to 3 times per week. She could be getting a little too much calcium as she is not growing anymore.
So try cutting the calcium back, & increasing the oral fluids & vegetation to see how that does for her right now. Let me know how she is doing.

Tracie

 

[ez2bbad64]

thanks for the replys. peaches has not laid any eggs. at the rescue they placed her with a male but it didint take and i had her whole body x-rayed late january when we found out about the bone infection and the break on her skull from getting into a fight at the rescue.they did not find any eggs when she was x-rayed.
now that i think of it i have never seen her drink!.she has a nice water dish i bathe her at least once a day for 15-20 minutes.she just sits in the water doesent move. she does eat like normal and is not a active beardie she never was.shes a lazy fat girl.
and i have been syringe feeding her water along with her baby food!

 

[BarkAtTheMoon]

I almost didn't post. I'm new to this form (although not to herps) and it seems everytime I put my 2 cents worth in, I get reemed. But . . . here's my thoughts because I sense your fear. While I agree that you should switch the calcium and vitamin routine (do calcium 2X a week and vitamin 5X a week), and I know that people and herps are different, I don't think it's a "kidney stone." My husband has problems with kidney stones and my research didn't suggest calcium. His are a result of our not liking sodas (the cost and the amount of sugar they put in our kids) and making tea at home. We were making it too strong and it was a product of the tea causing the stones.
As to bathing, I am going to go out on a limb and give you some specific advice that may help you, but get me reemed. I've rarely seen people willing to give specific temps for baths. If you have a temp gun or aquarium thermometer and a plastic container you can contain her in, run the water in your sink (plug out, you're just trying to get the temp right) until you get an even 100 degrees. Then put your bucket under the water and fill it till you're 2 seconds past thinking it's too high. Check the temp again to make sure it didn't change. If possible, put the container on the floor in front of her viv so the light shines on it, it's familiar and relaxing. Pick her up and slowly lower her in the water. If she doesn't feel well, she's stressed. The warm water should feel good, especially if her belly hurts. Remember, it's high. If she wants, let her keep her front legs on her hand like a floatie and let her back part float in the water. I have a set of measuring spoons/cups I bought just for pets. They are marked with a sharpie so when they are washed they don't get confused with the people baking ware. I use one of the bigger ones with my other hand to slowly pour water over my beardie's back, not head because they don't like it in their ear canal and will scratch it. Slowly pulling and/or pushing them back and forth through the water so that the warm water can get into the vent usually works on them like an anemia works on a child. You've got to get her relaxed enough and the water warm enough that it can work. You can also take your finger and put drops on her lips to try to make her lick them off. Some herps are smart enough to drink water when they need it, but it has to be warm and they have to be submerged in it, or they lick it off of leaves or rocks like they would in the wild after a rain.
Speaking of which, I'm must be feeling my wheaties, cause here's something else that's probably going to get me reamed. If you've been "misting" you're beardie, I'd suggest stopping it. It's not natural, it's shocking to their system, and most likely leads to fear of water. The misters you see in pet stores are for other types of lizards, not beardies. Beardies systems are not designed for high humidity, wet, tropical rainforest environments and whether they act like they like or not, it isn't good for them physically. There are other professional breeder care sheets that also state the same thing.
Back to the bath. Water loses temperature. Your beardie will let you know when the temp is no longer desireable. She will become not so relaxed and want to get out. Pat her try and put her back on her favorite basking spot. She'll be dry and warm in no time. Don't force her to stay in a bath that's too cold. It defeats the purpose.
It's starting to get warmer in alot of the States. It's Saturday. Get the phone book out and call the local bait shops and see if anyone has butter worms in yet. Believe or not, they are a favorite of fishermen as well as reptiles. Pet shops don't usually stock them, but the bait shops do in the warm season. Since they're keep in the frig, you may get lucky and find some. If what you find seems too big, simply hold it with a pair of tongs and make your beardie "tear" a piece instead of letting her eating it whole. Once she finishes that, the tongs are good for making the other half look like it's moving so she'll eat it too.
These things have done the trick when mine didn't go on schedule. And I have one that goes just like my husband - every morning after waking up. hehehe.
Jessie

 

[BarkAtTheMoon]

Didn't even remember this until after I submitted the last post and went to make coffee. Are you on well water or city water? I remember you saying you don't think she drinks at all and just "sits" in her bath. Animals have been given very keen senses and instincts by mother nature. The other thing we did to try to help my husband with his kidney stone problem was stop using our water, which is well water, to make the tea and coffee. We also stopped giving the tap to the animals. I wonder if she "smells" something in your water that scares her? City water is purified with chlorine and has floride added to it for children's teeth. When we tested our well water, we found extremely high levels clear water iron. The reason our white clothes kept turning orange and probably contributing to my husband's kidney stone problem. We had to buy a whole house water softener, but now I worry about the salt the water runs through. Can't win for losing.
Anyway, I wonder if Peaches could be overly sensitive and simply refuses to overlook something she knows is in your water and isn't comfortable with? It's all about personality with these guys. That's why we love them so much.
Don't get me wrong. I'm not suggesting you run out and buy Avion sparkling water for her. We buy the store brand "drinking" water for fifty cents a gallon. Sometimes cheaper if they get too much in stock. Just don't buy "distilled" water because that means they've boiled the daylights out of it until there's nothing left. Unless you want to, that is. The difference between drinking water and distilled water is that drinking water still has good stuff in it and distilled water has absolutely nothing in it but 2 hydrogen atoms and 1 oxygen atom (H20). Just something else to consider.
Jessie

 

[ez2bbad64]

thanks for the ideas.we have well water and its been tested theres nothing bad in it. she does enjoy enough water so her back end floats its acually the only way she will poop.and she likes to be sprayed with the sprayer over her back end. i do mist her with bio-mist its got aloe and stuff in it her tail was badly damaged and i have to use it or it gets hard and uncomfortable for her.with the bio mist shes quit rubbing her tail open and its a little softer. i have seriously considered if she has to have surgery to take her bad eye having them take the bad section of her tail at the same time as her tail bothers her but atleast now we have that under control