Backed up Sulcata. Need Help

Jubylives

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Our Sulcata is backed up. The local university vet (Iowa State University) is useless. He has this year had a massive bladder stone removed and the majority of his penis due to a prolapse. He can't poop. He grunts and groans and pushes but only liquid poop comes out. We looked up into the opening at his tail and about 1 1/2 to 2 inches in is a compacted wad of grass. Looks like he had eaten some mowed grass perhaps and it is now stuck here. We have tried going in and trying to remove the grass. I am getting lots of the grass out but not the bulk. Obviously he is not a fan of this but does not struggle. Enemas are ineffective. We are going to try again tomorrow to get more grass out. Has anyone had an issue like this and if so what was can be done?

Also with the penis gone is there anything inside there that I should be aware of? The grass is rather difficult to pull out but he doesn't react much until I get a chunk out then he bares down to push.

Jeremy


Jubylives said:
Our Sulcata is backed up. The local university vet (Iowa State University) is useless. He has this year had a massive bladder stone removed and the majority of his penis due to a prolapse. He can't poop. He grunts and groans and pushes but only liquid poop comes out. We looked up into the opening at his tail and about 1 1/2 to 2 inches in is a compacted wad of grass. Looks like he had eaten some mowed grass perhaps and it is now stuck here. We have tried going in and trying to remove the grass. I am getting lots of the grass out but not the bulk. Obviously he is not a fan of this but does not struggle. Enemas are ineffective. We are going to try again tomorrow to get more grass out. Has anyone had an issue like this and if so what was can be done?

Also with the penis gone is there anything inside there that I should be aware of? The grass is rather difficult to pull out but he doesn't react much until I get a chunk out then he bares down to push.

Jeremy

forgot to add we are soaking him alot and high water content foods. I'm thinking of shooting some warm mineral oil up there to try to help break it up.
 

sissyofone

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Have you tried injecting mineral oil into the cloaca? It helped my impacted female rescue sulcata. It maybe worth a try. Someone will be along soon that knows more a out this im sure. Goodluck


I guess we were typing at the same time.lol It took several injections to get mine going. Goodluck And Welcome to TFO...
 

Levi the Leopard

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Where are you soaking him? I'd suggest using a large space like the bathtub. Lots of room to walk, walk and walk around while soaking in some deep warm water. Not deep enough he needs to swim. But deep enough so he wants to keep a move on. I've read many testimonies of this helping.

The mineral oil sounds like its worth a try.

Good luck.
 

Jubylives

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He soaks in the tub in warm water. He don't move a whole lot. He is not much of a mover anyway due to how he has spent the majority of his life before we got him. Which was in a small farm water trough. He mainly uses his front feet and drags his back ones. He never really needed the back ones.
 

Jubylives

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I just got enough green grass pulled out to fill a plastic easter egg. he hasn't had access to eat that much grass in months with the drought we had. God I hope this is the best way to help him as it takes some pulling to pull it out of there. I am so dam pissed at the ISU vets. We have been telling them he can't poop since July. We can't take him back as I still am making payment on the grand I still owe them. Not that I would take him back there the crooks. Can someone tell me we are doing the right thing?
 

wellington

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I would try the above suggestions and maybe feed some cucumber, water melon and regular lettuce. All very high water content. Maybe it along with the oil and warm baths, it will help to lubricate it better and get it moving.
 

sissyofone

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How long do you soak him? Im just curious. Feed him aloe also and maybe some grapes and pumpkin. Like wellington said feed stuff high in water content. And you can safely soak him for an hour to an hour and a half a couple times a day just keep water warm. Thats how i got mine going. Also put mineral oil on his food i also did that it helps alot.
 

Jubylives

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We been soaking him for about an hour in warm water. It's just so packed in there. As hard as I am pulling to get it out I can't imagine him pushing that out. It's blades of grass basically glued together and like I said very much compacted together. Been giving him basically what has been suggested. Gonna try getting the mineral oil in with his food too.
 

Sulcata_Sandy

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Keep doing what you are doing...warm soaks, pulling out the I packed grasses, and add pumpkin.
Unfortunately, what he really needs is a laxative/stool softener called Lactulose.

It's FDA labeled so unless prescribed, you can't just buy it. I used it on MoMo and worked like a charm. It's safe for use on Tortoises. If you can get a DVM to prescribe it, you can also use it as an enema as it really softens up the impaction and gets it moving.

I don't know if any of enter OTC enema solutions are safe...like Fleet. They are made from DSS solution. Mineral oil is a great idea, and should do there same. Just take it and some needle nosed pliers and start pulling.

I'm so sorry you and he are going thru this. How stressful!!
 

Jubylives

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Yea stressful it is. I want to throw up after and that's not small thing being I spent years as a meat cutter/butcher and hunter. We been giving him canned pumpkin also. I do however have a full bottle of that Lactulose sitting here. It's kind of sticky so we never tried it through his back side but can try that also.
 

Jubylives

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We grind up the hay we give him. I am thinking he found some clippings from mowing. Definetly going to make sure he eats only what we give him in the future.
 

Sulcata_Sandy

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Jubylives said:
Yea stressful it is. I want to throw up after and that's not small thing being I spent years as a meat cutter/butcher and hunter. We been giving him canned pumpkin also. I do however have a full bottle of that Lactulose sitting here. It's kind of sticky so we never tried it through his back side but can try that also.

Awesome!

It's one cc per 5 lbs. give 2 to 3 times daily. This was given to my by a reptile specialist, who's treated many Sulcata, and worked great on mine.
You really can't overdose, it's safe and worse case he gets diarrhea. Give as enema as well. It does an amazing job softening up that impaction. I do Lactulose enemas on cats frequently. I do a cocktail of warm water, Lactulose and KY jelly. No measurements, just a blob of this and a squirt of that.

Keep me posted, I gotta head to dog show. My client dog as an 8 am ring time, two hour drive!!!
 

Jubylives

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Well I managed to get enough out of him to fill a large soup bowl. I can not believe that was all in there for him being undersized. He actually pooped last night on his own a considerable amount. Such a relief since his last success poo was July.
 

Cowboy_Ken

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Do you have access to fresh cactus pads? If so, that, coupled with Aloe Vera whole leaf will help loads. Plus the aloe will start the healing process from the inside of his gut track. Congrats on the most recent extraction!! Can't be much fun.
 

Yvonne G

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And now that he's been able to pass everything, be sure he keeps hydrated.
 

WillTort2

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I noticed that you mentioned "he doesn't use his back legs". Has clearing the impaction restored his use of the back legs?
If not, I would be concerned about additional problems.
 

Jubylives

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He was kept in a very small enclosure his whole life. He will use them but only if he wants to. All he really had to do was turn before. His previous owners had him in a 15"x32" pen. Now he has 36"x 8 foot indoor and half a block outside.
 

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