Help I think Monotov is Impacted!

[Monotov]

She has not pooped in 3-4 days, We are giving her a warm bath right now. Her stomach is overly bloated, her beard is jet black, and now her spine is hunched out and it feels really hard. She has been lethargic all day. Please help. Should I take her to my vet??

 

[AHBD]

Hi there...you might try making the water a little deeper than usual so she has to swim a bit . Sometimes that makes them go. Also warm the water if it's getting cold. Just be right there with her. Also, give some veg. or mineral oil, canned pumpkin, applesauce, prune baby food. Hopefully something will do the trick. Did she eat anything unusual or large ? What substrate is she on ?

 

[Monotov]

No she eats dubias, crickets, an occasionally meal worms. Veggies everyday.. Baths one to two times weekly. She is on carpet. She also.isnt eating much and is sleeping in a corner all day on the cooler side. Could she possibly be brumating?

 

[AHBD]

It's not really the time of year to brumate, although sub adults and adults can do a little sleeping if they didn't brumate over the winter. If she is laying on the cold side with a black beard, there is something wrong. Or did the beard just go black when you put her in the watwr ? Had she been digging at all the week before, maybe carrying infertile eggs ? Can you post a pic of her , a body shot, and also her tank ? Can you list your entire set up, including lights. If she looks very ill with dark beard, you may want to take her to a vet.Her not going poo for 3 - 4 days is not unusual at all, unless you see her straining to go. But she may be needing a vet if that's the case.

 

[OllyHilder]

that does sound like possible impaction. i would try putting her in a slightly deeper bath (max. top of shoulders. but give her a flannel or something to grip onto so she doesn't panic and make it worse) and make the bath warmer (max. 105F / 40c). soak her for up to 20/25mins keeping the bath at shoulder height and at the same temperature. while she is there rub her belly up and down gently as this should help bowel movement. if nothing has happened by 30mins take her to a vet, they would be able to help further.

If this problem is solved (which hopefully it will be) remove EVERYTHING that could cause impaction. which is basically any loose substrate like sand, wood chipping, alfalfa and replace with something like newspaper or tile. make sure all greens are very finely chopped and keep to smaller prey items (no larger than distance between beardies eyes). if feeding baby mice, NEVER feed them to the beardie if they even slightest hint of fuzz. this is because this means the bones are no longer just flimsy cartilage and are beginning to calcify which makes digestion very, very tricky and dangerous process. keep checking up on her and make sure everything is okay.

best wishes,
olly.

 

[Irwinshealth]

Any change since the bath?

 

[Monotov]

I just got off work. My boyfriend has been taking care of her. No luck with pooping. She is still laying on the cooler side, no black beard this time, but her eyes are half open, and thats how they have been. She was black bearding while on the cooler side, and she lit up in her bath. The vet isn't open until Monday. I will get a picture out of everything, but she is on carpet. 150w bulb is the basking light, 100w infraed is her cooler side. She LOVES to lay on her hammock but she won't even attempt to get up there. I posted a question about eggs last month because I was worried this might happen. No digging, she has been going under neath her carpet though the past week sleeping under it and I keep having to get her out of there. There is absolutely no sand, woodchips, or any of that sort in her tank. I never give her food bigger than the space between her eyes, and she gets about 20-30 dubias 1-2 times a week, that is all she will really eat, she is more of a veggie eater. But now she wont even eat her veggies. I chop her veggies up very well, they are never big.

 

[Irwinshealth]

Does the vet do emergency visits? If she gets worse you may want to consider the option Were u able to get any mineral oil in her? That seems to work best for me

 

[Monotov]

What is exactly mineral oil and where can I find it? Do I just feed her with a baby syringe? I'm really worried about her, and I don't think my vet does emergency visits, it is just a little animal hospital owned by the vet himself. Also, there is this little spot underneath her belly right by her leg that feels really hard like a little ball, if that helps anything.

 

[AHBD]

I think it's too hot for her. Possibly WAY too hot. What is the temp. in your house ? Unless your house is really cold, below 60 degrees. What size is your tank ? I would shut off the red light. Try that for a while, and no heat at night, unless it goes below 65 . It really sounds like she's trying to get out of the heat.

 

[Monotov]

Also, this is her set up:

65g tank
150w heat basking bulb
100w infrared heat bulb
substrate: carpet
basking spot is 6 inches away from her light
also has a hammock 6 inches away from the cooler light
anything else i need to include?

I will get pictures of her and her set up asap.

 

[Monotov]

Oddly enough I have a hard time keeping it hot in there. Her basking side stays anywhere between 95-105, and her cooler side stays around 85 to 90, and she ONLY basks when she poops, she never enjoys basking, and I have a dimmer to dim down the light too if it gets too hot. But she never goes to bask just to bask.. she will only bask to poop, and once she is done she will go lay on her hammock on the cooler side.

Edit: It stays around 72 in my house, it always gets chilly in here so sometimes I have to turn up the air because it gets so cold.

 

[Irwinshealth]

No light as night is best. Mineral oil can be bought over the counter at any pharmacy. The smaller syringe will work perfect. It's very cheap and very effective for poo issues. The ball feeling could be impaction. Mineral oil is sure worth a try

 

[AHBD]

The mineral oil is worth a try, as well as canned pupkin or applesauce. Just wondering, how are you measuring temps .? It just seems that 250 watts, even though spread through a 65 gal. tank, is going to be too hot, and as for the cool side, it needs to be around 80. If it's 85 - 90, that's too hot.

 

[Monotov]

I have a digital thermometer, my recent gauges broke, they weren't measuring right, I switch it from side to side, because I don't have two. Also it isn't 250w, I said 150w. I will definitely try the mineral oil.