Egg on X-Ray?

[matt41gb]

Hey guys, I took my female Yellow-Foot up to work tonight to see if she was gravid. She had been mating with a smaller male over the last couple of months.

I took the x-ray and it looks like what appears to be a single egg just below her full stomach. It still looks a bit small, but I also figured there should be a couple more in there somewhere.

I'll keep an eye on her in the coming weeks and do another x-ray as well. This is my first time to x-ray a tortoise. I'm usually wrestling a dog, or cat on that table. She was very pleasant, ha!

If anyone on here has any experience with identifying an egg in a tortoise on an x-ray please confirm my suspicion.

Here's a picture.

-Matt

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Actually that isn't her stomach, her stomach is the dark spot off to the left.

-Matt

 

[egyptiandan]

She does have one egg Matt, but the egg looks like it has been over calcified. It's most likely been there for a while. I'm not liking the mass above the egg either. To show up on an x-ray that is a solid mass. Whether it's sand, small stones or something else I don't know. It should though not be there.
To get the egg out (and it needs to come out) would be to give her some oxytocin. For the mass, maybe a mineral oil tube feeding to help it pass. I would definately take x-rays every week to get an idea of what going on after you decide what to do.

Danny

 

[matt41gb]

Thanks for the reply Danny. I will definitely take another x-ray soon. I'm not too concerned about that mass that shows up on the film. I believe that is just food traveling through the intestines from the stomach. X-ray will confirm that soon, but I'm not worried about it at the moment. She's active, and eating very well.

I have emailed the film to a veterinarian that used to work with me, explaining what's going on. He's really good, so hopefully he won't be too concerned with it, (fingers crossed). I will definitely let you know when I shoot another film and when I hear back from him. Thanks again for your reply.

-Matt

 

[zeec]

Matt, that opacification is not food, it wouldn't show up on the xray because it is not radiopaque. It could however be something inside the GI tract other than food. The tort may have ingested something over time that is not digestable, like a hard substrate. It could also be a mass outside the GI tract as Dan suggested. You can see there are hyperdense areas (best seen as the white specs in the upper right hand corner) which are microcalcifications that are typically seen in masses. Its good that the tortoise is acting normal, a follow up xray is definitely needed.

Robert

 

[Scooter]

I can not comment on the larger mass as I don't have experience with it but that looks like an egg to me thought I have only seen them in ultrasounds not xrays.

 

[matt41gb]

I'll see what the vet says after he gets my email. It's really strange looking the more I look at it. I wonder if it could be her spleen? They tend to wrap horizontally around the other organs. I'm familiar with dog and cat x-rays, tortoises x-rays are new to me.

-Matt

 

[matt41gb]

Danny, you were right about the mass. Below is the email I received from a vet today. Thanks for your input.

-Matt


Sorry for the delay. We were out of electricity for about 14 hours yesterday. Anyway, it does appear to be an egg but it doesn't seem to be fully calcified yet. It should be laid in the next 3-4 weeks. The other looks like stones in the GI tract. Soaking for 30 minutes daily for a while and increasing the fiber should help. If not, may need to place a pharyngostomy tube and give mineral oil, water and Oxbow critical care to help move it out.